tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13014118005997085362024-03-14T08:01:03.560+00:00Wessex WanderingsRambles around the chalk downs of Southern England. Photographs of flowers, buildings, landscape, fungi and anything else that takes my eye on walks.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-44295362077772809012023-03-02T13:00:00.002+00:002023-03-03T10:23:53.550+00:00Lambourn Spring<p>A rather late start of the walking season this year. The weather in January was wet followed by a mostly dry but cold and overcast February .
I have volunteered to lead a walk at Lambourn in July. This is a repeat of the April walk I did ten years ago. You can compare and contrast see what I found then
in <a href="http://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/lambourn-ramble.html">January 2013 here</a> and later on in <a href="http://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/lambourn-re-visit.html">April 2013</a>.
</p>
<p>On all previous visits I have found the church locked. So imagine my delight in finding the door open. The current late 12the century church is built on the site of a Saxon church and for what is now a just a large village it is very impressive in scale, reflecting its importance in the early medieval period.</p>
<p>There is a wealth of strangeness in this view from the nave. You will see that the arches along the nave are 'early Norman' rounded while the central crossing is arched. There is the strange arcade running on the top left linking to the bell ringing chamber above the central crossing. The original design was extended in the 14th century to give extra aisles and side chapels of different styles, so there is a good deal to investigate. It also has a fine alabaster tomb of Sir Thomas Essex and brasses. There is full description of the <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp251-266">church here</a>.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWNave.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="lambourn church,nave" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The pillar capitals around the central crossing are amazing. Lovely freeform design from over 800 years ago. One image is of a Green Man.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWColumns.jpg" width="800" height="480" alt="lambourn church,capitals" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The church has not one but two fonts. The currently used one is modern, and copies the interlinked arch design of <a href="https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/berkshire/churches/welford.htm">Welford Church</a> font just down the Lambourn valley.
The previous font has been left in a side chapel. Once consecrated a font remains a 'holy' object and should be treated with respect and so often you see these hand me downs unused in the churchyard or decorating vicarage gardens. The old font has a most unusual design. The large bowl design makes it fairly early but the swags and ‘putti’ make it look like Regency. In fact it is dated to just after the restoration of 1660 and so is ‘transitional’, not many fonts were made in this period so it is noteworthy.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWFont2.jpg" width="800" height="786" alt="lambourn church,font" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The reason that Lambourn is at Lambourn is secure access to clean water every day of the year, every year. The springs deliver this pure water at a constant temperature as if by magic. There is one spring where the discharge is so strong that it bubbles up, in most other places it is a gentle seep out of the ground. Lambourn is surrounded by chalk which is the reservoir and filtration system for the water. It is so clean that very little can live in it - just algae as it lacks the nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium essential for plant life.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWSpring.jpg" width="800" height="574" alt="spring" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Around the woods were patches of snowdrops often close to the springs.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWSnowdrop.jpg" width="800" height="620" alt="snowdrop" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The antiquity of Churn Woods is indicated by widespread mature bushes of Common Box (Buxus sempervirens) now in bud. They had not been attacked by the box moth that is the scourge of gardens. It is now thought that because box prefers shaded locations it is already stressed when planted in the full sunlight of gardens and it is that that makes it more susceptible to attack.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWBox.jpg" width="800" height="577" alt="box buds" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Signs of spring were evident in some of the weeping willows close to the River Lambourn.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWWillow.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="willow" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then climbed the side of the valley with good views over the tranquil landscape. Eventually I reached my most southerly point at Cleve Cottage, a remote but picturesque house a long way from anywhere.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWCleveCottage.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Cleve cottage" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then visited the BBOWT <a href="https://www.bbowt.org.uk/nature-reserves/watts-bank">Watts Bank Reserve</a>. This is a small steep chalk slope that offers a range of wildflowers in summer. In winter not much to show, some primroses were in bud - they are in full flower elsewhere.It will be a very different scene when I visit again in July.