1 00:00:39,940 --> 00:00:41,955 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hello and welcome to Nature Fix with me, 2 00:00:42,135 --> 00:00:45,721 Claire Hickinbotham. Every month we take you with us as we meet 3 00:00:45,722 --> 00:00:49,213 the people who spend their time outside and join them in a place 4 00:00:49,260 --> 00:00:50,713 that most inspires them. 5 00:00:51,994 --> 00:00:55,026 The morning sun is just about peeping over the spectacular 6 00:00:55,057 --> 00:00:58,572 hills of Hardcastle Crags in West Yorkshire and I'm in search 7 00:00:58,682 --> 00:01:02,190 of Steve Hindle. A man who spends a lot of time with his 8 00:01:02,290 --> 00:01:05,793 head down looking for rare and unusual and often very brightly 9 00:01:05,876 --> 00:01:06,774 coloured fungi. 10 00:01:11,501 --> 00:01:15,001 Steve didn't train for this job but a natural intrigue and 11 00:01:15,063 --> 00:01:18,704 regular dog walks in the area meant his passion developed and 12 00:01:18,705 --> 00:01:23,032 eventually led to his hobby becoming a full-time career. So 13 00:01:23,063 --> 00:01:26,610 let's catch up with Steve and his mushroom hunting dog on a 14 00:01:26,657 --> 00:01:27,297 fungi hunt. 15 00:01:32,436 --> 00:01:36,402 We've parked up at the top of a stunning valley. It's the end of 16 00:01:36,441 --> 00:01:41,902 November but it's one of those crisp winter mornings. It's so 17 00:01:42,066 --> 00:01:47,871 still and so quiet and there's just a smattering of farm 18 00:01:47,933 --> 00:01:49,691 buildings and farm cottages. 19 00:01:50,988 --> 00:01:56,582 This is the epitome of a rural remote landscape and Steve is 20 00:01:56,722 --> 00:01:58,457 somewhere around here. 21 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:03,460 Hi, you must be Steve. 22 00:02:03,461 --> 00:02:03,960 STEVE HINDLE: I am, hello. 23 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:05,341 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Nice to meet you. 24 00:02:06,460 --> 00:02:07,742 And who's this you've brought with you? 25 00:02:07,743 --> 00:02:08,460 STEVE HINDLE: So this is Meg. 26 00:02:08,722 --> 00:02:09,101 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hi Meg. 27 00:02:09,203 --> 00:02:12,441 STEVE HINDLE: She's my mushroom hunting dog. Well, I wish. 28 00:02:12,863 --> 00:02:16,144 Generally she's just wandering around looking for a carcass to 29 00:02:16,324 --> 00:02:19,324 gnaw on, but she keeps me company and she's very good. 30 00:02:20,746 --> 00:02:22,511 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: She's a lovely thing. Is she a lab? 31 00:02:22,761 --> 00:02:24,839 STEVE HINDLE: She is, yeah. She's a black lab, 11 years old, 32 00:02:25,886 --> 00:02:26,824 still in fine fettle. 33 00:02:27,308 --> 00:02:29,246 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: She's very pretty, aren't you? You're a 34 00:02:29,247 --> 00:02:30,027 very pretty doggy. 35 00:02:31,556 --> 00:02:35,758 So when you go about trying to find fungi, the field that we're 36 00:02:35,759 --> 00:02:39,145 stood in at the moment has a few sheep in it, a few sheep 37 00:02:39,203 --> 00:02:42,688 droppings, a lot of grass and a few mounds. So what's the 38 00:02:42,703 --> 00:02:43,430 starting point? 39 00:02:43,649 --> 00:02:47,313 STEVE HINDLE: Well, the idea is a lot of walking around. So I 40 00:02:47,328 --> 00:02:50,328 basically start at the bottom of the field and I walk across the 41 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,391 field and then I turn around, go up a meter maybe and I go back 42 00:02:54,438 --> 00:02:56,578 across the field and I'm just staring at the ground. 43 00:02:56,719 --> 00:02:58,563 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So you're scouring a crime scene almost. 44 00:02:58,657 --> 00:03:00,422 STEVE HINDLE: I am. It's very, very CSI. 45 00:03:01,437 --> 00:03:03,017 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So can we find something today? 46 00:03:03,459 --> 00:03:06,201 STEVE HINDLE: Absolutely. So, I've been here surveying this 47 00:03:06,263 --> 00:03:09,928 morning and we've got some amazing species in here. So 48 00:03:09,929 --> 00:03:11,467 we'll just have to have a little look around, see if I can 49 00:03:11,490 --> 00:03:14,107 remember where I saw them and then hopefully we'll see 50 00:03:14,131 --> 00:03:14,428 something. 51 00:03:15,771 --> 00:03:18,013 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What exactly are we looking for? What 52 00:03:18,029 --> 00:03:21,092 does it look like? Is it fairytale red and white? 53 00:03:21,093 --> 00:03:23,623 Halloween, you always hear about the..... is it witches' fingers 54 00:03:23,685 --> 00:03:25,435 that look like fingers coming out of the ground? 