New Year Plant Hunt 2026, Torrington (Botany Section)

The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland holds a New Year Plant Hunt every year in the last few days of December and the first few of January. The objective is to record species of plant in flower over a period of not more than three hours. The data is used to help assess the effects of climate change on our flora, and there’s also a small element of competition as groups see just how many flowering plants they can find.

The Section is running three meetings to take part in this year’s Hunt:

1. Friday 2nd January, 10:30 to 13:30: Braunton

2. Friday 2nd January at 10:30: Meet at the Bowling Green Car-park (SS 4851 1936), on the eastern edge of Great Torrington, at. For those who know Great Torrington, it is as you leave the village headed towards Bideford, on the right, just past the cemetery, roughly opposite the turn for Taddiport, and before the hill down to the old station (now the Puffing Billy). There is overflow parking just beyond over the brow of the hill and within about 50m of the more obvious area. The hunt itself will involves 3 hours of searching, but, as the clock can be stopped and re-started, I anticipate that we might be able to make a temporary retreat to shelter for lunch at some point. We may need to be flexible regarding this to fit in with the weather (e.g. the group has, in the past, and by mutual agreement, pushed on through to fit in the three hours before the onset of bad weather).

We will aim to explore sections of Torrington Common and the local urban environment. In the past the route has taken in the cemetery, the southern slopes of the Common between the Puffing Billy/Rolle Bridge area and the castle mound, and the area around the parish church. We shall aim to do something similar, but the exact route will be fine-tuned to take account of the size of the group, the mobility of its members, the weather on the day, and how quickly we move. In the past the group has generally covered 4-5km, finding 31 species in 2023, 38 in 2024, and 54 in 2025.

The footpaths are generally quite good, but there are likely to be some uneven sections, and, through the winter, it can get rather muddy in places. Please wear stout footwear, and warm, weather-appropriate clothing, bearing in mind that sections of the common can be quite exposed, so wind-chill could be an issue (it is surprising how cold you can get when standing around waiting your turn to see a plant). Whilst the risks associated with this event are not significantly different to those associated with a normal walk at this time of year, urban botany comes with the usual warning not to become so distracted by a plant that you fail to pay attention to your surrounding, especially moving vehicles.

3. Saturday 3rd January at 11:00: Plymouth Hoe

Please contact the leader/organiser (details below)  if you would like to attend the Torrington hunt as the date and/or location may change according to the weather.