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWPrimrose.jpg" width="800" height="559" alt="primrose" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A strong indication that this is a species diverse site is that there are many lumps that are best seen in winter. These are ant hills and demonstrate that the land has not been ploughed for a very long time - hundreds of years.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWAntHills.jpg" width="800" height="497" alt="ant hills" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At the bottom of reserve were a few flowering shrubs. These are Spurge-laurel (Daphne laureola) which indicate undisturbed chalk ground. The flowers were just coming out and on one a
Seven-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) was found waiting for warmer weather.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWLadybird.jpg" width="800" height="620" alt="spurge laurel,ladybird" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then followed a track leading back towards Lambourn. It had pleasant views and an appreciated steady downward direction. Near some houses I found this Anemone, at first I thought this was a very early Wood Anemone but it has double petals and must be a garden escape.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWAnenome.jpg" width="800" height="560" alt="anenome" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a bank near the primary school I was initially attracted by seeing some Common Field-Speedwell (Veronica persica) in flower but looking around spotted the tiny flowers of Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) that appear so fleetingly in early Spring.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWWhitlow.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="Common Whitlow Grass" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally back to the Main Street of Lambourn on a sunny early Spring day.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LambournPPWMain.jpg" width="800" height="673" alt="Lambourn main street" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com01 St George's Ter, Lambourn, Hungerford RG17 8PW, UK51.5065046 -1.529855251.4637732347213 -1.59851975078125 51.5492359652787 -1.46119064921875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-48941017453763281032022-10-11T13:00:00.008+01:002022-10-12T09:29:01.802+01:00Bucklebury Common and Bucklebury<p>As the sunny but cool days continue, I was tempted out to explore the eastern part of Bucklebury Common that I had not visited before. Here is a map of the 6 mile walk:</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=14Yoe8a73Iropz4hDAhKCtbFOhLuaODw&ehbc=2E312F" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>There are several parking spots along the common and the one I chose quickly led me along a ‘quiet lane’ with some veteran oaks.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyQuietLane.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="quiet lane" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then took a track through woodland and found a cluster of thirty or more bolete fungi.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyBolete.jpg" width="800" height="634" alt="bolete" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The field margins had autumn fruits such as these rose hips. These are some of the first fruits to disappear.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyRoseHip.jpg" width="800" height="626" alt="rose hips" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The unbroken sunshine provided fine views of the Pang valley in which Bucklebury village is set.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyView.jpg" width="800" height="620" alt="field view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There was a good number of fungi but not much ‘spectacular’ or ‘rare’. I found some Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) that is common on very decayed wood.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburySulphurTuft.jpg" width="800" height="601" alt="fungi,sulphur tuft" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I only found a few flowers still in bloom. This Common Comfrey (Symphytum offinale) seemed to think it was May or June.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyComfrey.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="comfrey" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Walking towards the village I found a load of fallen apples. It's often a clue that you are near habitation when you see wild apple trees.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyCrabs.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="fallen apples" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The church of St. Mary the Virgin at <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3/pp291-296">Bucklebury</a> is a fine looking early church dating back to just after the Norman conquest. I'd last visited the village <a href="http://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/summer-2011-turned-out-to-be-record.html">eleven years</a> ago. Inside there are some of the original arches that form the nave but much has been added on in later centuries. There are a few interesting monuments to local landowners in the church.