Thursday 2nd July 2026

Due to a miscalculation on my part, far too dull to explain here, I still have one UK and Ireland orchid species yet to see.

This is the Heath fragrant, which until a few years ago was lumped into the other two fragrant orchid species under one catch all "Fragrant orchid" species.

Genetic sequencing meant that there are different species, and the Heath like acidic soils, of which there is little in Kent, and all our Fragrents are Common or Chalk.

Chalk and Common are the same here.

So, in trying to track down Heath fragrents, there is one site in Sussex that has them, though a friend went at the weekend and reported it to be turning to seed and all bar three flowers now gone brown.

That leaves us with the next nearest: The New Forest.

This is a three and a half hour drive. On a good day, and there are no good days on the M25. Three and a half hours there and back.

But I bit the bullet and arranged a trip out to the site near Sway for Thursday.

Fran would arrive at Dover at half eight, we would drive to Wateringbury to collect Ian, then drive along the M26 and M25 round to the M3, down to Southampton and along the M27 to the New Forest.

But first, and clenching our teeth, we agree to go to the gym, what with it being Thursday and all.

I had planned on doing 35 minutes, but talked myself down to thirty, telling myself I would be walking miles later in the day. Which was true.

Back home for a shower, breakfast and a fresh cuppa, and so ready to collect Fran at half eight, and head up the busy M20 at rush hour.

A cloudy morning with a hint of drizzle, soon gave over to blue skies and periods of warm sunshine. Perfect for butterfly chasing, as the New Forest is one of the locations for a new blue butter species, for me: The Silver-studded Blue.

We turn off and head down the Medway Valley to collect Ian, so the car was loaded well. From his, up to the M26 and head west, and keep going.

Traffic wasn't too bad, until we reached the A3 junction, which after three years or more work and billions of pounds spent on upgrades, you would think there would be no hold ups, but is worse than before.

But we make good time, turn down the M3 down through Basingstoke and Winchester before turning west towards the New Forest.

It was all pleasant enough on the motorway, we made good time at a sensible speed. But once off the motorway and into the Forest itself, there was traffic.

Trucks, cars, motorhomes, caravans and more caravans.

Capital of the New Forest is the town/village of Lyndhurst, which we crawl through to the junction and start of the one way system, then west again into and across the moorland to Sway.

Sway.

Sway through the crowds to an empty place.

Sway is a small village, and to the west is some large mansions behind walls and gates, though on the other side of the road is the heath.

We park.

And walk up the road, past the mansions. A route I took three years ago when shown Bog orchids.

Remember kids: Fens are alkali marshes, and bogs are acid marshes.

How hard could Bog orchids be to find at the site I had seen them recently?

Quite hard as it turned out. As one bog looks very much alike, and anyway if I found the right on, it wouldn't look the same as it was three years ago.

Bog orchids are small and green, but Marsh fragrents are large and showy, but sight of neither did we see.

At leas there was the Silver-studded blues to chase, and Fran found one that had settled, so I walked quickly through the bog, not checking how firm the ground was, as I had done to that point.

One last step and my right foot sunk, my left crumpled, and I feel onto my camera, pushing it into the black boggy water.

Ian helped my up, but the camera and lens was soaked and coated with black mud, which I cleaned off.

I took shots of the butterfly, though auto-focus did not work.

After two hours, we decided to try another site, on the other side of the village of which I had eight historical records for.

I was warned this was very boggy, and that we would not get close to the orchids, so needed a telephoto lens.

On the way back to the car, we came across several Heath spotted orchids hanging on, so they got snapped. And Fran found a few Lesser skullcaps, which also got snapped.

A ten minute drive through the village of Sway brought us to an area of heathland beside the railway. I drive up and down twice looking for a place to park until I spied a place behind ann open barrier, though not an official car park, it would do us for an hour.

I hoped.

We got out, put our boots on and tried to compare the snip of a map with records with Google maps. Not helped by the poor reception.

We walked along a track through ferns and bracken, sending clouds of Silver-studded Blues into the air as we walked.

To our left was, clearly, a low-lying area, and it was there we would have to go. So, we found a path and struck out towards where we hoped the orchids would be.

I was expecting very boggy conditions, but what we found was patchy, but the bed of the stream that fed the bog was so dry we could walk along it.

No matter how hard we looked and walked, of the Heath fragrant there was no sign. If it was there, we would have seen it.

It was gone four, we were hot, thirsty and hungry.

We walked towards the car.

We changed into our shoes, and I set the sat nav for home.

The plan had been to find a pub, but the only ones found were along the high street in Lyndhurst, with no parking. And the motorway was just a few miles further on, so we headed out of the Forest and turned north.

We stopped at a service station for drinks and a snack. I bought some limited edition McDonald's burger: a Sweet Carolina BBQ Stack, which Maccy Dees succeeded again in making the best sounding burger taste exactly the same all all their other burgers.

It was bland.

In the extreme.

As we sat on a bench outside, the first Small tortoiseshell flew by looking glorious, showing even at a service station, nature is there, if we look for it.

Back on the motorway and turning north back up the M3, and traffic was light, so it was easy going.

Until we neared the junction with the M25, and the jams began.

We queued to get onto the junction, inched round that, then inched onto the M25, and joined the jam that wasn't going anywhere quickly.

The sat nav suggested that we would reach Wateringbury at ten past six to drop Ian off. It was nearly an hour out.

That was mainly because of rubberneckers at an accident on the other carriageway, and after that traffic went to 70, and so we were soon bac in Kent, in the warm light of a summer's evening.

We dropped Ian off, turned back down the hill, and along and up at Mereworth, ten miles to the M26, turning for the coast.

I drop Fran off at Faverhsam, once we had gone past the showground at Detling.

And so the last leg past Canterbury to Dover, getting back at ten past eight.

I was shattered.

I had a beer.

And a pizza.

Then watched the second half of the Spain v Austria game, Spain easing to an easy 3-0 win.

I went to bed soon after the final whistle.