55 00:03:26,123 --> 00:03:29,638 STEVE HINDLE: There is dead man's fingers and dead mole's 56 00:03:29,732 --> 00:03:32,490 fingers. And the one that you're talking about, the fly agaric, 57 00:03:32,491 --> 00:03:37,275 the red and white one, they're all woodland species. So the fly 58 00:03:37,295 --> 00:03:40,400 agaric is a mycorrhizal species with pine and birch trees. 59 00:03:40,401 --> 00:03:41,580 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What does mycorrhizal mean? 60 00:03:41,861 --> 00:03:44,299 STEVE HINDLE: Mycorrhizal means that there's an association 61 00:03:44,338 --> 00:03:48,572 between a tree and the fungus. So they're in a symbiotic 62 00:03:48,604 --> 00:03:50,994 relationship. The tree's providing sugars for the fungus, 63 00:03:50,995 --> 00:03:53,572 the fungus is providing nutrients. The dead man's 64 00:03:53,635 --> 00:03:55,916 fingers, for example, and the candle snuff fungus, they're 65 00:03:55,932 --> 00:03:58,010 decomposers, so they're rotting down wood. 66 00:03:59,368 --> 00:04:02,873 Most of the ones that we're looking for are symbionts, so 67 00:04:02,931 --> 00:04:05,974 they're like mycorrhizal, but they're in relationships with 68 00:04:06,076 --> 00:04:11,119 grasses, flowering plants, and they're restricted to ancient 69 00:04:11,158 --> 00:04:11,697 grassland. 70 00:04:12,041 --> 00:04:14,306 And that's grassland which has not been disturbed, either 71 00:04:14,384 --> 00:04:19,009 physically or chemically, for hundreds of years, basically. So 72 00:04:19,384 --> 00:04:22,525 the best fields that we find have been, in this kind of 73 00:04:22,556 --> 00:04:25,587 management, grazed, or there may be hay meadows, and that's been 74 00:04:25,650 --> 00:04:30,176 going on for generations. Maybe medieval period or even before 75 00:04:30,197 --> 00:04:30,357 that. 76 00:04:32,238 --> 00:04:34,496 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Let's walk on but I'm really interested to 77 00:04:34,558 --> 00:04:38,301 hear about how you got into this line of work. Have you always 78 00:04:38,355 --> 00:04:38,777 done this? 79 00:04:39,137 --> 00:04:43,918 STEVE HINDLE: So no, actually for most of my adult life I've 80 00:04:43,957 --> 00:04:46,387 been involved in circus kind of stuff. 81 00:04:47,496 --> 00:04:50,902 Basically prior to this I was making circus equipment but 82 00:04:50,980 --> 00:04:54,949 predominantly hula hoops because once people realised that the 83 00:04:54,965 --> 00:04:57,891 kind of hoops that I was making for circus performers were 84 00:04:57,910 --> 00:05:01,265 actually good for exercise, then... you know that business 85 00:05:01,285 --> 00:05:02,786 started to take off. 86 00:05:02,786 --> 00:05:09,975 But prior to that i was running a circus shop teaching circus 87 00:05:10,030 --> 00:05:11,975 skills and that's my background 88 00:05:11,976 --> 00:05:14,139 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So how do you make the leap from teaching 89 00:05:14,217 --> 00:05:17,366 circus skills and making specialist hula hoops yeah into 90 00:05:17,507 --> 00:05:20,632 identifying rare species of fungi? 91 00:05:20,632 --> 00:05:23,522 STEVE HINDLE: I'd always had dogs when i was younger and i 92 00:05:23,523 --> 00:05:26,710 got a dog and i started going out for walks in the countryside 93 00:05:26,913 --> 00:05:29,289 and then when you're doing that You're seeing things all the 94 00:05:29,290 --> 00:05:29,509 time. 95 00:05:29,529 --> 00:05:33,915 So it started off with me just thinking, why do I know the name 96 00:05:33,916 --> 00:05:36,196 of some of these trees, but I don't know other ones? So I got 97 00:05:36,197 --> 00:05:39,137 a little guidebook and started to learn about trees. And then I 98 00:05:39,138 --> 00:05:42,825 started to learn about flowers and grasses and ferns. And then 99 00:05:43,364 --> 00:05:46,028 autumn comes around and then it's like, what are all these 100 00:05:46,029 --> 00:05:49,091 mushrooms, you know? And again, some of them I knew, but most of 101 00:05:49,092 --> 00:05:49,575 them I didn't. 102 00:05:49,653 --> 00:05:53,637 So I started studying, learning, collecting. That was all really 103 00:05:53,700 --> 00:05:56,372 woodland based because that's the place that you think of the 104 00:05:56,403 --> 00:05:57,075 fungi as being. 105 00:05:58,136 --> 00:06:00,719 But then I came out into some of the grasslands and started to 106 00:06:00,779 --> 00:06:03,002 see all of these amazing fungi that we've got in the 107 00:06:03,003 --> 00:06:05,803 grasslands. And I just kind of got a little bit obsessed with 108 00:06:05,804 --> 00:06:08,545 them, actually, and never really went back into the woods again. 