Like many people, I didn’t get out much this year and when I did get a walk it wasn’t far from home. Common Hill is just a few miles from my home and lies on a limestone outcrop in south Herefordshire. It is a local wildlife hot spot with a mosaic of ancient woodland, hay meadow gems and a maze of tracks, lanes and cottages.
A footpath runs the length of the hill and this is my favourite walk in all of Herefordshire. The path includes 4 reserves, meadow and woodland. There is Butchers broom, Stinking iris and Spurge laurel. There is Early purple orchid, Greater butterfly orchid and Martagon lily. There is Native columbine, Stinking hellebore and Herb paris. There is Adders tongue fern, Common spotted orchid and Pyramidal orchid. There are ancient Yews, Small leaved lime and Wild service tree. A botanists’ paradise and I’m so lucky to have this on my doorstep.