When I find myself walking down a 'holloway' I know I'm on an ancient track. This one is in Hertfordshire and cuts through large arable fields on either side. Along the hedge banks Dog's Mercury, Greater Stitchwort and Bluebells are indicators of another landscape from another time. 

 Even more so the presence of Ramsons aka Wild Garlic. The path slopes downwards towards a "soggy bottom" (so to speak). Not a marsh as such, more a damp sump. The pungent smell of garlic begins to fill the air.

 And this is remarkable. Ramsons grow by the millions in damp and shady places in the westerly parts of this island. There are valleys and hillsides in the West County and Wales that reek of them. But I know of nowhere else in this locality where they can be found. 

 The soil hereabouts is generally dry, chalky, free draining. Due to some fluke of geology this pocket of Ramsons likely took hold after the ice age ended (circa 9,500 BC!) and has been here ever since. Moreover their muddy hollow has escaped the ravages of modern agriculture.