The Golden Triangle in Gloucestershire is arguably the location of the finest displays of wild daffodils in the whole of the UK.
Nestled in-between the Wye Valley, Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds lies a special place where the springtime blooms have brought visitors to this area from far and wide in the months of February and March.
Wild daffodils have grown in abundance here for centuries and daffodil picking was once a large part of the local economy. Villagers picked the flowers which were then sent by rail on the daffodil line to towns and cities across the country.
The flowering season of daffodils meant that they were a popular flower for Easter festivals and they became known as ‘Lent Lillies’. The Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 largely put an end to the wild daffodil picking industry and the blooms began to recede in the following years.
In 1988, the Windcross Paths Group established The Daffodil Way, a ten-mile footpath which passes the villages of Kempley and Dymock, which are about half an hour drive away from Cheltenham.
The traditional starting point is the pretty village of Dymock, a place that has become famous as the home of the Stinking Bishop cheese.
If you head south from Dymock, you will pass through Dymock Wood, an ancient woodland of mainly sessile oak with silver birch and wild cherry and in the springtime, stunning carpets of woodland floor daffodils.
Heading west, you will reach the village of Kempley, the starting point for many organised Daffodil walks and the annual daffodil weekends which have fallen foul of covid restrictions in the past couple of years, but will surely see a return from 2022.
The village is also home to the The 12th century church of St Mary, now managed by English Heritage and home to some fascinating medieval wall paintings, if the church is open to the public, it is well worth a detour from daffodil spotting at the Kempley Daffodil Meadow.
Below is a map that plots the ten mile route of the Daffodil Way, the best starting points are at Kempley on the west of the route, the village of Dymock in the east or Dymock Woods in the south. You can travel in both clockwise or anti-clockwise directions as it is a classic circular walk, the route is well sign-posted and on relatively flat terrain, so this is ideal for those looking for something simple.