109 00:06:09,084 --> 00:06:10,865 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: You live locally then, and this was your 110 00:06:10,967 --> 00:06:12,967 patch to walk the dog, and that's how it all started? 111 00:06:12,968 --> 00:06:13,529 STEVE HINDLE: That's it, yeah. 112 00:06:13,889 --> 00:06:16,717 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: And then how do you go from it being your 113 00:06:16,732 --> 00:06:21,217 dog walk to it being your entire life, your job, your career? 114 00:06:21,404 --> 00:06:23,935 STEVE HINDLE: So I joined the local natural history group, the 115 00:06:24,014 --> 00:06:28,251 Halifax Scientific Society. Then I started going out with the 116 00:06:28,411 --> 00:06:31,796 council biodiversity officer to carry out surveys of sites that 117 00:06:31,797 --> 00:06:36,319 they were looking at. People here at the Trust knew of me as 118 00:06:36,335 --> 00:06:38,999 a local person who was interested in these fungi. And 119 00:06:39,022 --> 00:06:43,538 so when the job application came along, I actually just got in 120 00:06:43,569 --> 00:06:47,054 touch to say, whoever you get in this role, I can help out with 121 00:06:47,069 --> 00:06:47,288 that. 122 00:06:47,569 --> 00:06:51,101 And Craig, who put the role forward, said, so do you not 123 00:06:51,116 --> 00:06:54,335 want to apply for the job? And I was like, no, I'm self-employed, 124 00:06:54,351 --> 00:06:57,542 got my own business. I don't have a qualification in ecology, 125 00:06:57,682 --> 00:07:00,283 which it says you need. And he came to talk to me and said, 126 00:07:00,326 --> 00:07:03,146 well, you know, when you put out a job advert, you can't get 127 00:07:03,209 --> 00:07:03,971 everything that you want. 128 00:07:04,611 --> 00:07:07,549 And actually the most important aspect of this is probably 129 00:07:08,455 --> 00:07:12,236 somebody who's really good at identifying these species. So 130 00:07:12,861 --> 00:07:17,096 eventually I thought, right, OK, I'm going to apply for the job. 131 00:07:17,846 --> 00:07:19,158 And then I got the role. 132 00:07:19,424 --> 00:07:19,877 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Here you are. 133 00:07:20,267 --> 00:07:22,846 STEVE HINDLE: Here I am. But it was a big step. You know, you've 134 00:07:22,847 --> 00:07:25,127 got to close up your own business. Although I do still 135 00:07:25,356 --> 00:07:29,179 make a few hula hoops now and again but yeah. 136 00:07:29,562 --> 00:07:30,179 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Any regrets? 137 00:07:30,362 --> 00:07:33,546 STEVE HINDLE: No, I get permission to go into the fields 138 00:07:33,562 --> 00:07:36,507 that I've been eyeing up for many years and look around and 139 00:07:36,804 --> 00:07:39,069 find amazing things so it's absolutely fantastic. 140 00:07:40,327 --> 00:07:42,218 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So should we start moving across the 141 00:07:42,265 --> 00:07:42,671 field? 142 00:07:42,796 --> 00:07:45,952 STEVE HINDLE: Sure. Definitely I know I've got something that I 143 00:07:45,953 --> 00:07:47,015 can show you over here. 144 00:07:47,202 --> 00:07:51,046 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Okay so how big is this one that we're 145 00:07:51,047 --> 00:07:53,562 looking for? Am I going to see it or are you going to point it 146 00:07:53,577 --> 00:07:53,749 out? 147 00:07:55,020 --> 00:07:56,780 STEVE HINDLE: I'm going to point it out to you, but when you see 148 00:07:56,821 --> 00:07:59,042 it, you will know. 149 00:08:00,183 --> 00:08:00,522 It's purple. 150 00:08:00,523 --> 00:08:00,741 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Purple? 151 00:08:01,542 --> 00:08:02,643 STEVE HINDLE: Yeah, we've got quite a few purple ones, 152 00:08:02,683 --> 00:08:06,823 actually. And it's an unusual colour to see in nature, so when 153 00:08:06,824 --> 00:08:08,183 you see it, it really stands out to you. 154 00:08:10,581 --> 00:08:11,011 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh, wow. 155 00:08:11,151 --> 00:08:13,479 STEVE HINDLE: So this is called Violet Coral. 156 00:08:13,979 --> 00:08:15,745 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Yeah, so I was going to say it looks like, 157 00:08:16,339 --> 00:08:18,558 yeah, coral. It's almost a clump. 