THIS is a variation on an old favourite, and is recommended to anybody who appreciates wild flowers. At the time of writing, we’re still waiting for the bluebells to flower, due to the cold weather, but the primroses are putting on a magnificent show.

They seem more numerous than ever, especially alongside Shrawley Brook and by the bridleway between Monk Wood and Ockeridge Wood.

Also abundant alongside the bridleway are wood anemones, peaking nearly a month later than in most recent years.

The primrose is one of our best-loved spring flowers, and one of the earliest.In sheltered places it can flower as early as January in warmer years.

The plant’s name derives from prima rosa, meaning the first flower of the year.

Primroses are widely distributed throughout Britain, and can tolerate a wide range of conditions, but generally they thrive best in the west, as they seem to like it fairly damp.

Here in Worcestershire they colonise a wide range of habitats, but seem happiest by woodland edges, in newly coppiced woods or on hedgebanks.

Primroses show considerable colour variation, occurring in a range of shades from cream to deep yellow.

There is also a pink form which is often thought to indicate hybridisation with garden primulas, because it occurs most often in churchyards and other village locations.

However, it is also sometimes found in remote places, well away from habitation, so it may be a native form.

Countryside walkers are good news for primroses because the plant produces rather immobile seeds which don’t disperse very far without help.

A passing walker whose boots pick up primrose seeds from muddy paths provides a useful service by transporting the seeds to other locations.

Wood anemones are also early bloomers. They like shade, but not too much shade, and only in sunshine do their petals open fully.

So, as they mainly grow in woodland, they have to flower before the trees leaf out and the canopy closes in.

Anemones are regarded as indicators of ancient woodland because they spread incredibly slowly, rarely colonising new areas much beyond their ancestral sites.

So if you see wood anemones growing in a roadside verge, or in a meadow, it probably indicates that these sites were once wooded.

FACTFILE

Start: Near the phone box on the A443 at Holt Heath; grid ref SO815630.

Length: Seven miles/11km.

Maps: OS Explorer 204, OS Landranger 150.

Terrain: Pasture, paddock, woodland, orchard, arable; mainly flat.

Footpaths: Mostly very good, though some slight improvements are needed in places.

Stiles: Seven.

Parking: There’s a combined bus stop/layby next to the phone box.

Public transport: Diamond 294/295 or Yarranton’s 758, Mon-Sat only; worcestershire.gov.uk/ bustimetables or 01905 765765.

Refreshments: Pub and shop at Holt Heath.

DIRECTIONS

1 Cross the A443, takeWoodbury Parkandkeepstraight onalong a footpathto the A4133. Cross to CherryOrchard,keepstraight onat the first junction, go left at thenext, toSevern Heights, andthenleft ona footpath.Follow the cliff-toppath past HoltMillenniumGreenthen across a fieldbeforedescending through woods andgardens to the Shrawleyroad.Turnright.

2 Cross the roadto take the second pathonthe left, at thedriveway toSevern Bank.

A fingerpostpoints left toShrawley Brook,but thepathsoonmoves a little awayfromthebrook, crossing slightlyhigher groundandavoiding the swampypatches rightnext to the brook.It’s aneasilyfollowedpath, waymarkedand well-troddenas it runs throughthemeadows and woodsbordering thebrook.Ignore a pathbranching left to a footbridge but take thenext left, abridleway whichpasses HoltMill andproceeds to the A443.

3 Turnleft onthe roadside footway thenafter about 100mcross to a pathindicatedbya fingerpost.Walk straight across anarable fieldto crossRowley Brookat a footbridge thencontinue throughtwo sheep pastures to a road.Turnright.

4 Take the next path on the left, which is also the driveway to Rowe Farm. Pass to the left of the farmhouse then turn left along a track to gain access to a field. Turn right and walk along the edge until you come to a footbridge and stile.

Cross into the adjacent field and go diagonally to a prominent metal gate, then continue in the same direction, passing the end of Ockeridge Wood, to return to the road. Turn left.

5 Take a bridleway on the left, follow it through Ockeridge Wood to a lane and turn right.

After 400m turn left on a track leading through orchards to Woodhouse Farm. Pass to the left of the farm then turn left on a wide track. Leave the orchard at a gate in a corner beneath a conifer hedge. Cross a narrow field, pass through a hedge gap and walk along the left edge of the next field.

Go through a gate in the corner to a large field and go left across it to find a stile giving access to a bridleway. Turn left, following the bridleway back to the lane which borders OckeridgeWood.Turn right.

6 Take a path on the left at a footbridge, returning to a field you walked through earlier, south of Rowe Farm. Pass to the right of a solitary oak tree as you cross it then proceed to a prominent metal gate close to the far right corner.

Turn right in the next field to pass through another metal gate. Having crossed a brook, keep left along two field edges, with Grimley Brook on your right. After crossing Rowley Brook the path is easily followed past Bentley Farm to the A443.

Turn right to Holt Heath.