Indiana Joe and the Recorders of the Lost Asparagus

I awoke today wanting to do anything but go out into the field. I think the post holiday blues had set in, plus it was raining outside and I'd left my walking boots out in the rain resulting in me being forced to wear a pair of wellies at least two sizes too big. However, I knew I'd have to brave the rain as I'd arranged to go out and about with a National Trust warden in search of wild asparagus. So I pulled my boots up (literally), and we set off just after 9:00am.

We arrived at the first site and headed to the coast. The first thing Rachel said was "Are you up for scrambling over some rocks?". Sure, why not. Well, lucky I didn't back out, as it turned out to be the best day in the field yet! We started by very carefully hopping over an electric fence into a fairly unexplored region of the coastline, armed only with our wits and coordinates that should take us to this very rare plant. Within about ten minutes and with a small amount of downward climbing done, we located a known population of wild asparagus. After that we decided we wanted to find an undiscovered population, so split up and headed along the very rocky coastline. We took it in turns to either take the high road (fairly easy grassland), or the low road (surprisingly dangerous cliffs and sheer drops). This took me right back to my youth when me and my brother would spend summer days climbing rocks at Beacon Hill, often pretending we were in Jurassic Park, but that's another story. Eventually we struck gold and found a lone plant which hadn't been discovered before. Success!

After a brief lunch break we headed to a second site. I was still buzzing from the morning's climbing, but this site was more than I could have hoped for. In order to access any wild asparagus here, we had to climb the unclimbable. On several occasions I was thinking to myself "Is this worth it?!", but as this was the most excitement I'd had out in the field, I decided that yes, it was. Particular dangerous highlights included attempting to cross a small valley with a sheer drop below and no footing. I had to put all of my faith into the plants and simply grip them and hope for the best. I also kept choosing particularly awkward routes back up to the top, ideally ones that involved more climbing and less walking. I had quite literally a cliffhanger moment at one point where I was pulling myself up with a rock crack and the rock I'd grabbed broke off. If I hadn't had decent footing I'd have been a goner. All very exhilarating stuff, and I think when I return to Birmingham and have some money I'd like to take up rock climbing as a hobby. Unfortunately the pictures I took don't do the sheer drops and tricky climbs justice, they just look like nice coastline, so you'll have to take my word for it, but here's a couple of slopes I conquered anyway:
We're heading out again next week for more death defying acts, all in the name of conservation.