A bit later on and you can find rarities such as Gentian and Autumn Ladies' Tresses here. Enlarge by clicking https://i.ibb.co/C8Thv7t/Noar-Hill-flower-bank.jpg 

 

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  Now that’s what I call a meadow!  It reminds me of the Cadbury’s flake advert!  I wonder if they’re all naturally occurring, or if they’ve been sown.  

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Meadows like that are mostly the result of cutting for hay or grazing at certain times of year, it might look kind of disastrous to go in and cut it all down but not regularly removing nutrients encourages coarse grasses and other weedy stuff like docks, nettles, cow parsley
There are a few places with naturally very poor soil will produce suitable conditions, you sometimes see it in the most unlikely locations such as steep motorway verges.
(fairly) locally at Redcar the old steelworks used to tip slag and other waste out over sand dunes until the 1960s, that area is now a remarkable reserve with orchids and many other plants not found anywhere else along the coast. 

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Poor soil is the explanation here - the area is on the site of old chalk pits with thin alkaline soils and there's some 'cutting', done by cattle allowed to graze at appropriate times of year.

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It’s funny you should both mention poor soil.  Yesterday I was working with my daughter in her garden and remarked on the good quality of soil. She said when she’s talked about gardening on the forums she’s a member of, it seems the UK has a reputation for quality soil as several of her foreign friends are envious of it.  I suppose we notice poor soil because it doesn’t occur much here and when it does, it produces gems! 

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When people ask about growing wild flower species my first comment is always to talk about lowering fertility by removing clippings, avoiding any fertilizer and [if appropriate] introducing yellow rattle. Often when you do this all kinds of unexpected plants pop up, especially if the soil has been a bit disturbed. I came across the following webpage yesterday which is quite interesting - though I do not agree with a couple of points.

It is quite difficult to reduce the fertility of many Lincolnshire soils, as you can imagine.

https://theconversation.com/four-steps-to-make-your-lawn-a-wildlife-haven-from-green-desert-to-miniature-rainforest-117482

This might interest some TWO gardeners:

https://www.growwilduk.com/

Roger

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Meadows were featured on last night's Gardeners World on BBC2. Meadows were cited in particular as excellent for pollinators as well as for native species. The need for poor soil was mentioned more than once.

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Just picked up on this clip from the north of the county. Might make you smile.
Rare bee orchids thriving in Lincolnshire garden
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-humber-48967942/rare-bee-orchids-thriving-in-lincolnshire-garden

[If you are following "Wild Bill" this would not be the correct accent for Boston and the surrounding fens either. The fake caricature of northern accents in the series is almost as "criminally inaccurate" as a police chief has described the story line!]

Roger

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