WALK REPORT Spring has sprung! My guest Anna and I had a great walk in the rain today, visiting Benington Lordship gardens. Our route today was Watton-at-Stone village – Hebing End – Benington, with stops at The Lordship Arms (good bitters here), and The Bell Inn, where we nearly fell asleep after a delicious lunch of stilton and broccoli soup and smoked haddock.

Here are some snaps from today. If you know any of the plant names I’ve left out, please let me know – there are big gaps in my “naturalist knowledge”. [walk profile]

Gravestones beneath an exotic monkey-puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) at the church of St Andrew and St Mary in Watton-at-Stone village.

Linenfold motif on a door at the church of St Andrew and St Mary, Watton-at-Stone.

A close-up of the old water pump in the middle of Watton-at-Stone village. Lilacs in the background.

Anna stops to check the map. It seems we’re at least 30 minutes walk from the next pub.

Possibly Centaurea scabiosa, commonly known as greater knapweed. Photo taken at Idle Hill, north of Watton-at-Stone.

Two ladybirds (family Coccinellidae). The one on the left is an adult, and the one on the right is in its larval form.

Yes I know it’s a bit blurry but that’s my second pint sitting there on the bar. This shot shows some of the extensive line-up of beers and ciders on tap at The Lordship Arms in Hebing End.

An ancient Citroen van and a classic Jaguar E-type parked in the driveway of a house in Hebing End.

Smiling ducks by a roadside pond in Benington village.

An inquisitive young moorhen chick (Gallinula chloropus) checks us out from its perch on some pond rushes.

First of a series of shots taken at Benington Lordship gardens. This is Persicaria bistorta “Superba”, an ornamental variety of Common Bistort. Apparently, if you fry up the leaves of this plant with onions, oatmeal, nettles, and bacon, you wind up with something called “dock pudding”, an odd dish that’s considered a delicacy in parts of northern England. Must try making one sometime …

I think this is a perennial cornflower (Centaurea montana). Photo taken at Benington Lordship.

Anna admiring a magnolia tree in bloom.

An explosion of red peonies on the path near the herbaceous border at Benington Lordship gardens.

Probably Geranium cinereum. Part of the herbaceous border. Richard, thanks for the identification!

A lupin at Benington Lordship.

Some old engravings on the floor of St Peter’s church in Benington.

Raindrops on an iris in the gardens of Benington Lordship.

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