Wales

We had planned to have a walk around the Great Orme at Llandudno on Thursday last week. That was until the weather took a turn for the worse and forced us to change plans. Not to worry, Malcolm and I did the walk in May last year. That time, the weather was beautiful and sunny.

Great Orme is a nature reserve made of an enormous lump of limestone with various seams of ore-laden rocks running through it, particularly copper ore. The underlying limestone creates the perfect growing conditions for a host of wild flowers, many of which are either rare or entirely absent from the rest of Britain. Wild Cotoneaster being perhaps the best example.

Among the more colourful plants has to be the Hoary Rockrose (Helianthemum canum). again a rare plant in the British Isles, it is more likely to be seen in the warmer climes of the Mediterranean.

Grazing on all these plants are the feral goats which can be seen giving the casual passer-by, a funny look!

More on the Great Orme to follow.....