The Lakeland Jungle

It’s been miserable recently, rain, hail and cold winds have made this month a bit of a washout again so far. Today there was a gap in the weather, a day where the sun’s warmth managed to get through despite a cool breeze.

I took a walk along my favorite valley, the Rusland Valley, where I always find peace and happiness all year round, but this time of year is very special, when the Sun shines.

Spring flowers line the roadside and woodland edges all the way in the valley, the dominant colour seems to be white at the moment with Garlic Mustard and Ramsons abundant, two plants that I love the smell of and some leaves from Garlic Mustard always seem to find their way into my sandwiches! The delicate white flowers of Cow Parsley are now opening and the heady scent of Hawthorn is gorgeous as the trees are laden with their sweet flowers.

There is one patch of Snakeweed that is coming into flower now, adding a splash of pink to the roadside. Another pink delight is Herb Robert; the tiny Geranium that grows out of the cold and damp mossy stone walls, the plant often has bright red stems and looks beautiful close up. It’s strange to see people growing Geraniums in their tidy gardens, but the Herb Robert is pulled out and discarded to the compost heap, or poisoned with herbicides as it is an ‘invasive weed!’

There were a few splashes of yellow too from the lovely Meadow Buttercups with their glossy petals and the large flower-heads of the Welsh Poppy that flowers in abundance. There is a small patch of Greater Celandine there too; their yellow petals always stand out from under the shady wall where they grow, their stems omitting a red substance when they are broken, I like this plant and wouldn’t mind it growing in my garden.

Blue is the colour that seems to like the shadier parts of the valley, Green Alkanet, named for the green dye that they produce, flowers under the shade of some trees and a small patch of Bugle has found refuge in a little grassy area under the Beeches. As always at this time of the year the stars of the show were the Bluebells, this is the time when their blue flowers are at their best under the fresh lime-green Beech leaves in the woods. They carpet the woodland floor and on warm days they fill the air with their gorgeous scent.

I wasn’t the only one who was enjoying the Bluebells though, close by me was a Peacock Butterfly and a restless Orange-tip Butterfly who seemed to be searching out the nectar from the Bluebells and Greater Stitchwort. It really is a special time, a time when the woodland is at its best and when I love to sit quiet and soak in the sights, sounds, scents and flavours of the Beech woods.

On the bird front a Buzzard was soaring high above the fields, closely watched by a noisy Raven who made a successful assault by chasing the Buzzard into the trees. Swallows and Swifts were flying around the farm-buildings, while Chaffinch, Blackcap, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff, Nuthatch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were all calling in the woods.

What a beautiful place to be on a sunny morning, I can think of nowhere else in the world where I would rather be on a warm May morning than a Bluebell carpeted Beech wood, if Heaven is anything like this I will die a happy man!

Ramsons - Wild Garlic