158 00:08:19,620 --> 00:08:21,964 STEVE HINDLE: Exactly. So you might think of fungi as being 159 00:08:22,011 --> 00:08:25,024 mushrooms, generally. But in these ones that we're looking at 160 00:08:25,045 --> 00:08:29,726 we've got quite a lot which are clubs, spindles, corals, and in 161 00:08:29,746 --> 00:08:33,965 these fields we've got a number of different named corals but 162 00:08:34,066 --> 00:08:35,824 this one is a really rare one. 163 00:08:38,683 --> 00:08:41,027 If you were to Google this you would find lots of newspaper 164 00:08:41,043 --> 00:08:43,949 headlines saying rare fungus found in such and such place. So 165 00:08:44,012 --> 00:08:46,965 although there are quite a few records across the UK, actually 166 00:08:46,966 --> 00:08:50,105 the UK is one of the most important places in the world 167 00:08:50,277 --> 00:08:53,473 for these kinds of fungi because we've got the habitat for them. 168 00:08:53,913 --> 00:08:56,196 We've got that temperate influence coming across the 169 00:08:56,215 --> 00:09:00,260 Atlantic we get all the rain but it's fairly mild. So in the UK 170 00:09:01,404 --> 00:09:04,467 we've got more of these than anywhere else in the world. And 171 00:09:04,725 --> 00:09:07,748 this in association with a few other species I'll be able to 172 00:09:07,764 --> 00:09:10,686 show you tells you it's a really incredible site. 173 00:09:10,951 --> 00:09:12,514 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: We're not just here to see the violet 174 00:09:12,545 --> 00:09:14,795 coral it supports lots of different fungi. 175 00:09:14,936 --> 00:09:17,233 STEVE HINDLE: That's right and these species tend to form a 176 00:09:17,248 --> 00:09:22,148 community. So this particular one, the violet coral is the 177 00:09:22,268 --> 00:09:25,771 only one of the corals which is on the International Union 178 00:09:26,193 --> 00:09:30,513 Conservation of Nature red list. So that's the global red list. 179 00:09:31,380 --> 00:09:34,060 So you might hear about species that threaten with extinction 180 00:09:34,122 --> 00:09:36,779 like a polar bear, snow leopard, giant panda. 181 00:09:37,404 --> 00:09:39,779 This is in the same category of those. This is vulnerable to 182 00:09:39,825 --> 00:09:46,013 extinction. So in this area, West Yorkshire, I've recorded 32 183 00:09:46,154 --> 00:09:49,091 species which are vulnerable to extinction. Two species which 184 00:09:49,107 --> 00:09:52,001 are endangered. So these are really, really special. 185 00:09:52,742 --> 00:09:55,029 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So these are as rare as a snow leopard? 186 00:09:55,408 --> 00:09:57,654 STEVE HINDLE: They're as threatened as a snow leopard. So 187 00:09:57,693 --> 00:10:02,482 the population may be less or more. There is a species which I 188 00:10:02,502 --> 00:10:06,547 found in a nearby field which there's only one record of in 189 00:10:06,548 --> 00:10:06,945 the world. 190 00:10:07,648 --> 00:10:10,227 But we don't know how threatened it is because we've not been 191 00:10:10,312 --> 00:10:13,711 able to monitor population trends. So that's what the 192 00:10:14,195 --> 00:10:15,117 threat level tells you. 193 00:10:15,118 --> 00:10:18,344 It's about how quickly that population is declining. So 194 00:10:18,391 --> 00:10:20,219 these are disappearing fast. 195 00:10:20,578 --> 00:10:22,906 So it's only when somebody who knows what they're looking for 196 00:10:23,016 --> 00:10:25,859 comes in, looks around and can find these things that we then 197 00:10:25,969 --> 00:10:28,875 start to learn the value of these sites and what we've got. 198 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:30,881 And it's really important that we do that. 199 00:10:31,062 --> 00:10:34,844 So if people are out and about in grassland, particularly, and 200 00:10:34,985 --> 00:10:38,172 see red mushrooms, yellow mushrooms, orange mushrooms, 201 00:10:38,211 --> 00:10:41,133 they're going to be the waxcaps. And it's really important that 202 00:10:41,134 --> 00:10:46,321 they try and let somebody know about that. Or Plantlife have an 203 00:10:46,352 --> 00:10:50,977 app called the Waxcap app, and you can record then the colours 204 00:10:51,102 --> 00:10:51,899 that you're finding. 205 00:10:51,930 --> 00:10:54,899 So you don't need to know what the species is, you just need to 206 00:10:54,930 --> 00:10:57,946 think, that's a red one, that's a yellow one, that's a green 207 00:10:58,055 --> 00:11:01,457 one. And then they are able to use that information to kind of 208 00:11:01,617 --> 00:11:04,337 map and find out where the hot spots are. And then somebody 209 00:11:04,396 --> 00:11:07,615 like me can go into those hot spots, do a survey, and then we 210 00:11:07,616 --> 00:11:09,818 get a real sense of what the value is of that site. 211 00:11:10,576 --> 00:11:12,521 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Got you. Let's move on. But as we go 212 00:11:13,396 --> 00:11:17,193 across the field and we start zigzagging back and forth, just 213 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:19,037 tell me what a waxcap is. 214 00:11:20,146 --> 00:11:26,380 STEVE HINDLE: So the waxcaps are mushrooms and they are the kind 215 00:11:26,381 --> 00:11:31,107 of classic example of these kind of