In Search of Yorkshire’s Purple Saxifrage

If you’ve joined me on a workshop before—especially in spring—you’ll know that purple saxifrage is one of my all-time favourite flowers. This year, it’s time we go looking for it on Pen-y-ghent.

Come along for a springtime flower hunt on the high limestone cliffs of one of Yorkshire’s most iconic hills. While our quest won’t focus only on purple saxifrage, this rare Arctic-alpine beauty will be our holy grail.

Purple saxifrage is a truly special plant: its vivid purple-pink blooms are among the very first of the year, appearing bravely in the most unlikely places—high on cold, windswept mountain ledges shaped by ancient geology. A relic of the Ice Age, it survives here against the odds, and it won’t be with us forever.

Join me as we search for this remarkable little flower in one of the most dramatic landscapes Yorkshire has to offer. Let’s see what spring reveals.

This workshop is open to all and I haven’t asked for CPD points to be allocated to it. Just come along for the inspiration! You’ll need to be able to look after yourself in the hills though, we’ll be on steep exposed ground at times and off the beaten path.

Meeting place - Horton in Ribblesdale, National Park Car park SD 8067 7262

Meeting time 09.30