Lovely walk in the parched countryside with some like-minded folk

WE meet our friends from the Ashmolean Natural History Society of Oxfordshire in the car park of the Unicorn pub in Peppard Hill.

The manager is happy for us to leave our cars there as I have booked a table for eight for after our two-hour excursion.

It is always lovely to meet up with old and new friends, especially those with a shared interest in everything botanical and zoological. In fact, Rosemary and I are in the company of true experts.

I’ve been studying and learning about the natural world all my life but there is always something new to discover, admire and, hopefully, understand. The relationship between trees, flowering plants, birds, insects and other creatures can be complex.

We set off along Colmore Lane, passing exquisite pasture to our left and some outstanding buildings to our right.

After a trek of about 15 minutes, made worthwhile by the scenery on either side, we reach a waymarked bridleway to our left that leads into an ancient patch of rare Chiltern heathland.

It is quite a marvel, full of heather (Calluna vulgaris) and gorse (Ulex europaeus). We hear the rattle of grasshoppers and see butterflies flitting about.

Much of the vegetation has dried up. Normally luxuriant mosses on tree trunks have turned to near-dust and woodbine has shrivelled to a crisp.

Most of the young trees seem to be holding out as there is much underlying water here. There are silver and downy birches, oaks, beeches and aspens with leaves that tinkle in the slightest breeze.

The bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) on both sides of our path looks a bit tatty and dry but is still alive. It’s a resilient plant that never gives up.

Some trees stand in the centre of our path like sentinels and I think how easy it would be to hide out here with all the cover and countless pathways.

This spot is surrounded by young silver birch (Betula pendula) and pedunculate oak trees (Quercus robur) which are encroaching but it will remain open as it is maintained by conservators.

There is an amazing variety of trees here, from goat willow (Salix caprea) to crab apple (Malus syvestris), as well as those Chiltern standards, beech and oak. It smells lovely, of course.

We come across a rowan tree laden with orange berries, food for the birds and a lovely sight.

This is one of my favourite places and everyone in our party seems to be enjoying it, which makes me happy. It is great to share such lovely surroundings with good company. After about half an hour we pass a huge spread of seeding hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica) to emerge into a lane that runs from our right from Stoke Row Road towards the crater-filled Colmore Lane.

Reaching the end of the ramshackle made-up road surface past Barn Farm, I show the group the largest colony of broad-leaved helleborines (Epipactis helleborine) that I know of. Jerry, the only other man in the group, counts 31 plants that he can see without treading on them.

Even though the flowers are over and the plants are now fruiting, it is a rewarding and reassuring sight as the plants are not that common and quite beautiful when in full flower. I love the way that the leaves spiral around the stems.

We meander around an old road salt depot where the remaining pile of brown-tinged salt is covered with grasses.

It is full of common figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) and scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) while small silver birch trees protrude from cracks in the concrete.

We move on via another bridleway and then stop to examine some tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) bearing red berries. A little further on beyond some pendulous sedge (Carex pendula), a small pond popular with wild animals has nearly dried up.

Normally we’d see some deer here but there are none today, although we hear something rustling in the undergrowth.

We enter one of my favourite woodland glades, where I’d hoped to see many wildflowers but, like everywhere else, the ground is parched. Our disappointment is partly made up for by the flitting butterflies and melodic birdsong.

I spot what I think to be some redshank (Persicaria maculosa) in a damp patch but after a nibble on the leaves, one of our group, Camilla, identifies it as water-pepper (Persicaria hydropiper). I told you I was still learning.

We walk past some ancient beech coppice to our right with Burnt Platt, Forestry Commission woodland, to our left. We stop for a moment to admire an old boundary line bejewelled by some gorgeous trees before heading down to the valley floor.

At the bottom, we admire a wild service tree which is not very old but well-established. Was it planted here or did it arrive of its own accord? My friend Sally Rankin informs me that it is the only specimen to be recorded in the Nettlebed, Kingwood and Peppard commons.

Colmore Lane is normally six inches deep in mud but today it’s a dust bowl.

We head eastwards towards the pub while on the lookout for another rare orchid, the violet helleborine (Epipactis purpurata).

Janet finds one in flower and looking good. Well done.

At the pub we sit outside in the shade for lunch. The food is lovely, the pesky wasps are not.

Afterwards, we part company after a most enjoyable time and agree to meet up again in the autumn. I’ll come up with a suitable location.

The next day Rosemary and I take my mother out for a shopping trip. She has not been long out of hospital.

On the way to Henley, we spot a dead badger at the side of the Reading road at Shiplake Cross. What a shame, poor animal.

Thankfully, some badgers are digging holes with vigour in our back garden, where they are perfectly safe. Phew!

vincent.ruane@hotmail.com