Meadow Clary

Another early morning run to Cambridge for Ben's last exam of the year. The sun shone and it was pleasantly warm, so I walked to nearby Mill Road Cemetery, which is notified as a County wildlife Site because of its meadow flowers. Perhaps the most special of these is a large population of Meadow Clary, an aromatic perennial herb of open grassland on sunny banks, sand dunes and roadsides. It's usually found  on well-drained, base-rich soils but has declined considerably inland as a result of changes in land use, though it does now seem to be included in some 'wildflower' seed mixes. In south-east. England it is often associated with churchyards because of the medieval practice of sowing it on graves. 

As I had time to spare, I visited the end of year exhibition at nearby Anglia Ruskin University - some very fine photography, art and graphic design, as well as a few exhibits that were beyond me. I couldn't quite get my head round some of the fashion exhibits though - for me clothes should be comfortable and functional, and some of these were neither though they were undoubtedly unusual!