A warm, dullish morning for our first spring wildflower walk of the season; after two years of lockdown we really appreciated the companionship. The path into the woods was dry and well-trod and our first treat was this delightful clump of goldilocks buttercups. Much more profuse than remembered and obligingly alongside the path. 
Harder to see was this lords and ladies amongst the grass.
Coming into the woodland the early dog violet and common dog violet were hard to spot as already the dried leaf litter was covered in grass and emerging greenery but we did manage to find quite a few, the bluebells were well advanced for mid April.
Along the path we saw clumps of wood anemones and a spurge laurel, neither spurge or laurel but a member of the Daphne family and highly poisonous particularly the berries.
Going through the gate and onto the banking there were a few red-tailed bumblebees nectaring on the ground ivy and celandine, the mix of blue and yellow beautiful in the late morning sunshine.
Richard Brook, for many years our Conservation Officer, died, aged 74, a year ago on 20 April, 2017. I showed some of his slides of local wetland habitats on members’ night, including this surprisingly open view of the top end of Newmillerdam, as it was in 1973.
By coincidence in yesterday’s Gardener’s World, on BBC2, Nick Bailey did a piece on daffodil breeding, interviewing Johnny Walkers, Honorary Vice-President of the Daffodil Society at Hever Castle, Kent, so, as I’d been in touch with him via Twitter, I told him of the coincidence of it being the anniversary of Richard’s death.
Richard Brook, conservationist, plant breeder and 60s music fanatic, who joined the Society in the 1960s and served as excursion secretary and later conservation officer, died on 20 April, aged 74. Extracts from his diary (below) were compiled by Richard’s second cousin, Ann Brook and read at his funeral on 8 May by her sister Philippa.
