I wasn't expecting to see much walking through a pocket of scrubby woodland behind a car park. So I was pleasantly surprised to spot a large clump of Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) among the ubiquitous ivy.

 R. aculeatus is a stiff, spiky, spiny plant. Bundles of stems were indeed used by butchers to sweep their chopping blocks.

 

 This clump has to be the female of species because it bears the bright red berry. Like Holly it produces male and female flowers on separate plants i.e. it is dioecious. 

 Butcher's Broom is quite rare. I once spent a day wandering around Epping Forset in search of it and eventually found some. Today I came across it by chance in the middle of Hitchin about ten minutes walk away from the house I grew up in!