One and a half million of them and not a forked tongue in sight, thankfully. The snake’s head fritillary flower is nationally rare but 80% of what’s left in the UK grows in North Meadow, a national nature reserve at Cricklade near Cirencester. OK, I have to admit that this is nowhere near Stroud. Yes, yes, OK, I admit it’s not even in Gloucestershire but just over the border in Wiltshire. However, this spring spectacle is worth the 45 minute drive from Stroud as there’s virtually nowhere else in the country like this, and at least one and a half million of them really do flower every year in the meadow. Plus, the best bit is that you’re literally inches away from the flowers as the footpath takes you through the middle of this floral exuberance.
It’s the last flourish of orchids right now and Rudge Hill near Painswick is an ideal place to enjoy this. The flowers of fragrant orchids and common spotted orchids were starting to finish when I visited the site the other day, but pyramidal orchids are in their prime and looking sooo perky. It’s also peak time for meadow flowers and there are more flowers than you can shake a stick at showing themselves off in the sun with the accompanying butterflies dancing around.
Added to all this is a fantastic 180 degree view from the top, taking in Painswick, the church, Sheepscombe and into the distance along the Painswick valley. It’s such a sublime site, especially on a sunny day, that I dare you to not to break into a ‘Sound of Music’ moment: you know the one – the opening scene where Julie Andrews runs through the meadow on the mountainside, arms outstretched singing ‘The hills are alive….’. And then you can recover your composure in the fabulous Edgemoor Inn just across the road. So this is 4 star wildlife watching!
The roll-call of flowers is captivating as are their names: fairy flax, rest-harrow, yellow rattle, common scabious, bird’s foot trefoil, heath bedstraw, wild thyme, centuary, dyer’s greenweed, horseshoe vetch, rock rose, milkwort, lady’s bedstraw…I counted over 25 different species in flower the other day.
There were also twayblades – one of the orchids but easily missed as it has a flower stalk of small, green flowers. Look for two very broad leaves at ground level – these are the only leaves it has and the flower stalk grows upwards from the middle where they join. The name twayblade comes from the old English words for two and leaves.
You won’t miss the butterflies though that are flitting around everywhere. This hot, sunny weather is ideal for them. To have a good chance of seeing them, visit the reserve earlier in the morning before they’ve had the opportunity to really warm up. Once that happens, they zip about like bikes at the TT Races and it can be difficult to discover what they are as they won’t stay still. Flower spotting sometimes has a lot going for it! I saw marbled whites, meadow browns, common blues, and small heath. I didn’t see the Duke of Burgundy butterfly, however, which is rare now in the UK and declining in numbers alarmingly. Rudge Hill is a perfect spot for them and thankfully they’re flourishing here.
Hurrah! Another opportunity to write about one of my favourite places in Stroud district. I visited Strawberry Banks a couple of days ago and discovered a profusion of devil’s bit scabious creating a purple tapestry weaving through the grassland of this beautiful, hidden valley. Its delicate, lilac pom-pom flower nods on the top of stem about 2-2.5 feet high, and is primly arranged in pairs (though my wildlife-watching companions disagreed and said it was blue. I often have this argument with people ‘It’s purple’, ‘No, it’s blue’, ‘Don’t be daft, it’s obviously purple’…anyone else go through this when discussing flower-colour? No? Must be my funny eyesight, then. I magnanimously agreed on lilac).
It’s one of the last flowers to still be going strong at this time of year and if the conditions are right (not too much sun in September), it can even carry on into October. How grateful the autumn insects and butterflies must be to have this source of nectar to feed on and, when I visited during a spirit-raising sunny afternoon, there were butterflies in abundance zooming from flower to flower as if they couldn’t get enough of this high energy drink. In just half an hour, I saw commas, peacocks, red admirals, tortoiseshell, and large white butterflies plus heard umpteen grasshoppers and crickets calling.
A Year of discovering Stroud's wildlife 