Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
following the Enclosures smaller fields were created. Now, it appears, the
wheels of evolution are turning once more.
To the flower-loving wayfarer Cotswold limestone brings a rich treasury
of orchids (green-winged and early purple in late April and May, common
spotted, pyramid, musk, bee and frog in the full flush of summer), hare-
bells and cowslips in the meadows, wild garlic (ramsons) massed with
bluebells in damp, shaded woodlands in springtime, following a green car-
pet of dog's mercury towards the end of winter.
In April Standish Wood is carpeted with bluebells (Section 7 southbound, Section 7
northbound)
Cleeve Common contains the highest land on the Cotswold Way, at over
1000ft (300m), and is one of the last remaining ancient grasslands. As
many as 150 species of herbs and grasses may be found there, and it is
now a grade 1 site of special scientific interest.
White oxeye daises are abundant among the grasslands. Bird's-foot tre-
foil, scabious, kidney vetch, thyme, salad burnet and hoary plantain, rock-
rose and knapweeds all combine to provide a tapestry of colour, while the
hedgerows are often tangled with wild clematis (old man's beard), and
clumps of hawthorn shower the slopes with a froth of bloom in springtime.
Bullfinches and yellow hammers flash to and fro among the hawthorn
bushes, alternating between thorn bush and gorse. Woodpeckers rattle the
deadwoods, buzzards and kestrels hang seemingly motionless high above
open hill slopes, alert for any sign of voles or mice far below. Pheasants
will almost certainly threaten the unwary with heart failure as they prac-
tically explode from under your boots as you wander along the overgrown
