You have to get real close to see how beautiful lichen is. You can find it almost anywhere: on walls, tarmac, twigs and stones. I will endeavour to find out the names of some of our commoner types but most are shades of yellow, orange and white.
Air quality is a key reason for the flourishing of lichens and I remember being told about how important the Clean Air Act of 1956 was. I have done some digging and found the following on Wikipedia:
"The Clean Air Act 1956 was passed by Parliament in response to London's Great Smog of 1952 that contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of citizens. The Act introduced a number of measures to reduce air pollution, especially by creating 'smoke control areas' in some towns and cities in which only smokeless fuels could be burnt. By shifting homes' sources of heat towards cleaner coals, electricity, and gas, it reduced the amount of smoke pollution and sulphur dioxide from household fires. Reinforcing these changes, the Act also included measures to relocate power stations away from cities, and for the height of some chimneys to be increased. It was an important milestone in the development of a legal framework to protect the environment."
So there you have it.... lichen is very slow growing so some of the bigger specimens may be over 50 years old. Why not find a patch at home on a wall or something and measure it today. Come back in a years time and how much it has grown! It will not be a lot!
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer