Suspect both Francis and I now suffering a little guilt that we haven’t written for a while but there are times when the demands of life allow for little distraction.
Yes, we have been wandering about a bit and no it’s not because late summer and the advent of autumn is a quiet time for wildlife and we are short of subjects!
It would be easy to launch in to a rant about politics and the issues around biodiversity to which only lip service is being made but thought I would first quickly share the joys and places enjoyed over the last few weeks.
We walk the Wey navigation as pictured above, probably more often than anywhere else. The stretch we haunt never ceases to soothe my thoughts whilst providing endless little surprises.
The lure of Chobham in late summer on a fine day is too much to resist. Purple and pink pleasure…
And unbelievable blue..
Some of the colonies showing very poor numbers and others the best for several years. Rarely are wildfires good for heath but by chance one fire 2 years ago led to a great increase in flowering plants. Not all beneficial management is deliberate!
More annoying than distressing is the reappearance/germination of alien Pitcher plants which were thought to be pretty much eradicated 3 or 4 years ago.
Some alien or introduced species are harder to tolerate
Whilst wandering about on the NNNR it was pleasing to find another rarity
Not really a moss but a miniature fern, this lime coloured “tail” of a plant has been identified as meriting its own species recovery plan. Small doesn’t mean insignificant.
Autumn rains shouldn’t put any one off exploring, as we discovered.
The beginning of a rather wet walk was in Surrey, the National Trust car park at Black Down, but we did stray across the border in to Sussex.
Rain but with a light sky creates wonderful effects with the light through the canopy of trees and initially the walk along the ridge was sheltered under old beech giants.
As we arrived at the southern end of the ridge the rain eased and the view was breathtaking.
Standing high enough to be above fast moving cloud in the south of England felt truly surreal. The place is well named and celebrates the poet Tennyson who spent much time here. I like to think that his first reaction on arriving at this point was similar to mine, awe and wonder.
Though clearly a special place, one of the most beautiful I have ever been to (yes really), it simply doesn’t feel heavily visited. Please go, in any weather it will put an enormous smile on your face!
The views continued as the sun woke through and we returned through an open area of heath.
And yes I have also been out of the county for holiday……
And not even I can pretend that this was Surrey!
And yes wildlife still surrounds me at home.
Next post likely to be a tad more stroppy so here’s a photo of dawn 2 days ago to engender a little peace.
