THE hopes and expectations of the Dymock Biodiversity group’s year-long renovation of daffodils are kept in abeyance - awaiting blooming results on the Beauchamp Bank at Dymock.

In recent years the wild daffodil flowering starts earlier than ‘normal’ in mid-Feb, developing across the cooler meadows by-mid March.

The scheduling of co-operative events by the Golden Triangle villages is always a matter of chance timing for the villages of Dymock Kempley and Oxenhall, reached by shuttle bus from the market town of Newent.

A full schedule of all the what’s on events will be published next week which will include the Daffodil Line bus schedule for March - and details of the free shuttle service from Newent bus stop to the best sites for daffodil walks in the Dymock Forest and Leadon Vale.

At Dymock on March 8 and 9 the Beauchamps Arms’ marquee erected on Wintours Green will contain all the Information needed to plan further Spring visits throughout March, whatever the spring season chooses to deliver in weather and flowers.

The wild daffodils are central to the local heritage and is a clear indicator of its rich ancient woodland soils. Some 100 years ago the whole area would have been carpeted in gold in early spring.

Though we are blessed to still have magical spring displays of wild daffodils here the coverage of daffs these days is no longer the wall-to-wall carpet of gold our grandparents enjoyed.

The case in point of the Beauchamp Arms bank in the centre of Dymock on the main road. The Daffodil volunteers of the Dymock ward took charge last April to weed out cultivated daffodils and set about renovating the habitat for the native ones.

Becky Rose, chairman of the Biodiversity Group said: “In some parts of the village centre the council had planted cultivated daffodils in the past, just wanting to brighten the place up and not realising the ecological implications. We spent quite a bit of time rooting these out, though there is still work to do”.

Then came replenishing the existing population and encouraging spread - but where to start? With miles of verges and the national Daffodil Way footpaths fanning out across the parish the choices seemed daunting.

After clearing scrub growth they introduced finer meadow grasses, to give the daffodils and other wildflowers a better chance.

Around 250 native daffodil bulbs were lifted and kept safe for the year by ‘Daffodil Guardians’ who are also bringing on wild daffodil seedlings for planting out in later years - forward planning at its best.

“There are only about a dozen of us in the biodiversity group”, Becky said. “But when there is work to be done, everyone turns out. Dymock’s that sort of place.”

A team turned up to clear the bank in the spring, then again in November when it came to bulb planting time.

The saved bulbs from the bank were replanted, along with more donated by a local resident and other sponsored donations.