Late early purple orchid joins the colony

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: Spotted and pyramidal orchids created a hazy mood, a spirited innocence, a pinkishness of hope

I was drawn across the field to a flash of pink: common spotted orchids. They were common for that moment around the summer solstice and I'd spotted them in the place where I'd seen a large colony last year, the soggy bottom of a field of limestone quarry spoil.

The size and shape of the patch had changed. The most dense group of orchid flowers of last June was now almost gone. The stems were withered and twisted, and some flowers looked singed and were tiny; they appeared to have been in contact with herbicide or killed off by toxins.

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