It took 6,000 years to create the species-rich grassland for which the UK is globally famous, but since the nineteen thirties over ninety seven percent of these wildflower meadows and other species-rich grasslands have been lost. Fertilisers, herbicides and insecticides have destroyed many of the flowers, birds, insects and animals that used to enrich our countryside. The companion to this book, ‘Flora - ten years among the flowers of an endangered landscape’ attempts to capture the essence of the flowers that have decorated the traditional meadows of the West Yorkshire pennines.

Upland hay meadows are governed by the weather and the seasons, and the process of natural haymaking, where grass is grown without artificial fertilisers or weed killers, and cut just once a year. This allows a unique range of wild plants to thrive among the many species of grasses that flourish in such conditions.

‘Flora - the pocket guide’ is a companion to the larger book and is intended to facilitate easy recognition of wild flower species of the upland hay meadows in northern England.