{"id":4349,"date":"2019-05-06T10:07:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T09:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4349"},"modified":"2019-05-06T10:11:17","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T09:11:17","slug":"brimpton-17-april-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/brimpton-17-april-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Brimpton – 17 April 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rob Stallard led a walk on the\nsunny spring morning of Wednesday 17 April, starting from the Three Horseshoes\npub at Brimpton. First stop was the churchyard, where Meadow Saxifrage was\ngrowing on several of the graves. A footpath led along the field margin, down\ntowards the valley of the River Enborne. Skylarks were singing high above,\nBlackthorn blossom was hanging on in the hedgerows and bright yellow Dandelion\nflowers were abundant. The next footpath followed the river bank upstream. There\nwere Cuckooflowers on the bank and Marsh Marigolds in a wet ditch. Peacock,\nGreen-veined White, Orange-tip and Brimstone butterflies were all seen here.\nThe path continued through a poplar plantation, where a number of clumps of the\nparasitic Purple Toothwort were found amongst the grass and nettles beneath the\ntrees.  The route then crossed the river,\nwhich along this stretch marks the boundary between Berkshire and Hampshire,\nand into Inwood Copse. Bluebells were just coming into flower and there were good\nnumbers of Solomon\u2019s-seal plants. Wood Anemone, Greater Stitchwort, Common\nDog-violet, Pignut, Primrose, Wood Spurge, Yellow Archangel and Common Twayblade\nwere amongst the sightings here.  A quiet\nlane marks the far boundary of the copse, and on the lane bank were Wood\nMellick and Hairy Wood-rush.  The walk\ncontinued across damp fields where a Grey Wagtail and two Brown Hares were\nseen. Skirting the edge of Ashford Hill, the route followed a track westwards\nand then a quiet lane back northwards. A Raven called from a pine plantation.\nThe next footpath ran between shady banks that were covered by sheets of\nMoschatel. Approaching the River Enborne again, several more clumps of Purple\nToothwort were found, this time on the Hampshire side of the county boundary. The\nfinal footpath started out through horse paddocks towards Brimpton Church.\nSeveral patches of the tiny-flowered Blinks were spotted beside the path. Continuing\nthrough a very stony arable field, Field Pansy was abundant and a patch of Corn\nSpurrey, with delicate white flowers, was discovered. A Whitethroat was singing\nfrom the hedge beside the footpath leading back to the village. The walk was\nfollowed by lunch at the Three Horseshoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n