Booking a Trip with HOS
As a member you are welcome to join any trip, although bear in mind you must register with the leader and many trips fill up. Thank you to all the leaders who have volunteered their time Many members have intimate knowledge of orchid sites – many of you volunteer for work parties, participate in orchid counts, look over and protect orchids, or have visited favourite sites for many years. At the same time many leaders and members have multiple natural history interests, so you will meet other members on our trips who have knowledge of, for example, birds, butterflies, dragonflies and other plants – and perhaps even insects, slime moulds or snails too. Thanks to your involvement in so many voluntary organisations, we are increasingly welcomed by reserve wardens. Once again, two wardens will lead walks for us on nationally important sites.
You must make your decision whether you are fit and healthy enough to participate in any walk. General indications of difficulty are below, but on the day weather and underfoot conditions may make the trip more difficult. In general, you should prepare as for a remote country walk and expect uneven ground. The general principle is: participants are responsible for their own safety. Prepare as if you were going walking with friends. Do communicate any concerns you have to the leader and your fellow participants as early as possible on the day or, better still, beforehand. The leader does not carry any first-aid or emergency equipment. The leader’s role is to help you find your way around the area and help you to see more orchids than you would if you went on your own. It is not to ensure your safety – you are solely responsible for that. Areas visited often have no mobile signal.
We normally collect a voluntary donation to any non-government organisation, such as a Wildlife Trust, that maintains a site visited. Every year recently we have collected several hundred pounds for conservation – thank you. Our insurance only covers our own members, so it is not normally possible to take a non-member friend with you. Family membership can include children too. You cannot bring a dog unless the trip leader explicitly agrees to this. Inevitably some trips will have to be rescheduled, or perhaps even cancelled, if the orchids do not flower or are affected by the season. Please be sympathetic. It seems every season throws some weather-related surprise.
Emails for the lead available on the HOS Forum Field Trip Announcement and will be in the Spring 2025 issue of Journal of the Hardy Orchid Society. To register on a trip, please email the individual contact given and include your membership number (or perhaps a small apology if you have lost it!). Any enquiries, ideas, problems, queries, please write to the Field Trip Co-ordinators – fieldtrips@hardyorchidsociety.org.
Please remember that you must be a member of the Hardy Orchid Society to book a field trip.
You can join here
Field Trips in 2025
Saturday 26th April: Purbeck, Dorset
Leader: Vinny Blood
Though the Early Spider-orchid is nationally scarce, they grow in their tens of thousands on the Dorset coast. Trip leader Vinny Blood has spent many hundreds of hours over the past 20 years walking the locality. Early-purple Orchid and Green-winged Orchid will also feature on the trip – and other floral delights such as the aptly named Small-flowered Buttercup. All this and the magnificent scenery of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site! Please note that a reasonable level of fitness is required for this walk. There will be hills to contend with, and the ground is rough and rocky underfoot in places.
Tuesday 13th May: East Kent
Leader: Colin Sillence
Parkgate and Denge Wood to see Monkey Orchid, Lady Orchid, Fly Orchid and Greater Butterfly-orchid. Up to twelve orchid species are possible. Less than two miles of easy walking. This trip requires car sharing as only limited parking is possible at the reserves. A great day out in England’s “orchid garden” and there are many other sites you may wish to visit later in the afternoon, or on an adjacent day.
Saturday 17th May: Box Hill
Leader: Peter Cowin
Box Hill has a large number of orchid species and is easily accessible from London – indeed we will meet close to Box Hill train station. This trip will concentrate on seeing large numbers of Bird’s-nest Orchid and Man Orchid, although other species will be seen. We will move on in the afternoon to see another site a few miles away – we will car share due to limited parking.
Thursday 22nd May: East Chilterns
Leader: Alec Latham
A walking outing connecting Hoo Bit, the Pegsdon Hills and Knocking Hoe in south Bedfordshire. We should see White Helleborine, Fly Orchid, Chalk Fragrant-orchid, Twayblade, Common Spotted-orchid and Burnt Orchid (other plants include Hound’s-tongue, Field Fleawort and Pasqueflower).This walk is four miles of difficult terrain including potential forest mud, rough chalk pasture, steep hills with ‘landscaped’ steps and slopes with rabbit holes. There could also be driving wind at the summits. Sturdy footwear is required.
Friday 6th June: Braunton Burrows, North Devon
Leader: Roger Harding
Walk will be about three hours – not strenuous. Mostly firm and dry, but some damp slacks may need waterproof footwear. A chance to be guided by legendary local botanist Mary Breeds on one of the finest and most extensive sand dune systems in the country. Possible orchid species in early summer: Early and Southern Marsh-orchid including hybrids and ssp. coccinea, Bee Orchid, Pyramidal Orchid, and Twayblade. There will be plenty of other rare and interesting plants, butterflies, bugs and birds at this nationally-important site for nature.
Saturday 7th June: Central Exmoor, North Devon
Leader: Roger Harding
To search for Lesser Twayblade at one or more of its old sites. This trip will bring back some of the old romance of orchid hunting, where success is not guaranteed. Walking will be on the exposed tops of Exmoor so you must be prepared for British mountain weather (wind and rain – or sunburn!).