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyChurch.jpg" width="800" height="612" alt="Bucklebury church" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The most interesting feature is the south porch door. It was added around 1170 but the style of ornamentation alludes to an earlier age. There is the central ‘sun god’ figure beneath which are perhaps ‘Adam and Eve’. There are various knots and patterns that have a Celtic style. Perhaps it was a copy of an earlier doorway design? Frustratingly I can find no further information on the carving online.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyPorchArch.jpg" width="800" height="589" alt="Bucklebury church porch arch" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the churchyard I found just one autumn crocus in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyAutumnCrocus.jpg" width="800" height="647" alt="autumn crocus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>But nearby there was a fine display of cyclamen.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyCyclamen.jpg" width="800" height="548" alt="cyclamen" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Bucklebury is currently rather a famous place as <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/20220722146096/carole-michael-middleton-home-bucklebury-manor/">Bucklebury Manor</a> is the home of Carole and Michael Middleton, the parents of the <a href="https://www.royal.uk/the-princess-of-wales">Princess of Wales</a>. It's also the home of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Tarrant">Chris Tarrant</a>, perhaps not so famous.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyManor.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Bucklebury Manor" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Just over the road is a popular ‘petting zoo’ or ‘farm park’ where children can see and pet farm animals. It is now owned by the princess's sister and brother-in-law <a href="https://people.com/royals/pippa-middleton-james-matthews-relationship-timeline/">Pippa and James Matthews</a>. Not surprisingly then it is a place where you might see Prince George and Princess Charlotte. It is said to be one of Charlotte's favourite places.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyFarmRam.jpg" width="800" height="658" alt="ram" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>More fungi, did not investigate or take a sample so I can't hazard a guess which species it is.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyFungi2.jpg" width="800" height="635" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In some areas of the woodland, particularly on steep slopes and boundaries veteran trees have been left to grow.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyVeteranOak.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="veteran oak" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This fungi produces white thin plates. I think it could be Hazel bracket (Skeletocutis nivea).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyFungi1.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>To the south of the road that runs through <a href="https://www.bbowt.org.uk/nature-reserves/bucklebury-common">Bucklebury Common</a> the land has been cleared of trees so that the rare habitat of heathland can flourish.
Most of the rest of the common has been taken over by trees and so this area is more like it would have appeared when used by the ‘Commoners’ who grazed animals and collected wood and bracken. It was also cleared so it could be used for troops in WW2. This area was still showing a lot of stress from the long summer drought which was not so evident in the woodland.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyHeath.jpg" width="800" height="617" alt="heathland" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My route back took me past more veteran trees and fungi, one of the last I saw was a damaged specimen of Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BuckleburyFlyAgaric.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="fly agaric" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Bucklebury, Reading RG7, UK51.4350979 -1.207630423.124864063821157 -36.3638804 79.745331736178855 33.9486196tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-42050769603093413202022-10-06T14:00:00.004+01:002022-10-06T20:33:24.872+01:00Sulham Woods and Purley-on-Thames<p>The last longish walk was back in late June. My excuse for not venturing out until early October is that July and August 2022 were too hot and dry to be followed by September that was cooler but mainly cloudy. I do hope we have an ‘Indian Summer’ in October as it can give some of the best walking conditions.</p>
<p>I decided to explore local woods - Sulham Woods and the Thames, I will return later in the month when the fungi season is in full swing - it is a bit early for them in early October.</p>
<p>Nature has bounced back after the months of drought - you need to look quite hard to see any signs of it now. However the woods were still rather dry and places that are normally muddy were still dry.</p>
