The delicate dog violets are carpeting banks at the moment. They're a good ancient woodland indicator as well as crucial food source for several threatened fritillary butterfly species.
Beautiful carpets of wood anemones in Cotton Dell are good indicators of an ancient woodland site. They spread only about 6 feet in a hundred years so these patches have been around for a long time!
Flowers are covering some gorse bushes at the moment making them glow in the sunshine. I saw these ones in the valley along the river from East Wall Farm near Oakamoor.
It's feeling more like winter here at Coombes Valley with the arrival of fieldfare, redwing and brambling.
This year’s initial moth traps at Coombes valley are far from sparse – containing a selection of moths, crane flies, and beetles.
Thank you to all the people who came along over the last two days to pull Balsam in Diimmingsdale. We have tackled areas on the paths above Red Road and the Ramblers and around the chained oak.
Last week I was with the Churnet Valley volunteer gang at a new location near Grindon helping a local farmer control some scrub. The scrub has been threatening to take over some rare species rich limestone grassland, so the landowner has a proportion of the small blackthorn bushes down.
The last few weeks the volunteer group have been carrying out some woodland management at St Edwards Park near Cheddleton. The woodland hear hasn’t seen any management for some time.
What our area has is a quiet hidden community spirit, everyone knows each other and wants to help each other. It is also very welcoming to outsiders - I come from the south and believe me this is no mean thing. We have lovely neighbours and a lovely town.
Pictures taken in Dimmingsdale, in the Churnet Valley. Park at the Ramblers Retreat and do the circular walk from there along the stream and lakes. It is so peaceful, and full of interesting trees and plants, you can lose yourself for a while but not feel totally isolated.
