Last week I found myself admiring the beautiful wild flowers growing along the sides of lanes in Cornwall. If you’ve ever visited Cornwall then you probably have an idea how easy it is to see the side of the lanes, thanks to some insanely narrow roads. I spent a good part of each trip with my hands clenched firmly together, fearful that at any moment we’d meet another car. Thankfully my husband is very good at negotiating these somewhat perilous journeys.

The other day the sun popped out and as we were back in Derbyshire, we thought it was time for a picnic at the National Stone Centre. You might be wondering what’s so interesting about a ‘stone’ centre. In fact it’s a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’ and it’s possible to learn an awful lot there about Natural History. The site is made up of six former quarries, four lime kilns and over one hundred and twenty disused lead mine shafts. But on this visit my attention was on the wild flowers that frequented the area. I spotted more than I could count and took pictures of at least 16 varieties. There were the common ones such as daisies, dandelions and cow parsley but also others whose names I’m not sure of, so if you spot one in these pictures do let me know their name.

These particular flowers are so common that I think it is easy to overlook their beauty. Plus if you look closer, you’ll notice the abundance of bugs. There must be an awful lot of wildlife we normally miss out on.

I love dog roses and took pictures of their delicate flowers and the flower of the black berry.

Below is a few of the flowers whose names I do not know and will have to consult a book to find out.

Lastly the purple thistles were just coming out and I managed to capture this bee exploring.