fungi. So, some of them are 216 00:11:31,108 --> 00:11:34,451 quite large you can see them from the road and they're also 217 00:11:35,053 --> 00:11:40,420 the easiest to identify. And in fact I've created an app which 218 00:11:40,436 --> 00:11:43,037 you can get for iPhones and Android which is called Peachy 219 00:11:43,100 --> 00:11:47,600 Steve's UK Waxcaps and if you think you have a wax cap that 220 00:11:47,647 --> 00:11:51,193 will help you then to identify which one it is or give you a 221 00:11:51,350 --> 00:11:52,053 pretty good idea. 222 00:11:52,693 --> 00:11:54,631 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Can I ask you a question that someone who 223 00:11:54,693 --> 00:11:57,810 was more au fait with fungi and mushrooms probably wouldn't need 224 00:11:57,830 --> 00:12:02,173 to ask. But why are they so brightly coloured? Why are they 225 00:12:02,255 --> 00:12:05,775 so unusual in their shape? Why are they so different in nature 226 00:12:05,798 --> 00:12:06,478 to anything else? 227 00:12:07,658 --> 00:12:09,564 STEVE HINDLE: It's a really good question and it's one that we 228 00:12:09,744 --> 00:12:14,931 don't have the answer to. It may be that some of them may rely on 229 00:12:14,932 --> 00:12:18,009 a relationship with an insect, potentially, that's attracted to 230 00:12:18,134 --> 00:12:21,212 them. But I really don't think we know the answer to that. And 231 00:12:21,213 --> 00:12:22,478 the colours can change. 232 00:12:22,540 --> 00:12:26,698 So the Parrot Waxcap is typically green and yellow. If 233 00:12:26,699 --> 00:12:30,300 we have a look on my app, if we go to the Parrot Waxcap entry, 234 00:12:31,261 --> 00:12:35,546 this is a Blue Parrot Waxcap. It's a very rare colour form. 235 00:12:35,850 --> 00:12:38,530 Yeah, this is the typical form, the green and yellow. 236 00:12:39,053 --> 00:12:40,569 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Green and yellow, they're quite bright 237 00:12:40,632 --> 00:12:43,335 colours again, aren't they? And they've got that, the underside 238 00:12:43,336 --> 00:12:46,913 of it is the same as you'd see in a mushroom that you bought in 239 00:12:46,914 --> 00:12:47,632 the supermarket. 240 00:12:48,163 --> 00:12:50,382 STEVE HINDLE: Yeah, so they're called the gills or lamellae. 241 00:12:50,882 --> 00:12:55,728 And in the waxcaps, they tend to be quite widely spaced. So if 242 00:12:55,729 --> 00:12:58,709 you compare that to your field mushroom, it's got very, very 243 00:12:58,808 --> 00:13:02,068 crowded gills. Here you can see the space in between each one. 244 00:13:02,931 --> 00:13:06,674 But one that I'd found, it was on a frosty day and the frost 245 00:13:06,814 --> 00:13:10,049 seems to change the colours of things. And this one had every 246 00:13:10,111 --> 00:13:13,767 colour of the rainbow in order from top to bottom. 247 00:13:14,189 --> 00:13:14,736 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: In order? 248 00:13:14,830 --> 00:13:17,252 STEVE HINDLE: In order. When we think of the colours of the 249 00:13:17,253 --> 00:13:20,377 rainbow, that's to do with light being refracted. But why should 250 00:13:20,814 --> 00:13:24,926 these pigments... Go through that same colour change in 251 00:13:24,966 --> 00:13:26,287 order. That makes no sense to me. 252 00:13:27,328 --> 00:13:30,270 I just want to show you one of the waxcaps. Now, the waxcaps 253 00:13:30,371 --> 00:13:32,973 generally are brightly coloured, but this one isn't. 254 00:13:35,395 --> 00:13:39,942 It'd be very easy to mistake this one for a lump of dung. 255 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:41,598 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It does look like a lump of dung, 256 00:13:41,660 --> 00:13:42,098 doesn't it? 257 00:13:42,099 --> 00:13:46,426 STEVE HINDLE: It does, yeah. So, but when we turn it over, then 258 00:13:46,473 --> 00:13:47,067 you can see... 259 00:13:47,785 --> 00:13:48,317 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: The gills. 260 00:13:48,442 --> 00:13:51,067 STEVE HINDLE: The gills. We've got the gills, we've got this 261 00:13:51,129 --> 00:13:56,066 mushroom form, and actually... If we just bruise the gills a 262 00:13:56,088 --> 00:13:58,990 little bit, these are still grey, then we can see them just 263 00:13:59,029 --> 00:13:59,830 start to turn red. 264 00:14:03,475 --> 00:14:04,834 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: We've moved into another field. 