Irises found at the Box Open Gardens day

We ventured out this afternoon to the hamlet of Box, located in a coombe running south from Minchinhampton towards Nailsworth. Woodpeckers knew about it from one of her patients, who is one of the organisers, and we went to her garden first, down Scar Lane.

There was so much to photograph today. Plants, of course, but also idyllic little scenes of insects, stone walls with their lichens and wild flowers. We walked from one end of the valley to the other through a woodland we didn't know, with ancient beeches, old coppiced hazel, hillside springs and ruins of old mills. We found a slow worm in the middle of the path leading out of the woodland and encouraged it to move into the undergrowth to avoid being potentially ravaged by dogs. The cats in our garden attack our slow worms given half a chance.

We didn't go into many of the smaller gardens as the crowds were out by the time we reached the centre of Box. I leaned over a stone wall when I saw these irises which I found irresistible. The bee was a bonus and I wondered whether the intricate markings act like lights on a landing strip to guide insects to the nectar. I found some similar irises in the gardens of Box House, the largest estate and probably the manor house originally. In the drive was an immaculate maroon 1950s Jaguar XK150 sports car, which seemed very fitting for such a home.

The owners were very friendly and welcoming, providing cream teas from their massive conservatory, which we could eat on garden benches set on sloping grassy expanses, surrounded by rockeries and a small orchard. I was delighted to see very mature medlars in flower, much like our tree, and ones eyes could look away into the distance in the quiet of a sunny Cotswold Sunday.

But I most enjoyed walking to their large man made pond, where the owner told us about how he had organised its construction. It was so peaceful to be there with hordes of flying dragonflies busy mating, some of them even locked together in flight. Occasionally a big brown trout would leap out of the water going after insects, and I could see a variety of fish including carp swimming slowly just beneath the placid surface.

Another joy was to watch the arrival of a host of housemartins, who came to the pond to drink on the wing. They would fly down, dip their beaks into the water and then fly on leaving a spray of water droplets behind them in the air. My pictures of all these things were just not quite good enough to blip today, as the reach of my lens is just too short. As we returned to where we had parked our car on Minchinhampton Common, we passed the old centre of the hamlet where some old stables nestle close to small weavers cottages dating from the 17th century separated by narrow paths, rather than roads,.