Fairys Thimbles

Campanula cochlearifolia, common name Fairys Thimbles, with storm clouds rolling in behind. Seen here in Gasteretal, a remote valley, deep in the Alps. Only a few centimetres high, it is also in flower in the garden here in Norfolk!

The Gasteretal is accessed along an ancient trail hewn into the rockface in a narrow gorge. All the meltwater from the glaciers and snowfields overhanging the valley thunders through below the road. An exhilarating drive. Tremendous devastation in the valley this year when the Spring thaw was accompanied by millions of tons of rockfall, resulting in a torrent of boulders demolishing everything in its path. More pictures of the flowers and the valley here.