265 00:14:04,975 --> 00:14:07,154 STEVE HINDLE: We have. This field is particularly good, 266 00:14:07,217 --> 00:14:11,240 actually, for one of the waxcap species, which is the crimson 267 00:14:11,303 --> 00:14:16,412 Waxcap. And the crimson waxcap is another species which is on 268 00:14:16,647 --> 00:14:20,647 the IUCN vulnerable list. So this one, again, is vulnerable 269 00:14:20,648 --> 00:14:25,492 to extinction. But It's one which can be quite abundant, and 270 00:14:25,533 --> 00:14:28,535 particularly in this field, there can be loads of them. 271 00:14:28,894 --> 00:14:30,312 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So it's not very different from the field 272 00:14:30,375 --> 00:14:31,113 where we've been? 273 00:14:31,293 --> 00:14:34,535 STEVE HINDLE: It's not, no. And I couldn't tell you why it is 274 00:14:34,536 --> 00:14:38,316 that we would find one species predominating in one field and 275 00:14:38,355 --> 00:14:41,058 not in another field. It could be something to do with the 276 00:14:41,059 --> 00:14:44,590 hydrology, you know, the way the water's moving, or nutrient 277 00:14:44,621 --> 00:14:47,511 levels, the depth of the soil, there's all kinds of factors. 278 00:14:48,136 --> 00:14:52,481 But actually, just over there, on the brow of the hill, those 279 00:14:52,862 --> 00:14:57,392 big kind of red things yeah can we get a bit closer let's hone 280 00:14:57,412 --> 00:15:00,781 in on those and have a close look at them. 281 00:15:04,645 --> 00:15:07,629 Right, ok. You can see on the top, they've got this kind of 282 00:15:07,707 --> 00:15:10,208 quite fleshy coloured... 283 00:15:10,208 --> 00:15:11,672 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It's like a tongue. It looks like a tongue 284 00:15:11,734 --> 00:15:11,969 to me. 285 00:15:12,109 --> 00:15:14,234 STEVE HINDLE: Yeah, well, that's it. They're very kind of fleshy 286 00:15:14,297 --> 00:15:17,703 coloured. But as they fade, they can look quite visceral. And in 287 00:15:17,781 --> 00:15:19,562 the way that you're saying it looks like a tongue, that's 288 00:15:19,594 --> 00:15:23,422 because it's got a greasy kind of feel to it. And that's to do 289 00:15:23,484 --> 00:15:24,938 with the cell structure on the top. 290 00:15:25,109 --> 00:15:27,391 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: But also the kind of shape of it as well. 291 00:15:27,609 --> 00:15:29,344 It's not a perfect circle, is it? 292 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:31,801 STEVE HINDLE: Some of them are nice and round, some of them are 293 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,323 a little more kind of off kilter. But if we just pick one 294 00:15:35,362 --> 00:15:38,221 out here and turn it over, just look at the stem with all of 295 00:15:38,245 --> 00:15:42,284 these kind of red fibrils on. And that's a really distinctive 296 00:15:42,463 --> 00:15:46,049 feature of this species. Most of them have got a smooth stem. 297 00:15:46,081 --> 00:15:49,424 There's a few with a kind of, this is called fibrillo stem, 298 00:15:49,487 --> 00:15:52,643 but this one with the kind of yellow base and then these red 299 00:15:53,003 --> 00:15:57,221 fibres over the top of it. Very specific to this species. So 300 00:15:57,253 --> 00:16:00,305 that's the Crimson Waxcap. And in fact, I've got one other 301 00:16:00,365 --> 00:16:02,287 thing that I'd like to show you, because I think this one's going 302 00:16:02,288 --> 00:16:02,988 to blow you away. 303 00:16:03,188 --> 00:16:07,035 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Okay. I'm starting to understand why, when 304 00:16:07,036 --> 00:16:11,598 you talked about how you started walking Meg here, the dog, and 305 00:16:11,599 --> 00:16:15,113 you started noticing the nature around you, and you saw a tree, 306 00:16:15,114 --> 00:16:17,988 you knew what it was, and then you moved on to something else, 307 00:16:17,989 --> 00:16:20,551 and then you moved on to the fungi. They're so varied from 308 00:16:20,598 --> 00:16:23,285 one another, aren't they? They're so pretty, and the 309 00:16:23,348 --> 00:16:25,145 colours are so bright and vibrant. 310 00:16:25,285 --> 00:16:27,754 STEVE HINDLE: Exactly, yeah. I mean, the forms and the colours. 311 00:16:28,148 --> 00:16:31,210 Yeah I'm not sure exactly what it is that's so captivating 312 00:16:31,251 --> 00:16:35,636 about them but just hooked me in and some of them as well have 313 00:16:35,655 --> 00:16:38,601 got incredible smells so there's one which is called the 314 00:16:38,702 --> 00:16:44,249 Cedarwood Waxcap and actually we had a staff day and we do a kind 315 00:16:44,250 --> 00:16:46,609 of show and tell so we all bring something in. 316 00:16:46,609 --> 00:16:49,874 And this Cedarwood Waxcap, what I tend to do is to help with the 317 00:16:49,890 --> 00:16:53,856 training sessions when I find one I stick it in a little tin. 318 00:16:53,856 --> 00:16:55,959 And then after a couple of days, I take it out of the tin, and 319 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:57,959 