There and Back

Fox Fritillary Meadow is an ancient floodplain. It is the largest of four remaining sites for the snake's head fritillary in Suffolk, and it was to here that we booked to visit to see these beautiful wild flowers. Visiting Fox Fritillary Meadow is by prior arrangement only, and visitor numbers are restricted, so we booked some 2 months back for this year. According to Suffolk Wildlife Trust:- The Snake's-head fritillary is a most unusual looking wildflower and the UK's only native fritillary species. When in bloom in spring, this flamboyant wildflower is unmistakable. Its nodding purple and sometimes white flowers have distinctive chequer-board markings resembling a snake’s skin. Before it flowers its presence may be overlooked as the foliage is grass-like, but once in flower it is a spectacular sight, forming a wonderful purple haze across the meadow. The number of local names, including Snake's-head lily, Crowcup, Leper's Bells and Chequered Lily, suggest that...

We chose to go to Fermyn Woods Country Park as it has a reputation of having a large number and variety of butterflies. We booked into a B&B cottage nearby in the village of Sudborough in what appears to be a converted farm building in the back garden of the owners house. It was perfect, and at a really good price. But first, to the woods to see what was about in the afternoon sun! The whole area around the villages of Sudburough and Lowick, and also Fermyn Woods itself, were once part of the vast Rockingham Forest. It was named after the village of Rockingham, where the castle was a royal retreat. Over the years the forest shrank, and today only a patchwork of the north-eastern forest remains. The area became a royal hunting ground for King William I after the Norman conquest. The term forest represented an area of legal jurisdiction and remained so until the 19th century. The forest boundaries were set in 1299, although the boundaries returned to a smaller area as a resul...