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.
Tag Archives: wild flowers
Wormstall Woods wild flowers
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.