Viola tricolor, Wild pansy 10 May Wild pansy and lark-song in a wild wind. Up on Smearsett Scar pansies in the rough moorland grasses took a thrashing. Limestone is the character of the place but the wind gave us such a buffeting we walked briskly above the Scar, scarcely stopping to admire landscape features. A hazy day, and the quality of light was less spectacular than when I was here in early February. Viola tricolor was the motif of the day on the moors. What a contrast with Wharfe Wood and Oxenber Wood, enclosed in field walls of limestone. A flora wonderful to see. The lost glory of an English wood, here lovingly conserved.
Top three images on 10 May. Lower five 3 February, in different light and with snow on Pen Y Ghent .
We climbed a stile into Wharfe Wood and the flowers of this historic wood pasture took my breath away. Outcrops of limestone pavement blazoned with primroses, with early purple orchids, and carpets of bluebells and wild garlic.
The wind was far too strong for butterflies, but coppicing provides open glades rich in flowers to attract them. We see freshly cut wood and piles of brashings, dead wood habitat. A long curving barrier of cut branches also serves for visitor management. It’s a discreet way of ensuring we keep to the paths and do not stray.
In Oxenber Wood there are cowlips and oxlips and bluebells galore.
Having come here in February the woods in May and a revelation.
The wind was far too strong for butterflies, but coppicing provides open glades rich in flowers to attract them. We see freshly cut wood and piles of brashings, dead wood habitat. A long curving barrier of cut branches also serves for visitor management. It’s a discreet way of ensuring we keep to the paths and do not stray.
In Oxenber Wood there are cowlips and oxlips and bluebells galore.
Having come here in February the woods in May and a revelation.
Limestone with primroses, early purple orchids, violet, bluebells and oxlips in Wharfe Wood and Oxenber Wood
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