Dorset Walks
Ashley Chase
Spring flowers and a surprise in the woods!We'll be concentrating on botany today at this famous site for bluebells. If you've not been here before, prepare for a surprise! |
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| After walking from the cars along an ancient road through farmland we turn off into the woods next to an enormous and very old ash tree. Early Purple Orchids grow in the banks here. The path through the woods is likely to be muddy and slippery but there should be a good display of bluebells. |
© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
The path starts out above a rapidly deepening gully |
© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
English Bluebell |
English Bluebells are getting increasingly rare in the countryside as they hybridise with the introduced Spanish Bluebell. You can tell the real thing by its arched one-sided spike of flowers. In this remote part of Dorset there are no Spaniards - yet! (although there is a historical link with Spain, I bet you don't know what it is!) |
| Pretty soon we'll come across the surprise in the woods. The path then starts to climb uphill through an area thick with Lesser Celandines. |
© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
Lesser Celandines and Bluebells |
© Bob Ford/Nature Portfolio
Sanicle |
Near the top of the wood we find a pond surounded by lush vegetation. The undergrowth hereabouts supports a few plants of Sanicle, a rare plant that is an indicator of ancient woodland. |
| The final stretch back to the cars is out in the open again. We should see Buzzards and one spring day we saw migrating Whimbrel fly overhead, so we'll keep an eye out for anything else that might be going over. | |