Poppy Swansong...

 The last flush of poppies in Southern Valley at Ranscombe...

Poppies at Ranscombe...

Partly by accident and a lot by design, Ranscombe is currently ablaze with wildflowers thanks to the partnership between Plantlife and local farmer Mr. Lingham... 

Longhoes...

Longhoes has its fair share of wildflowers this year. Some self-seeded poppies from last year's show have combined with the Vipers Bugloss and chamomile to give a red, white and blue display quite in keeping with the recent Jubilee celebrations...

Longhoes...

 

Longhoes...

Going up the hill from Longhoes and back around past Ranscombe Farm gives the usual glorious views across the valley from the track that runs back down to Southern valley between Tuggs Field and Barn Field...

View across Barn Field...

View across Tuggs Field towards Upper Bush...

The view from the gate at the top of Southern Valley has been rendered even more colourful by the poppies this season...

View across Nether Bottoms and Little Bottoms towards the "crossroads"...

The main bloom of poppies is just starting to finish, so catch them while you can...

Poppyfest at Ranscombe...

Local farmer Mr. Lingham (perhaps the area's greatest unsung hero) and the Plantlife team at Ranscombe have done the ground work for this year's poppy display to take place in Nether Great Bottoms and Little Bottoms (better known as the crossroads in Southern valley) and it is now coming to fruition.  

Previous blooms at Kitchen Field and Longhoes were spectacular and this year's show looks as if it will match them...

I think a lot of people take the work that Mr. Lingham does up at Ranscombe and indeed, all around the area, for granted. 

The character of the countryside around Cuxton and Halling would be very different without him.

This year's display is even more colourful, with the yellows of buttercups and Rough Hawksbeard and the blues of the Vipers Bugloss and mallows providing a contrast to the sea of red poppies

Dean Farm to Mill Hill...

 A few snaps from around Dean Farm through to Brockles and Mill Hill...

From the edge of Mays Wood - view from the new bench

Dean Farm...

Broad-Leaved Helleborine...

Broad-Leaved Helleborine...

Brimstone...

View from where Foster's Flying Saucer (the new vanity winery) is going...

Gatekeeper...

Robin's Pincushion (gall wasp attack on elder twig)...

Hemp Agrimony...

Forge Cottage...

View from First Fiance Field (the field above Forge Cottage)...

Peacock...

View from Brockles, by Terry Sutton's bench...

Marbled White...

Poppies at Longhoes (2)...

 A spectacular show of poppies at Longhoes, after an unpromising start...

Kitchen Field...

Kitchen Field from the top of Brockles...

Kitchen Field...

Kitchen Field...

Poppies and Chamomile...

The poppies are finally giving way to Chamomile, which at the moment is giving a wonderful red and white contrast. There are several species of Chamomile and Mayweed, but the prevalent one here is called Stinking Chamomile. When the flowers are crushed they have an unpleasant odour and are currently giving Kitchen Field a smell rather like dogshit, which of course is perfectly normal for Ranscombe these days, unfortunately...

Marbled White...

Vipers Bugloss...

Ranscombe...

A short stroll up to Brockles...

View from Terry Sutton's memorial bench at Brockles

Towards Upper Bush...

Poppies at Kitchen Field...

Small Tortoiseshell...

Meadow Clary...

Twenty Acres...

Looking south from the eastern edge of Twenty Acres...