Walked out to Knocking Hoe (above) from nearby Hitchin via the village of Pirton. Last time I was hereabouts it was January and the landscape was under snow.

 It's still too early in the year to see much in the way of wildflowers. Nonetheless I was thrilled to see several Pasqueflowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) unfurling. These are a genuine rarity and Knocking Hoe is one of the few sites in the country where they still flourish. Their habitat is sloping chalk grassland grazed to a short sward. As the name suggests they flower around Easter.

  Then I did a brisk circuit over the Pegsdon Hills. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the temperature would have been warm on a summer's day let alone late March.