There were many Orchids to be seen up on the Downs.

 Haven't done this for a while. Pitched my tent at a campsite near Hassocks at the foot of the South Downs. Just an overnighter on Thursday/Friday to do a couple of walks in the area. The tag was still attached to the tent from the last time I went camping- on a site in Dorset back in September 2019!

 I brewed a tea on my stove, heated some soup then headed off in the direction of the Devil's Dyke. By the time I got there it was gone six and the sun was starting to fade in the west. The days are long as we approach midsummer so there was time enough to circle back to the tent before it got dark. 

 I slept soundly, packed my gear in the morning then went back up on the Downs heading eastwards to Lewes. The South Downs Way is a simple route to follow; the path is well trodden and sections are gravel tracks. It was easy walking along the Way itself but getting onto it was a steep hike uphill carrying my pack on what proved to be the hottest day of the year so far- about 30℃.

 Having said that I reflected it was only a few years ago that I was tackling much tougher terrain than this. For example when I hiked from Castle Crags to Mount Eddy in California July 2018 it was three days continuously uphill in 40º heat with a considerably heavier pack. I seem to have lost some of my marching pace since then, will need to work on that.

 Impenetrable thickets of brambles are a boon for bees.

 Geranium x oxonianum is still a mass of flowers and one of those plants that attracts honey bees and bumble bees in equal measure.

 Flowering plants have co-evolved with pollinators over millennia. The shape and internal structure of flowers has the effect of facilitating certain pollinators but deterring others. Some plants have very particular requirements then again others are generalists.  

 This stand of Comfrey forms a hedgerow of sorts. Probably our native Symphytum x officinale or so-called Russian Comfrey which is the hybrid of S. officinale and S. asperum.

 Russian Comfrey is said to be sterile and non-invasive which I don't think is true because it can certainly be prolific. Russian Comfrey aka Symphytum x uplandicum must be pretty variable because the twenty one 'Bocking' strains were derived from it. I suspect it continues to merge and mutate. 

 Only Bocking 4 and 14 are propagated these days. Possibly the distinctions are meaningless by now. Anyway, the bees don't mind...

 

 Working on the allotment today I heard the sound of a brass band playing at the bandstand in a nearby park. The stirring arrangement of William Blake's 'Jerusalem' blew in on the breeze. And in that spirit...

                                          Bring me my Bow of burning gold:

                                          Bring me my arrows of desire:

                                          Bring me my Spear: o clouds unfold!

                                          Bring me my Chariot of fire!

                                          I will not cease from Mental Fight,

                                          Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:

                                          Till we have built Jerusalem,

                                          In Englands green and pleasant land. 

 Should start to see more butterflies on the wing in the weeks ahead. On a short walk today there were a few to be seen here and there. Butterfly populations seem particularly susceptible to having good and bad years. Hopefully 2022 will be a good one...

 NB The chalk hills mentioned in several entries this past week are particularly valuable habitats.