<p>One of the first things I noted was a large fungal fruiting body on an old stump. Possibly Giant Polypore (Meripilus giganteus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyGiantPolypore.jpg" width="800" height="652" alt="giant polypore" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>When just entering the local woodland I saw a Perennial Sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis) still in bud and flowering away.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleySowThistle.jpg" width="800" height="585" alt="sow thistle" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In a paddock by a wood I disturbed a red kite which then went and perched glowering down at me.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyRedKite.jpg" width="800" height="590" alt="red kite" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A new paddock has led to the pathway becoming much more restricted and far fewer wildflowers but I did spot this Mayflower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyMayweed.jpg" width="800" height="549" alt="mayweed" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then entered Sulham Woods and was particularly keen to see how many fungi there were around. There were quite a good selection on decaying wood like these King Alfred's Cakes (Daldinia concentrica) - so called because they are black and actually fairly brittle.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyKingAlfredCakes.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="king alfreds cakes" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There is one stump that has been attacked/decomposed by the same fungi for several years now - it is the dramatic looking Spectacular Rustgill (Gymnopilus junonius)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleySpectacularRustgill.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="spectacular rustgill" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's been a good year for acorns, and you have to be careful walking under oak trees because it is easy to slip on them there are so many. Squirrels and Jays were busy!</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyAcorns.jpg" width="800" height="570" alt="acorns" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There is a good strip of wildflowers along the western edge of the woods. Here I was able to admire the small but beautiful Red Clover (Trifolium pratense).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyRedClover.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="red clover" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A late summer/autumn flowering plant is Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyWildBasil.jpg" width="800" height="640" alt="wild basil" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Back in the woods and one beech has over several years had bracket fungi at its base. My best guess is Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyBeechBracket.jpg" width="634" height="750" alt="beech bracket" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the view from Sulham Woods looking north-west towards Pangbourne College up on the distant 'hill'.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyView.jpg" width="800" height="622" alt="view to Pangbourne" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A number of fallen tree trunks were being processed by the striking white, shiny Porcelain Fungus (Oudemansiella mucida).
Although I did see a good range of fungi on old decaying wood I did not see any of the soil based fungi within the woods.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyPorcelain.jpg" width="800" height="568" alt="porcelain fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another sign of autumn were fruits in the hedgerows I saw sloes, haws, crab apples and here rose hips.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyRoseHips.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="rose hips" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In a field near the river Thames was a group of Jackdaws. These intelligent birds are always worth watching.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyJackdaw.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="jackdaw" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And so to the River Thames itself; near Mapledurham Lock there is always a gaggle of geese - mainly Canada geese with some Greylag.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyGeese.jpg" width="800" height="543" alt="river thames" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Here is a Greylag on its own - I do prefer them to the Canadian ones.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyGreylag.jpg" width="800" height="606" alt="greylag,goose" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Resting near the edge of the lock was a swan sitting in front of a strange 'Portage point' sign.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleySwan.jpg" width="800" height="679" alt="swan" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I walked back through flood meadows along the bank of the Thames, here as elsewhere there were good numbers of Autumn Hawkbit (Scorzoneroides autumnalis)
brightening up the grass.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyAutumnHawkbit.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="autumn hawkbit" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The last segment of the walk is a fairly boring walk through a housing estate. This time I did find a good note to end on - the largest Bolete fungus I have ever seen - about 20cms diameter on a small piece of grassland. I didn't want to disturb it because there was only one and so identification will have to be a guess, with the 'cracked' pattern may be it was Red Cracking Bolete (Xerocomellus chrysenteron)?</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPurleyBolete.jpg" width="800" height="645" alt="bolete" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0116 Chapel Hill, Reading RG31 5DH, UK51.4604226 -1.04992651.417649039742912 -1.11859055078125 51.50319616025709 -0.98126144921874991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-43700517338526101472022-06-21T12:30:00.000+01:002022-06-22T12:22:46.487+01:00Beacon Hill<p>This has been another week when the temperatures have gradually climbed and little rain to compensate.
