As the village's Snowdrops and Daffodils
fade the wild flowers of Spring are coming into bloom. The steep valley
sides of the path to Ashton are a picture with the white of Blackthorn lining the path at the western end, followed by the brilliant yellow of the Gorse lining the bank at the eastern end. Three of our earliest butterflies, the Brimstone, the Peacock and the Orange Tip are appearing regularly on the path now.
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| Emergant Peacock. Photo. John Elliott |
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| Blackthorn. Photo. John Elliott |
The
Dorset dialect name for the sloes which the blackthorn bears is 'snags',
hence snag-bush for the tree. It is of great herbal medicine value, plus Sloe Gin of course. It is probable the ancestor, or one of
two ancestors, of our garden plums. Gorse doesn't seem to have a
specifically Dorset name, but Furze (Fuzz or Vuzz) is usual in the
south-west. Before the coal trade developed Gorse was of great value as
fuel for bakers and others, and with spines crushed it made valuable feeding for stock in the
winter.
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| Ashton Gorse. Photo. John Elliott |
Cowslips are
not common in the valley, so the patch by the Rainbarrow farm entrance
is especially welcome. There is another small patch by Purlands Farm
further along the A35. There seem to be rather a lot of Dorset names -
Creivel, Crewell,Fairy Cups, Hotdrod, Holrod, Oddrod, Paigle and the
delightfull tisty-tosty. Used to make one of the best of country wines.
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| Rainbarrow Cowslips. Photo. John Elliott |
All the pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.
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