Connecting with the wild and free

Egglestone, Teesdale Looking at wildflowers and seeing an image of ourselves implies an empathy with the natural world

Lethargy seemed to have settled over the landscape after the harvest. There was barely enough wind to stir the thistledown and willowherb seeds around the field margin. On an uncomfortably humid afternoon that threatened a downpour, crows feeding in the stubble field rose as we passed but settled only a short glide away after a few desultory flaps of their wings.

When we crossed the stile into a field where a broad margin, perhaps 20 metres wide, had been allowed to lie fallow for birds and insects, we found ourselves walking into a late blooming of wild flowers.