Whitmoor Common Walk

We did this pleasant although muddy walk on a cloudy day in April. We parked in the card park on Salt Box Road and set off on the Surrey Wildlife Trust self guided trail. We picked the green trail which takes about one hour to walk.

The trail begins in a wooded area and we walked through silver birch trees. Along the way we saw blossom and an interesting tree which resembled a horses head.

The path opened onto a common area with lovely views of the tall grasses and flowering bright yellow gorse.

We continued accross the common through the gorse with its surprisingly strong coconutty fragrance.

The trail continues along a raised narrow boardwalk through a boggy area which leads into more woods.

The path circled round through the trees and past a small pond. We saw some interesting toadstools growing on the trees.

This circular walk finishes with another stretch through the tall grasses and yellow gorse bushes.

We are looking forward to returning in the summer to see more wild flowers and hopefully dragonflies and lizards.

Wild Daffodils at Wallis Wood

On a sunny day in early April we wondered if we would be too late to find Wild Daffodils that we had read on the Surrey Wildlife Trust website were growing in Wallis Wood near Cranleigh, Surrey.

We parked opposite the Scarlett Arms pub in the village of Wallis Wood where we enjoyed a tasty pub lunch before setting out for our walk in the woods.

We followed the footpath next to the pub which led into the woods where we walked amongst Hazel and Oak trees. We soon spotted many of the star like Wood Anemones which can be an indicator of ancient woodland due to their slow spread. They spread only six feet in a hundred years (http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/plant_species/wood_anemone).

Close up Wood Anemone

Wood Anemones at Wallis Wood

We found some Daffodils but when we looked closely they turned out to be the cultivated variety and we thought we were going to be disappointed in our search. We walked on in a large circle eventually down a rocky path towards a stream running through the valley and caught sight of a splash of yellow ahead of us. There they were, two small clumps of Wild Daffodils with their beautiful elongated flowers and pale green leaves.

Wild Daffodils seen through the trees

Wild Daffodils at Wallis Wood

Close up of Wild Daffodils

We were thrilled to find Wild Daffodils in Surrey and will be using these in our textile designs.

Pulborough Brooks

On a cloudy day in February we went on this circular walk around heath-land to the edge of the RSPB Pulborough Brooks reserve following a nice lunch at the RSPB visitor centre.

We walked downhill through woodland with Silver Birch trees and saw interesting fungi growing on the tree trunks in and around this mystical looking pool pictured below. The combination of the cloudy sky reflected in the water along with the interesting shapes and reflections made by the tree trunks made for a striking picture.

 

There weren’t many wild flowers but we did see some Gorse and Broom.

We left the trees and continued on through more open scrub-land passing more pools and boggy areas. On the way back up the hill we saw large black fungi on the trees.

We are looking forward to visiting this area again in the summer.

 

 

 

Leith Hill Walk

On a windy Septembers day we decided to walk up Leith Hill to see views from the top of the tower, which is the highest point in South East England. We parked in the carpark and followed the path up the hill through woodlands taking us past Blackberry and Bilbury bushes. At the top of the hill we had cups of tea looking out over the spectacular countryside views before climbing the tower itself. The climb to the top of the tower is very steep and narrow but very much worth it when you get to the top.

On the way down we found some late Blackberries for picking as well as seeing lots of interesting toadstools, including some Amethyst Deceivers. These beautiful toadstools are found in woodland and due to their small size and dark colour when wet can be hard to spot. With their perfectly round concave heads they resembled buttons on the forest floor.

We are looking forward to further exploring Leith Hill and seeing it in different seasons.

Amethyst Deceiver toadstool seen in woods at Leith Hill.

Wetlands Walk

On a sunny day in July we went to Elstead Moat and walked along the long boardwalk hoping to see dragonflies. We did see a few dragonflies but we were surprised to see lots of lizards sunning themselves on the warm wood of the boardwalk. A lot of them ran away as we got close but we managed to get some nice photo’s of them as well as the beautiful pink Orchids which were numerous in the wetlands.

Lizard sunbathing on boardwalk at Elstead Moat.

Wild Orchid at Elstead Moat

Cowslip Meadow

Cowslips at Coronation Meadow, Sheepleas, West Horsley

Cowslips at Coronation Meadow, Sheepleas, West Horsley

We went to the Coronation Meadows at Sheepleas near West Horsley with the hope of seeing a carpet of pretty Cowslips. Due to expansion of intensive agriculture and the subsequent loss of the habitats of the Cowslip for example ancient woodlands and meadows, to see a carpet of yellow Cowslips in this way is pretty rare nowadays, so when we heard about this meadow we were keen to take the opportunity to see this. After a longer walk than expected through the meadows at Sheepleas including a fantastic view towards London from the top of the hill we came across a whole carpet of beautiful Cowslips.

Moschatel Walk

I came across this tiny plant while walking through woods a couple of years ago and wanted to find it again as it is so unusual. We eventually found it in mid April on our third attempt of following different paths near Godalming, Surrey.  We saw lots of interesting plants and wildlife, but not the Moschatel until eventually at the top of a steep hill we spotted it. The pale green flowers are really tiny and clustered at the top of thin stalks in groups of four plus one on top like a cube. Other names for Moschatel include ‘five-faced bishop’ and ‘townhall clock’ due to its unusual arrangement of flowers. We were pleased to find it as it is hard to spot being so small and green in colour. It will become the subject for one of our greetings cards soon.

Moschatel seen on a walk through woods near Godalming, Surrey in April 2015

Wild Daffodil Walk

We decided to look for Wild Daffodils on our first walk of the year in March. Daffodils are to be seen everywhere in March and for many people the cheerful yellow flowers signal the beginning of Spring. Wild Daffodils are quite rare in our part of Surrey, and so on this windy day we found ourselves down in Sussex where we found carpets of beautiful Wild Daffodils in West Dean Woods. This inspired us to plan more walks through the year in search of more unusual wild flowers.

Wild Daffodils at West Dean Woods

Welcome

We are Elaine and Kate a partnership creating handmade textile art cards, homewares and framed pictures. We hope, through this blog, to share the inspiration behind our work and our love of the countryside and wild flowers.