One of our closest nature reserves is at Yocklett’s Bank. This is a Kent Wildlife Trust reserve, well known for its wild flowers in spring: not just bluebells, but orchids, violets, primroses and so many other delights of the English springtime. It is located on a chalk escarpment of the North Downs, south of Canterbury, east of Ashford, just off Stone Street, an ancient Roman road that links Canterbury to Lympne.
A couple of weeks ago, we took our daily exercise walk :-) through Yocklett’s Bank to enjoy the spring flowers. It is normally popular at this time of the year, but when we were there it was empty of humans. I had brought my GX-9 with the 12-60mm lens, just in case something caught my eye, but without any intention of turning this into a photographic expedition. As we walked through, we encountered the last of the bluebells, and the evidence of the turning of the time of the year, as the remains of the flowers of late winter gave way to those of spring and early summer. Fly, early purple and lady orchids were all out; twayblades, archangel, dog violet, cowslips and oxslips, stitchwort, as well as the last of the primroses, and many others lined the footpaths.
One of the great under-appreciated flowers of the English spring is wild garlic. On the higher slopes of the reserve, great drifts of wild garlic abounded: as their name suggests, they are heavily scented and, at times, this is almost overwhelming. I couldn’t resist getting some pictures of this glorious sign of spring.
Bluebells and wild garlic
A single wild garlic flower head
Drifting wild garlic in chestnut coppice
Surrounding the path
A badger set, deep in the wild garlic