Summer colours at Longshaw

A wildflower meadow with a barn in the distance

In summer, you can find every colour of the rainbow in Longshaw’s moors and streams. Why not challenge yourself to spot your favourite colours in nature next time you visit?

Red deer have given birth to their calves, and are enjoying long grass and lush moss to graze on. Look for them on White Edge Moors and Big Moor. Orange mosses and lichens grow on fallen trees and rocks, while yellow cinquefoil flowers are easy to recognise by thier five tiny petals, growing in boggy moorland places.

Red deer watching
group of stags with antlers peeping above heather and brush
Red deer watching

 
Green hairstreak butterflies are not only bright green, but iridescent too! Look for them in the heather around Padley Gorge. When the sky is blue, the pond reflects straight back and can look like bright poster paint.

Visitors taking a moment to stop and admire the beautiful Longshaw pond
couple standing at edge of pond blue sky
Visitors taking a moment to stop and admire the beautiful Longshaw pond


Tiny indigo coloured bilberries are easy to spot and delicious to taste – look for bright green bushes covered in purple dots in late June. Pink bell heather comes into flower first, and the more purple ling heather creates the purple carpet in August. On a hot day it smells like summer.

Heather blooms bright pink at Longshaw


Every time you visit Longshaw, you help to keep it colourful, thank you.