Tales of the riverbank

Returning from my walk, I left the Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Dowley Gap and cut down Wagon Lane, to join the River Aire. The river meanders through the playing fields belonging to Bradford and Bingley rugby club, and then through an area called Ryeloaf Meadows, a wet woodland managed for conservation by Bradford Council's Countryside Service. It was staked out by 'eco-warriors' at one time, seeking to prevent the building of the Bingley relief road, which now passes through on stilts. Some years later, despite the faint hum of traffic from above, the area seems to me to have recovered well. Growth is lush. In parts, trying to follow the footpath is like trekking through a jungle!

This pretty plant is Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). It's a plant that I overlooked for years, assuming it was a variety of lady lace, but it is a different genus. It grows profusely in wet places. It's an interesting plant with many traditional uses; it was once used as a strewing herb, thrown on floors in homes and churches to scent them. 

There were quite a few of these brown butterflies too. They had brown velvety upperwings with a few spots underneath. I'm not skilled at butterfly identification but I think it is a Ringlet.