The Calm and the Storm

Another extraordinary Spring day here in Gloucestershire so it was a return to the Daffodil Way to walk a different woods around Kilcot.

Been a good lambing season too:







The other fascination about walks here and in the Forest are the unexpected finds you keep coming upon. At the tail end of one field was the remains of the ill fated Newent coal mine - 

click to enlarge

We took a detour to wander a stretch of the Brokemoorhead Brook and a few miles on, would you believe, we ended up back at the Oxenhall tea tent and downed another welcoming bowl of broth before retracing our steps :-p

A strange coincidence. As we left Betty Dawes Wood yesterday a convoy of classic cars went by - Ford Anglias, Minis, Rileys et al. Today as we arrived, again, at Dymock Church for tea n cakes there was a rally on the green of Morgan three wheelers. Loud, brassy and just an amazing sight!

Often started with a side mounted starting handle the front mounted open twin cylinder engines ROARED into life Though a draw back seemed to be a lack of reverse gear so when one owner failed to complete a dog leg onto the main road he had to be pushed backward on an opposite lock in order to complete the manoeuvre :)

Spring is Sprung finale - Gloucester's Golden Triangle

'Tis the time of daffodil weekends in the golden triangle in Gloucestershire. It's amazing to think this time last year there was a frost on the ground and most of the daffs were tight in bud. This year at Dymock, Kempsley and Oxenhalls they are blooming in profusion:

Nature was certainly in a mood to show off with butterflies, red kites and spring lambs:

Oh to be in England now that the spring is here :)

Gloucestershire’s Golden Triangle

The Daffodil Way in the Leadon Valley, on the border of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, is a carpet of gold in March and April. There are few places in Britain where you can see flowers growing in the wild in such profusion. The route also passes through pretty apple orchards.

 
The daffodils, once grown for market, have naturalised in the fields and woodland at Oxenhall, Kempley and Dymock . Villages take turns at providing teas and local produce at the weekend. The attractive village of Dymock has a lovely church with an exhibition about the 'Dymock Poets' who included Rupert Brooke an Robert Frost. During the daffodil season, teas are often served in to church.
 









 
But it’s not just in the woods where daffodils are to be found. We have a number of interesting homegrown ones too :)
 

A Host of Golden

It’s daffodil time again on the golden triangle in Gloucestershire.A real sign that spring has sprung - that and the clocks going forward :) 

Also got surrounded by a large flock of v noisy sheep - think they had trained with Ewekida in the Forest of Dean - but they soon recognised a fellow woolley, abided by EweN resolution Baa13 and ceased hostilities.

Also came across the church of St Edward the Confessor (must've confessed some to get a sainthood) but has been named the miniature cathedral to the arts, and you can see why.

Also can be seen much of the famous Gloucestershire mistletoe - a kiss under every tree :)

The Golden Triangle

The Daffodil Way is an eight-mile walk covered in wild daffodils which grow in a small area of north Gloucestershire and south Herefordshire. At one time they used to carpet the fields, but modern farming methods have decimated them over the last 50 years.
It's hard to imagine that in the 1930s special excursion trains brought thousands of Londoners to admire them each year. Sadly, the railway which brought the day trippers is long gone, but the daffodils remain, though in nothing like the same profusion.
Also en route is St Mary's churchyard at Dymock. As well as great tea n cakes there is an interesting display about the Dymock poets. St Mary's is part Saxon masonry, laid in a herringbone pattern, but dates mostly from the 14th Century. Dymock stands on the site of a Roman township and a lime avenue in the churchyard marks the line of a Roman road.



The daffodiles are starting to bloom now but are best viewed mid to late March. A different village hosts each weekend providing cream teas and hospitality.