then I stick another one in the tin, because I'm finding them 320 00:16:57,979 --> 00:16:58,401 quite a bit. 321 00:16:58,842 --> 00:17:03,162 And the tin then takes on this smell. And so, in our show and 322 00:17:03,186 --> 00:17:09,287 tell, I passed this empty tin around, and said, so, you know, 323 00:17:10,178 --> 00:17:13,803 what does this smell of? And interestingly, about 50% of 324 00:17:13,818 --> 00:17:15,115 people just can't smell anything at all. 325 00:17:15,381 --> 00:17:18,522 So they're just, nothing, there's nothing there. But those 326 00:17:18,523 --> 00:17:21,537 that can smell it, it's absolutely amazing. And it's the 327 00:17:21,678 --> 00:17:27,020 smell that they used to use toasted birch oil to cure 328 00:17:27,139 --> 00:17:30,922 Russian leather. And they use that in some men's luxury 329 00:17:31,004 --> 00:17:31,707 fragrances. 330 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,426 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: What's the reason why we don't know why 331 00:17:34,465 --> 00:17:35,067 they smell? 332 00:17:35,465 --> 00:17:37,910 STEVE HINDLE: So some of them smell of honey. There's quite a 333 00:17:37,911 --> 00:17:41,801 few that have a honey smell. And there's one that they say smells 334 00:17:41,802 --> 00:17:42,582 of bedbugs. 335 00:17:43,176 --> 00:17:43,488 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Nice. 336 00:17:43,629 --> 00:17:45,582 STEVE HINDLE: Which fortunately most of us don't know what 337 00:17:45,613 --> 00:17:49,379 bedbugs smell of. But it's a kind of oily smell. And then 338 00:17:49,380 --> 00:17:51,879 there's the Garlic Waxcap which has a little bit of a smell of 339 00:17:51,926 --> 00:17:55,711 garlic. They're just so kind of sensory, you know, with the 340 00:17:55,832 --> 00:17:59,215 feelings and the smells. And some of them have got taste to 341 00:17:59,273 --> 00:18:02,316 them as well. And the caps are going to be slippery or 342 00:18:02,941 --> 00:18:06,918 glutinous or dry. And yeah, it's just great. 343 00:18:07,301 --> 00:18:09,027 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Well, we're nearly back to where we started. 344 00:18:09,059 --> 00:18:11,027 Have you got anything else you need to show me? 345 00:18:11,527 --> 00:18:13,012 STEVE HINDLE: This one last thing that I want to show you, 346 00:18:13,512 --> 00:18:17,168 which I just found today. It's a really rare one. It's absolutely 347 00:18:17,246 --> 00:18:21,715 stunning. Let's see if you can spot it over there in the grass. 348 00:18:22,128 --> 00:18:26,433 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Okay, so, I mean, there's a little speck of 349 00:18:26,434 --> 00:18:30,359 blue among the green grass, so I'm guessing that's what we're 350 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:31,320 heading for. That's it, yeah. 351 00:18:32,156 --> 00:18:36,546 STEVE HINDLE: So this one is called Entoloma Madidum, or the 352 00:18:36,624 --> 00:18:41,468 Brightsky Pinkgill. It's a really kind of intense blue. Now 353 00:18:41,484 --> 00:18:44,827 this one's a nice, young, fresh one, but you can also see, if we 354 00:18:44,843 --> 00:18:47,617 turn it over, you can see that kind of pink colour in the 355 00:18:47,617 --> 00:18:47,676 gills. 356 00:18:47,676 --> 00:18:49,778 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: So it's very fleshy pink, isn't it? 357 00:18:49,858 --> 00:18:52,020 STEVE HINDLE: Yeah, and so they're called the Pinkgills, 358 00:18:52,942 --> 00:18:56,285 but the gills don't start out pink, but the spores are pink, 359 00:18:56,668 --> 00:18:59,567 much like the field mushroom, which when you get a young one, 360 00:18:59,568 --> 00:19:02,832 it's got pink gills, but then they turn dark over time. That's 361 00:19:02,871 --> 00:19:06,770 because it's got dark brown, black spores. This has got pink 362 00:19:06,848 --> 00:19:07,254 spores. 363 00:19:08,317 --> 00:19:10,817 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Let's just, can we just for a moment talk 364 00:19:10,863 --> 00:19:14,684 about the vibrancy of this blue. I mean, that is a blue you would 365 00:19:14,822 --> 00:19:16,725 not expect to find in nature, is it? 366 00:19:16,764 --> 00:19:20,025 STEVE HINDLE: It's not, no. And again, you asked before, why? 367 00:19:20,307 --> 00:19:23,713 Why do we have these colours? And we just don't know. You 368 00:19:23,728 --> 00:19:27,689 would think if you were trying to mind your own business and 369 00:19:27,721 --> 00:19:31,174 drop your spores without getting eaten or squashed, being bright 370 00:19:31,221 --> 00:19:33,408 blue wouldn't necessarily be a good idea. 371 00:19:33,814 --> 00:19:38,799 But it may be that animals go, bright blue thing, that's not 372 00:19:38,846 --> 00:19:42,653 edible. So I'll ignore it. I'm not entirely sure. You come for 373 00:19:42,653 --> 00:19:43,115 a look Meg. 374 00:19:43,116 --> 00:19:43,314 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Hi Meg. 375 00:19:43,315 --> 00:19:44,995 STEVE HINDLE: You like these as well don't you? 376 00:19:45,638 --> 00:19:47,060 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Is she good at sniffing them out if they've 377 00:19:47,079 --> 00:19:47,259 got... 378 00:19:47,357 --> 00:19:49,122 STEVE HINDLE: Terrible, absolutely. She's no interest in 379 00:19:49,138 --> 00:19:50,279 mushrooms whatsoever. 