Pasque Flower On Good Friday

I saw a post from The Wildlife Trusts on Twitter this morning about the pasque flowers that grow on Threfield Heath near Royston. I read about them when I took MrQ to a gig up there a month or so ago so off I went. I had a nice blast up the A10 in my yellow S2000 and a pleasant walk to Church Hill where a golfer told me the flowers are to be found. He said it was unlikely that they'd be blooming as Easter is early and the weather has been very cold.

As I climbed Church Hill I photographed a Bedlington terrier quite a way away on the skyline. They have an unmistakable shape,  just like a lamb. When I got to the top of the hill I saw a man with a camera on a very steep slope. As I asked him if he was looking for pasque flowers I spotted my first. He was, we had a nice chat, he is a gardener and got a nice shot of a trio of blooms with a tiny snail in one.

These rare flowers are related to buttercups and garden anemones and only grow on steep slopes in open soils in chalk grassland. Sheep graze here all year round but are removed when the plants come into flower. 

I was prostrate when the couple in my extra approached from above. The woman was concerned about me until she saw my camera. :) I was delighted when I spotted a tiny flower beetle on the bloom in my main image and that I had managed to do something different and Easter related on Good Friday.

I came home and made MrQ haddock loins with East End style liquour.