Our first wild flower identification stroll of 2026 took place on Wednesday, 8th April in Bowes Village. The weather could not have been better - very warm and sunny.
Sixteen of us met in the Village Hall car park and proceeded down the lane to Gilmonby Bridge identifying Dandelion, Lesser Celandine, Daisy, Hairy Bittercress and Red Dead Nettle on the way.
At the entrance to the wood a keen-eyed member spotted Butterbur of which there were quite a few in the woods. The Garlic was in flower with more to come, along with Dog’s Mercury which is one of the signs of an ancient woodland. Whilst in the wood there were several Orange-tip butterflies fluttering around and we heard a Woodpecker.
At the end of the wood we stopped to investigate St Farmin’s Well, a Holy Well or Sacred Spring but there wasn’t much to see.
As we entered the field there was a very small Field Woodrush hardly visible nestling in the grass. The slope was covered in bright yellow Lesser Celandine - this plant is prolific at the moment.
We traversed across the field to the ruins of the former Bowes Mill which was, at one time, the water supply to the Village, where photographs of the waterfalls were taken. In this area we found Barren Strawberry, Golden Saxifrage (opposite-leaved) and Wood Anemone.
We re-crossed the field nearer the River Greta and spotted what we believe to be Great Woodrush but due to its inaccessibility we could not obtain an accurate identification.
Our next wild flower identification will be to see the spring Gentians at Cow Green Reservoir on Wednesday, 13th May.
Anne Thomson