10.
have been contravened, albeit innocently,
before the end. I did not expect much from
a readily accessible semi-urban site, but
what turned up in those few minutes was a
welcome stimulus at the tired end of a
draughty day, and worthy to be recalled
later with pleasure.
The pool is really a widening of the
Colne. Its hummocky, tumbled banks are
marshy as the waterline is near and the
contrast between parched meadow and lush
fringe was unusually striking at that time.
A Reed Grass with almost spatulate flowering
heads was vigorous and well watered, as also
the Flag swords with their quota of half-
submerged "Coke" tins. Common plants were
flourishing rather splendidly, even the
hardly appreciated Mugwort, who leaves
yielded aromatic pleasure under pressure of
finger and thumb. Comfrey leaves made the
best of themselves, and Water Figwort was
approaching a floral display as nearly as
one is ever likely to find it. Clumps of
Horseradish were no longer in flower, but
the roundly serrate juvenile leaves, always
a handsome sight, were putting their more
adult dark green bladed elders somewhat in
the shade. Creeping Thistle is more
variable in flower than one gives it credit
for, and here it was at its best, with
softly fluffed-out brushes of pale mauve
and white. Nettles were strong in the
moisture, their parallel arcs of pale green
flowers poised like dainty knotted whips.
Peering up from among ranker vegetation,
the blooms of Water Mint intensified their
hues in the strength of new florescence,
and those of Great Willow Herb, open faced,
towered above them, very much the Codlins
and Cream of an earlier era. The hoods of