380 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:51,982 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: But you've just talked about the smells and 381 00:19:52,005 --> 00:19:53,325 in theory that's what dogs do. 382 00:19:53,568 --> 00:19:56,544 STEVE HINDLE: Well, so interestingly last year my 383 00:19:56,568 --> 00:19:59,469 partner and I were out and she found a really rare waxcap 384 00:19:59,469 --> 00:20:01,120 called a Scaly Foot Waxcap. 385 00:20:01,820 --> 00:20:06,383 It was absolutely amazing and I took it home and dried it out 386 00:20:06,863 --> 00:20:11,141 and I had it lying down on the table and I got in touch with 387 00:20:11,281 --> 00:20:14,141 Martin Ainsworth at Kew Gardens and said look I've got this 388 00:20:14,180 --> 00:20:16,984 fantastic sample of this rare waxcap would you like the 389 00:20:16,985 --> 00:20:20,328 specimen and he said looks amazing please send it to me I'd 390 00:20:20,391 --> 00:20:23,438 love to have that in our fungarium and I went into the 391 00:20:23,439 --> 00:20:25,969 room the next morning gone. Meg had eaten it. 392 00:20:26,208 --> 00:20:29,152 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: No. So she sniffed that one out then. 393 00:20:29,491 --> 00:20:31,353 STEVE HINDLE: She sniffed that one out. And she did eat a 394 00:20:31,372 --> 00:20:34,532 couple the other day, which have got a bit of a honey scent. So 395 00:20:34,556 --> 00:20:38,142 she maybe thought, they smell sweet, I'll have those. But 396 00:20:38,196 --> 00:20:40,439 otherwise, generally, she's not interested. 397 00:20:40,603 --> 00:20:42,704 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Oh, bless her. Right, my knees are getting 398 00:20:42,767 --> 00:20:44,204 soggy, so shall we stand up? 399 00:20:44,548 --> 00:20:47,782 STEVE HINDLE: But again, this is another one which is threatened 400 00:20:47,783 --> 00:20:52,970 with extinction. And this was one which was known as the Big 401 00:20:53,095 --> 00:20:56,780 Blue Pinkgill, Entoloma Bloxamii. But then they noticed 402 00:20:56,781 --> 00:20:59,560 that actually there were quite a few different forms of this. 403 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,322 And so they did DNA work and they split it into four 404 00:21:02,380 --> 00:21:05,400 different species. And those four different species, we've 405 00:21:05,423 --> 00:21:10,103 recorded three of them in this area. But this one is certainly 406 00:21:10,322 --> 00:21:12,259 the most amazing one to look at. 407 00:21:12,463 --> 00:21:13,869 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: It's incredible, isn't it? It's 408 00:21:13,900 --> 00:21:14,759 almost like a Smurf. 409 00:21:15,869 --> 00:21:18,103 STEVE HINDLE: Yeah, it is like a Smurf. I never thought of that, 410 00:21:18,150 --> 00:21:19,666 but yeah, that'll do. 411 00:21:20,072 --> 00:21:22,088 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Well, it's been amazing to meet you. Thank 412 00:21:22,089 --> 00:21:24,025 you so much for showing us what you do. 413 00:21:24,463 --> 00:21:25,150 STEVE HINDLE: Yeah, pleasure. 414 00:21:25,448 --> 00:21:26,649 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: I guess we're going to leave you to 415 00:21:27,390 --> 00:21:29,633 zigzag some more, are we? Yeah. And I'll head back. 416 00:21:29,992 --> 00:21:30,152 STEVE HINDLE: Sure. 417 00:21:30,332 --> 00:21:30,914 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Where I came from. 418 00:21:30,915 --> 00:21:31,375 STEVE HINDLE: Enjoy your day. 419 00:21:31,574 --> 00:21:32,734 CLAIRE HICKINBOTHAM: Thank you so much. It's been really 420 00:21:32,797 --> 00:21:33,258 interesting. 421 00:21:35,734 --> 00:21:39,140 Thanks for listening to this episode of Nature Fix. If you 422 00:21:39,242 --> 00:21:42,297 love your nature, why not check out our other nature podcast, 423 00:21:42,390 --> 00:21:47,094 Wild Tales, with Rosie Holdsworth and Ajay Tegala. And 424 00:21:47,109 --> 00:21:49,469 I look forward to seeing you next month as we head outside 425 00:21:49,470 --> 00:21:52,859 again for another fix of nature. Bye for now.