I started my life in Essex, and moved via Berkshire to Devon, where I’ve now lived more than half my life. I’m very settled here, but have just returned from a trip to see a friend in Pakefield, which is close to the most easterly point in England.…
Category: natural history
No, not a rant about politics, but an explanation of the love-it-and-hate-it scent of the common hawthorn, or May Tree, also known as whitethorn and quickthorn (Crataegus monogyna). Just now, the roadside hedges are dotted with the linear wands of flowering hawthorn, and if you are on foot…
For once, the weather forecast for Easter was for sunshine and light winds, so we packed a picnic and headed west early to miss the traffic. We left Uplyme in brilliant sunshine, and were somewhat dismayed as we crossed the Exe to see louring clouds towards our destination.…
I spent a morning in this extensive broadleaf forest in Wiltshire with a friend. We didn’t know what to expect on our expedition, but the answer was, mostly fungi. There are large numbers of fallen logs of immense girth, home to many species of fungi. I recognised candle…
Having visited Bude earlier in the year, it was wonderful to be back in Cornwall visiting some of the wonderful beaches on the north-west and south coasts. Here are some highlights! Saturday saw a trip to Polridmouth, which involved the car ferry at Fowey – a surprisingly easy…
We were lucky to choose a sunny day for exploring some South Devon beaches – not so easy this summer, which has been alternately cold and wet, grey and humid, sunny and dry. Starting at Ayrmer Cove (which I visited last year), we enjoyed the beautiful rock formations…
13th June A couple of years ago, I paid a mid-July visit to the wildflower meadows at Hogchester, just a couple of miles from where I live. This year I managed an earlier visit to see a different flora – the oxeye daisies in particular were wonderful. The…
I last visited this Iron Age hillfort at the end of March (see here), and have just returned to see the bluebells at their peak of perfection, on a very chilly but bright morning. In past years I was saddened to see those on the lawns much crushed…
I thought twice about the title of this page, having found Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name quite dire! But what the hell, that’s where I was on a cold, windy but very sunny spring day. We started off at the beach car park and walked along…