NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

When I took the lawn mower out to tidy up the front lawn I was staggered to see this Pyramidal Orchid standing proud. It was a bit the worse for wear, having had the leaves nibbled - most probably slugs - but the flower head was present and just starting to flower. The garden is on chalk with just a shallow depth of earth. The closest Pyramidal Orchids are maybe 3/4 of a mile away. Our front lawn has a good natural flora, with species such as Blue Fleabane and Small Toadflax cropping up, plus common calcareous grassland plants. I mowed around the orchid and am proudly watching it open up.

Sometimes the natural world decides to take you by surprise and bestow memorable moments when you least expect them. The setting doesn't have to be on the top of a Scottish mountain or at the mouth of a powerful estuary -  it could take place at a humble piece of chalk grassland only minutes from home... Park Downs is but a twenty minute brisk walk from my front door. Until this year I have spent little time there, but have been aware of its reputation as a reserve that holds a number of notable species. After visiting the place back in March to pay my respects to the present Stinking Hellebore, I made a mental note to return in the summer. I did so in late June. I came across two fields in particular that blew me away. They were packed with flower, including incredible numbers of orchids. A careful count suggested 6250 Pyramidal and 354 Bee (both below). But these were just a small part of the mass blossoming that had taken place. From a distance the fields looked as if an ...

The two 'orchid fields' at the northern end of Park Downs have really got to me. I have spent much of the last 36 hours wondering just how many orchids there actually are. After Tuesday's visit I put the Pyramidal Orchid figure at c3,000 and the Bee Orchid total at 100+. This morning I went back and counted them... One person, even if they methodically criss-cross the two moderately-sized fields, is not going to come up with anything other than an approximation of the number of plants on show, but I can confidently claim that there are certainly no fewer than 6,250 Pyramidal and 354 spikes of Bee Orchid. Most of the former species are towards the top and middle of the fields and those of the latter at the base of the slope. In one small area (maybe 20m x 5m) I counted 114 Bee Orchids alone. I didn't stop to look at much else, although was pleased to come across quite a bit of Smooth Tare, and butterfly numbers had picked up, mainly Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites. ...

I was going to write a rambling account of the sheer joy of walking through an area of chalk downland where over 100 spikes of Bee Orchid and several thousand Pyramidal Orchids were on show. I thought the images would say far more than I could... Park Downs is just south-east of Banstead and well worth a visit. At the moment there is a spectacular botanical display that should not be missed. Apart from the orchids, I have never seen so much Dropwort in one place. Stunning.