This time I went back to the location of my very first walk on this blog - way back on <a href="http://psophis.blogspot.com/2009/10/watership-down-litchfield-and-beacon.html">8th October 2009</a>. Then I was energetic enough to do 12½ miles, less than half that today; back then I first looked at <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?x=445800&y=157300">Beacon Hill</a> and then followed part of the Wayfarer's Way. Today I just did Beacon Hill and a nature reserve close by. Back in 2009 my interest and knowledge in natural history was fairly minimal, these 250 walks have greatly increased my knowledge. There are several Beacon Hills, this one is a prominent chalk hill in north Hampshire that stands beside the busy A34 south of Newbury.</p>
<p>Anyway, despite remembering that Beacon Hill was heavily grazed by sheep and therefore nothing much to see, I decided on an exploration, surely some part would have a range of wildlife, particularly as it is so close to <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2239">Ladle Hill</a> just across the valley to the east that has a good range. Well, I have to report that I was for once agreeably surprised by what I found.</p>
<p>There were several plants that told me I was on undisturbed chalk soil. One such was Clustered Bellflower (Campanula glomerata).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillClusteredBellflower.jpg" width="571" height="750" alt="clustered bellflower" class="picframe"/>
<p>A flower in good numbers in patches here and there was Common Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) a very different plant to Red Valerian seen in gardens although also popular with insects.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillValerian.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="common valerian" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Here is a view looking east from about half way up. A reminder of how green and pleasant the countryside around here can look. No wind turbines and only a few farm buildings dotted around. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillViewEast.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At the top I was delighted to see areas of Wild Thyme (Thymus polytrichus) (a metre across) and areas of nothing much except Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor). Some of the thyme had been infected with the Thyme Gall (Aceria thomasi). While admiring the transformation from boring grassland I saw a bright green moth: The Forester (Adscita statices) on Salad Burnet. Not long after I saw another day-flying moth it was jet black with a little white on the wing edge, it must have been a Chimney Sweeper (Odezia atrata), I had not seen one before - it's so black it makes you wonder what you are seeing.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillForester.jpg" width="568" height="750" alt="forester moth" class="picframe"/>
<p>I also saw Goat's-beard (Tragopogon pratensis) and I tried to take an upward looking shot. It's tricky to get in focus but this is my best effort so far. There were many other wild-flowers here (I didn't photograph all of them!) the ones not explicitly mentioned include: Yellow rattle, Ladies bedstraw, Hedge bedstraw, Woolly thistle, Fairy flax, Wild mignonette, Self-heal, Kidney Vetch, Mullein, Milkwort, Wild Marjoram, Common Scabious, Wild Carrot, Common Hogweed, Burdock, Common Sorrel, Wild Parsnip, Wild Privet, Squinancywort, Red Bartsia, White Bryony, Black Bryony, Birds-foot Trefoil, Perforated St. John's wort and Rock Rose. Not bad for a site where I was expecting to see mainly grass!
</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillGoatsBeard.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="goats beard" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>What makes this Beacon Hill famous is that it is owned by the Carnarvon estate who are based at nearby Highclere Castle. The most famous member of the family is 5th Earl of Carnarvon (George Herbert) who led the excavation of the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/tutankhamen">tomb of Tutankhamun</a> in November 1922 (so this year marks its centenary). He died four months later (the reputed 'curse') and chose to be buried on the iron age hillfort on Beacon Hill where his grave looks down on Highclere Castle. The sacrilege of digging a memorial into a scheduled ancient monument would not be permitted now. There were no signs of his tomb being disturbed!</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillCarnarvonTomb.jpg" width="800" height="508" alt="carnarvon grave,beacon hill" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Herbert,_8th_Earl_of_Carnarvon">8th Earl</a> now runs the estate which has been greatly helped by serving as the filming location for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey">Downton Abbey</a>. Indeed I met someone on the walk who had come to visit the castle but found it closed and so had visited the hill instead. It's possible that the increased estate income from visitors has led to the more wildlife friendly management of the hill. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillHighclereView.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="view,Highclere,Downton Abbey" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The hillfort on the top of the hill is impressive and has good views in all directions. This is the view south and the mixed 'scrub' that you can see led me to want to investigate more closely - it is within the nature reserve.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillViewSouth.jpg" width="800" height="570" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>When I scrambled down the slope I was rewarded by seeing a number of Nodding Thistles (Carduus nutans).