St Catherine's Hill Stroll

Continuing my "After work" exploration of Winchester and the surrounding areas, I stopped at the Hockley Viaduct and walked along the cycle path between the now disused railway track and the River Itchen toward the city. A path led off the track into the St Catherine's Hill Nature Reserve, and following it I discover a gentle uphill walk to the ridge overlooking St Catherine's Hill itself - with the M3 cutting behind me.

The edges of the path were full of wildflowers, with a fairly wide range of species. I was particularly taken by the Achillea with its plate-like head of white florets and wonderfully structured ball-like buds. My main image shows one of the buds in a semi-ope state.

The extra is a shot of one of the Common Blue butterflies flitting about.