'Daffodils in Dymock' by Joyce Hayward

One place I have become familiar with over the past twenty three years is Dymock near Gloucester where some friends of ours farmed on a large scale over Dymock and nearby Much March and Kempley. It is a beautiful part of Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Forest of Dean and home to many wild daffodils.

When the spring came I was never happy until we had made our pilgrimage to see the ‘daffs’. These dainty, pale-yellow flowers grew everywhere: in fields, in orchards where apple trees were hung with bountiful bunches of mistletoe, in ditches, on the roadside and in woodlands. One special place where they grew most prolifically was the churchyards of ancient churches, which in themselves were interesting and beautiful. In March, daffodils thrived everywhere, in their natural habitat, and special walks and routes were set out for visitors to the area.

Many years ago there was a special train from London which brought families to pick daffodils for the markets. What delightful work they must have enjoyed!

After we had completed our tour we would meet up and enjoy an evening meal with our friends. Our husbands, both farmers, would have a good and lively row about some trivial problem to do with farming.

Sadly, they have both died in the last few years; but when they were alive they gave us a sack of daffodil bulbs which we planted in our garden and so each year in March we have their blooms which help us to remember them and the beautiful place they lived in.