The 18th June saw a group of 15 MUWAGA members on a specially-arranged Wildflower Walk from Chipping Norton. Led by Craig Blackwell, the walk was informative and insightful, with an extraordinary range of wildflowers, grasses and plants. These were identified for us by Craig’s expertise, and also recognised with some delight by several knowledgeable members of the group!
Amongst all else, the walk took us to the upper part of the Glyme Valley around the river’s source, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and here we saw what Craig told us was one of the few sites of the rare Meadow Clary in the UK, and this one, managed by the farm owners, is known to be the best example.
The farm land here has been in Stewardship Schemes for many years and so we have access to beautiful wildflower-rich limestone grasslands and meadows.
With thanks to Joanna and David van de Poll for arranging the outing, and of course to Craig who made the day a memorable one.
See also: Craig Blackwell’s talk on the Wildflowers of Oxfordshire from the MUWAGA 2022 programme