Axbridge town (pop. ~2000) sits at the foot of Shute Shelve Hill, a National Trust nature reserve. Because it is just a few minutes walk up the road, we visit it quite often, a path winds its way along the foot of the hill, at the end of which one can cut back through the allotments, through Upper Axbridge and then down into the town square.

Because so much of this diary refers to "Shute Shelve slopes", we thought it might be an idea to illustrate it. The first image shows the slope of Shute Shelve Hill next to the entrance . We've seen goldcrests in the bushes here and that splodge in the sunlight just beyond the edge of the shadow is one of the many rabbits which live in a warren under the trees to the left. The slope is dotted with violets at this time of year and further up there are masses of gorse with dense yellow blooms.

The flat area in the immediate foreground is covered with Ground Ivy which sounds rather dull but the name is a bit misleading, the flowers very delicate and are more like individual orchid flowers, there's an image in the wildflower section of our image gallery. The second photo shows the path which runs along the foot of the hill, it is covered with yellow rock roses and birdsfoot trefoil in late spring. The view encompasses Axbridge town and in the distance, Glastonbury Tor. The bird in the sky is a buzzard, a common sight on the Mendips.

The last two images show the view out to the east over Axbridge and towards the Tor, taken slightly later the same day as the light started to take on its characteristic pink sunset hue.

We're getting out a bit more as the weather (and the light) improves --- gradually. The landscape here is relatively flat, bordered by hills on the north and south horizons but mostly open to the east and west. We think it's this feature that throws the cloud masses into such prominence. We often get huge cloud formations overhead, looks like one of George Lucas' vast starships hanging above us.

The first image tries to give a flavour of this, looking out to the south west, over the Isle of Frogs (these days known more mundanely as Brent Knoll), over Bridgwater, across the bay to Minehead and the Exmoor hills beyond. That's about 30-40 miles and getting on towards the southern edge of the county.

The second image carries some of this detail. It's a stretch for the digital camera but that's a creditable effort - Exmoor's Dunkery Hill is just discernible to the left, on the horizon. Turning east, we can see that Glastonbury and the Tor are enjoying the sunshine which everyone else seems to have while we're stuck under this huge cloud, boo.

Things are definitely getting started. The other day, on one of those very bright and clear April days, we headed off to the other side of Axbridge (between the hill and the reservoir, behind the sailing club) to check on a woodpecker who has been laughing at my boat repair skills. The track of the old "Strawberry Line" railway which used to run between Axbridge and Cheddar (behind the sailing club) is now a cycle path. It is bordered by numerous families of rabbits, most of which seem to have become quite relaxed about passers-by.

A short climb up Shute Shelve Hill gives a lovely panoramic view. Just plonk your bum down on a patch of wild thyme, dig out the binos and take some time out to browse the landscape in detail. Shame you can't be here, but if you are up for a 650Kb download, the full-size panoramic image is huge (9858 x 1891 pixels) and gives a somewhat similar effect. Familiar features are annotated, as are some general features.

Although it sounds like a firm of builders, "GB Gruffy" is actually a nature reserve on top of the Mendips. It has a pothole and a badger sett (recently filmed by the BBC with Bill Oddie). "Gruffy ground" is a local term for the old opencast mines. They were last worked in Victorian times and have by now been reclaimed by nature.

In spring, the fields are just a mass of wildflowers and we thought we'd better check up on this year's progress. There are drifts of violets and celandines with wood anemones, wood sorrel and in the marshy bits, Lady's Smock. Here is a rather fine natural arrangement of Wood Sorrel and a closeup.

Over the course of 30 minutes or so, the sun slipped down to the west, finally appearing below the edge of the overhead cloud formation. The light was continually changing, creating some beautifully subtle colours.