Ilkley Eastside Wander #11: Stashed in the Ash Sycamore
This is the 11th of a series of 20 caches which takes you around some of the lovely countryside immediately to the south-east of Ilkley.
The cache is hidden just off the track which forms the upper end of 2km long Ben Rhydding Drive which starts at Wheatley Road at the eastern edge of Ben Rhydding and ends at Hangingstone Road / Moor Road which runs past the Cow & Calf (rocks and hotel) skirting the moor between Ben Rhydding & Burley Woodhead.
It is hidden in an ash (correction - sycamore!) tree, one of several lining the track at this point.
See GC8PCW2 Ilkley East Wander #1: Intro and . . . Prick!? for information on the series and waypoints. See Gallery for an annotated map with cache locations and parking spots.
If doing the series in sequence: from IEW#6 take the lane heading south towards the moors and to the cache location.
If doing out of sequence: a) park at P2 near the location of IEW#6 and continue as above.
b) from P3, head down to the gate at the top end of Ben Rhydding Drive @ N 53 54.760 W 1 47.543 (adjacent to IEW #12) and proceed north along the lane to the cache location.
The (common or European ash), Fraxinus excelsior, is a common and widespread tree of northern Europe, including the UK and Ireland. It makes up a significant proportion of British hedgerows is a key component of many mixed deciduous woodlands in the UK. Despite this, research shows that under 10% of young people can identify an ash tree . . . so these are the some tips
When identifying a tree species, as well as the general character of the tree, it is necessary to check buds, leaves, bark, flowers, fruit/nuts, other key features.
With respect to the ash . . .
General features:
* It is tolerant of most soils except where too sandy. It does best well on chalky or rich soils.
* It is an abundant species and present in most wooded areas of the UK. It can happily be part of a hedge and forms a significant portion of hedgerows.
* It can grow to be one of the tallest trees - up to 30-40m - excelsior in its scientific name means 'higher' or 'loftier'.
* Its beige-grey trunk has a relatively modest diameter for such a tall tree
* Unlike other large but more spreading British trees such as English Oak, its branches seem to be 'reaching for the sky' with the tip of each drooping shoot sweeping back upwards towards its end.
* It is a deciduous tree, losing its leaves over winter. But some key features are easily spotted throughout the year.
* Buds: are a key identifying feature - sooty black, with one larger bud at the end of each grey shoot 
bracketed by an opposite pair of smaller buds a little further back.
This combination of sooty black buds + upturned grey shoots is one of the easiest ways to identify it in the winter, when it has no leaves.
* Leaves: it has a compound leaf - ie. made up of multiple leaflets, which except for the terminal leaflet at the end of the leaf occur in opposite pairs. There are typically 4-6 pairs, making 9-13 leaflets in total.
Each leaflet is irregularly serrated, rounded at the base and pointed at the end. The side leaflets have no stem and connect directly onto the mid-rib of the leaf, which is slightly downy underneath. The leaves are deep green on top and lighter underneath.
They are amongst the latest leaves to appear in the spring and the last to drop in the autumn. In the autumn, they can briefly display a pale golden yellow before dropping from the tree.
* Bark: that of young ash trees is smooth and grey like the twigs. As the tree develops, the bark lightens to a beige-grey but stays relatively smooth compared to the boles of other similarly sized trees.
Eventually it develops some shallow fissures which as the tree ages become more pronounced and darker grey, like the bark of mature English Oak.
In areas where there is clean air, lichens also readily grow on the bark of common ash, which may mask the colour of the bark beneath.
* Flowers: are tiny, dark purple and appear largely unnoticed in clusters in spring.
* Seeds: form in clusters and are much more noticeable forming a winged ‘key’, a little like sycamore seeds, except that they have only one wing, rather than the symmetrical wing-nut shape of sycamore.
Ash keys start off green but turn brown by early of autumn. These brown clusters can stay on the trees long after the leaves have fallen and may be a key identifying feature in winter.
See Year in the LIfe: Ash for an excellent short video on this beautiful tree.