Ledsham Vale flower walk

There’s nothing better than a walk with friends on a sunny morning and Ledsham Vale was looking fresh and beautiful with plenty of flowers and birdcall and a shiny new YWT sign by the entrance.  Coming along the narrow top path we saw pignut, greater celandine, crosswort, mouse-ear, thyme-leaved sandwort and a bright yellow patch of bulbous buttercup interspersed with rock rose and hawkweed.  The best flowers though are on the steep banking which I’m sure has got steeper as we’ve got older.  Southern marsh orchids were tucked into the grass alongside large patches of milkwort, scrambling up to the second hillock we found what we hoped for, the pasque flower, only the seed heads but the 5 flower heads indicates it is still very much there. Down onto the bottom path twayblade blended into the vegetation and not easy to photograph.  We are hoping for a return visit in late summer early autumn to see the three types of scabious ubiquitous to this ridge of limestone.