On Thursday 29th April Gwyndaf and Janet John organized a Spring Walk around the woods at Hedgerley.
Due to the fact that we hadn’t been able to meet in person for so long, there was a great deal of interest and 24 people signed up for the walk. The Johns organized us into 4 groups of 6 so that we could be properly socially distanced, and recruited Colin Thomas and David Powell to lead the other two groups.
The plan was to meet at the pond in Hedgerley at 10:30, book our meals at the pub and then set off covering very similar walks but at different times and in different directions. However, when parking the cars, people were so pleased to see each other again, that in true CDWS fashion, they stopped to chat and soon it was 11:00.
Nevertheless, we were able to give our orders at the pub and set off, aided by handouts from Janet showing us the difference between Spanish and English bluebells and pictures of other wild flowers to look for on the walk.
Both Gwyndaf’s and Janet’s groups had the advantage of expert wild flower knowledge, but the two other groups were supplied with pictures of plants to look out for – a bit like the old I-Spy books we had as children. The early purple orchids were not out yet, but the cowslips made a great display in the Glebe Meadow by the church.
Three of the groups went for a slightly longer walk covering the trip to Hedgerley Green as well, but David’s group just covered the woods and then headed straight back for the pub.
The food was good and so was the beer, and the bluebells were almost at their best (a cold dry spring had delayed them a bit).
Thanks to Gwyndaf, Janet, Colin and Di Thomas and David for leading the groups.
There are some more photographs on the 2021 Gallery page.