Saturday 14th June: , New Forest
Leader: Vinny Blood
The acidic heathland of this beautiful national park holds surprising numbers of orchids. The Heath Spotted-orchids in the region are renown for their delicate beauty and colour variations. Lesser Butterfly-orchid, Early Marsh-orchid and Heath Fragrant-orchid are also in flower at this time of year. The walk is relatively gentle with few hills – but stout footwear is recommended.
Wednesday 18th June: East Kent
Leader: Colin Sillence
Monkton Nature Reserve – the first ever recipient of our conservation grant. Nine orchids should be in flower with impressive numbers of Man Orchid. In the afternoon we will go to Sandwich to see Britain’s best site for Lizard Orchid and other botanical rarities
Saturday 21st June: Three sites near Leeds
Leader: Charlie Philpotts
Three varied sites around the east Leeds area, a former mining site, a limestone outcrop and old limestone meadow. Orchids to be seen should include Northern Marsh-orchid, Southern Marsh-orchid, Common Spotted-orchid, their hybrids, Twayblade and Bee Orchid as well as a lot of other wildflowers.
Saturday 21st June: Windsor Hill, near Princes Risborough, Chilterns
Registrations to fieldtrips@hardyorchidsociety.org
To see Red Helleborine. The orchids are in an enclosure so we can only get within a few metres of them. The total walking is about a mile. While successful flowering cannot be guaranteed, the last few years have always produced flowering stems. The exact timing does vary, so the date may need to be moved. This is our earliest visit ever to Windsor Hill – let’s hope we can finally see the lower plants again. BBOWT (the local Wildlife Trust) always has a fee per individual for guided reserve walks and indeed the warden will be on site to explain the history and current conservation policies. We need to collect donations to match these fees and to contribute to the extensive conservation efforts here.
Sunday 22nd June: Kenfig Dunes, Glamorgan
Leader: Steve Parsons
While the primary focus of our visit will be the Fen Orchid, we also hope the timing of our visit will be good for high summer and late summer species, as well as many other botanical delights. This is a unique site which is well worth a visit. All being well the warden will be present to show us round. The trip will involve a fair amount of walking through the extensive dune system.
Friday 4th July: Braunton Burrows, North Devon
Leader: Roger Harding
Our second trip of the season here, walking over a different route and with other orchids at their peak. The walk will be about three hours – not strenuous. Mostly firm and dry, but some damp slacks may need waterproof footwear. Once again we will be guided by Mary Breeds. Possible orchid species - Early and Southern Marsh-orchid (better on earlier trip) including hybrids and ssp. coccinea. Pyramidal Orchid, Twayblade, Marsh Fragrant-orchid and Marsh Helleborine by the thousand.
Saturday morning 5th July: Greywell Moors, North Hampshire
Leader: Peter & Jane Vaughan
We will visit the northern part, which is a closed reserve (with permission). The site’s specialities are large numbers of Marsh Helleborine, including var. ochroleuca, and Marsh Fragrant-orchid for which it is particularly well-known. Southern Marsh-orchid, Common Twayblade, Pyramidal Orchid will also be present. The site is relatively compact and so we will walk less than a mile, but the ground is uneven, wet and sloping in places, so good footwear is essential. After the site visit there will be the opportunity to go on to an excellent nearby pub for some HOS social time (and a good lunch if you like).
Sunday 6th July: Perthshire and Fife, Scotland
Leader: Dave Trudgill
An opportunity to visit Dave Trudgill’s orchid meadow. Species at Newmill include both Butterfly-orchids, Marsh-orchid, Broad-leaved Helleborine and White Helleborine (but past flowering). There is also Common Spotted-orchid and Heath Spotted-orchid, Early Marsh-orchid, Northern Marsh-orchid, Southern Marsh-orchid, Bee Orchid and Pyramidal Orchid. See the YouTube video ‘Newmill: creating and managing an orchid meadow’. If you want to create an orchid meadow, this is a great opportunity to see how this can be successfully done. In the afternoon we will go on (about 1hour) to Tentsmuir/ Kinshaldie arriving at about 13.00 to see Creeping Lady’s-tressses, Lesser Twayblade, and search for Coralroot Orchid (may be past flowering). This part will be led by Alison Davies and involve at least two hours walking, some of it over rough ground. It will be possible to join the trip for the Tentsmuir part only.
Sunday 13th July: Cumbria
Leader: Charlie Philpotts
Waitby Greenriggs and Augill Pasture in Cumbria, meeting in Kirkby Stephen. Orchids should include Northern Marsh-orchid, Common Spotted-orchid, Heath Spotted-orchid, Greater and Lesser butterfly-orchid, Marsh Helleborine and three varieties of Fragrant-orchid. There will also be plenty of hybrids to look at. If time permits we could visit a nearby site and see Lesser Twayblades.
Please remember that you must be a member of the Hardy Orchid Society to book a field trip
You can join here