Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum)

Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum) tells a story of woodland continuity and expansion in our post-industrial landscape. In spring, its pungent leaves and star-like flowers carpet the ancient woodland floors that industry never touched - living fragments of the wildwood that once covered our region. Now, this woodland indicator species is slowly colonising the manufactured forests of former colliery lands, its presence suggesting nature's quiet rejection of artificial boundaries. Like the traditional knowledge that survived industrialisation, Wild Garlic carries ancient worth: its leaves have long been gathered as a spring tonic and medicine, supporting immune health. In its gradual spread from ancient woods to recovering lands, it demonstrates how healing often follows old patterns. its chemistry cleaning heavy metals from soil, its flowers feeding early pollinators. Here is nature's patient reclamation, spreading the signature scent of ancient woodlands across lands we once thought lost to industry.