Undeterred by the poor weather forecast, a small but enthusiastic group of foragers met at Cherry Orchard Local Nature Reserve, ready to get collecting! Accompanied by Heather, Wildlife Ranger, and Alex, Riverside Ranger, we wended our way through the Reserve and then along Bromwich Parade, picking elderflowers as we went.

Having collected about 120 between us before crossing Diglis Bridge, a quick check with the “Cordial Gang” waiting at Cripplegate Park meant we increased our efforts to gather at least 50 more! We had perhaps been distracted by the many bits of wildlife we spotted on the way… herons, orchids, sand martins, looking for slow worms and cormorants of course many wild flowers.

At Cripplegate Park, we were welcomed by the Park Wardens Lisa and Michelle, and TW volunteer cordial makers Rod, Arthur and Tony, and treated to some cordial made earlier before getting on with making our batch.

Eventually all that was needed was to leave the new batch to steep overnight, so the foragers headed home with a bottle of some Rod had made earlier. Most managed to return the next day to help bottle their batch, and take another bottle for comparison! The weather was less kind on Sunday, but we hope the cordial was put to good use at one of the many jubilee picnics! Look out for us at our other events – we’ll have plenty of cordial to sample!