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillNoddingThistle.jpg" width="800" height="593" alt="nodding thistle" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I was delighted to confirm my suspicion that what I saw from the hill were Juniper bushes (Juniperus communis). Some were covered in berries. This is a bush/tree that is struggling and it was good to see a substantial population here.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillJuniperBerries.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="juniper" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I found quite a number of Pyramidal Orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis), probably seeing 80 in total, some singly and some in groups.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillPyramidalOrchids.jpg" width="800" height="640" alt="pyramidal orchid" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>When I returned up the slope to the main path I was delighted to see a plant I see only rarely: Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum officinale). The flowers are hard to see as they are rather small. The name comes from the very 'raspy' surface texture of the seeds.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillEyebright.jpg" width="800" height="556" alt="eyebright" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I spotted an area that looked a different shade of green and so went over to investigate. It turned out to be Eyebright (Euphrasia sp.). I thought the discovery a mixed blessing as I consider it a late summer flower, reminding me it was already mid-Summer and so the daylight hours will begin to diminish.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillHoundsTongue.jpg" width="579" height="750" alt="hound's tongue" class="picframe"/>
<p>The views are spectacular and I have limited the number posted here. This one looks east to the estate of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydmonton">Sydmonton</a> where Lord Lloyd-Webber lives and has a recording studio in the converted village church. The transmitter you can just see is on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannington_transmitting_station">Hannington Hill</a>, I wonder how much longer we'll need these.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillViewSydmonton.jpg" width="800" height="480" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I couldn't exclude one photograph of Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii). They were everywhere - on the path up, all around the hillfort - particularly in the ditches. I probably saw a thousand in all.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillCommonSpottedOrchid.jpg" width="528" height="750" alt="common spotted orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>I left Beacon Hill greatly impressed. Just removing the sheep had had a really massive difference. When this happened since my last visit 13 years ago I do not know. Areas within the hill area have their own distinct flora and I am not sure how well it will be managed to maintain the diversity. Areas of bramble and scrub are developing which will envelop large areas if not dealt with.</p>
<p>I had an hour or so to spare in the end so I went to a nearby nature reserve where the chief attraction is the Fly Orchid (Ophrys insectifera). They are hard to spot at first as they are small and the flowers look like grass seed-heads from a distance.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillFlyOrchid.jpg" width="485" height="750" alt="fly orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were carpets of Wild Thyme (Thymus polytrichus) and Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)
which have attracted our fairly rare Small Blue butterfly (Cupido minimus). The topside of the wings is more dark grey than blue, but the undersides have more blue.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillSmallBlue.jpg" width="800" height="681" alt="small blue butterfly" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My orchid species count was four as I saw Common Twayblades (Neottia ovata) on this reserve as well as on the hill.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillTwayblades.jpg" width="562" height="750" alt="twayblades" class="picframe"/>
<p>I recently mused that I never see Wild Strawberry fruits (Fragaria vesca) well in this case I did spot one before the birds/mice/badgers ate it. The fruits are tiny - 5p coin sized and so you'd need a lot to fill a punnet.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillWildStrawberry.jpg" width="800" height="610" alt="wild strawberry" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another reason to visit the reserve is to see Knapweed Broomrape (Orobanche elatior). I was pleased to see a group of three flowering spikes with the host plant on which its roots feed just in shot.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillBroomrape.jpg" width="521" height="750" alt="knapweed broomrape" class="picframe"/>
<p>The added bonus here was to see about a dozen Dark Green Fritillary butterflies (Argynnis aglaja) enjoying the sunshine. The males were being very territorial and one or two had a go at chasing me out of their area. I saw a couple on Beacon Hill too. The similar Silver-washed fritillaries are distinguished most easily by the undersides of the wings. I spent too much time trying to get a good photograph as they were very active and constantly 'buzzing' each other. Other butterflies I saw during the walk included: Marbled white, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood, Small Tortoiseshell, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Large Skipper, Small Skipper, Common Blue and Silver-Y moth.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillDarkGreenFrit.jpg" width="800" height="588" alt="dark green fritilary butterfly" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Just back by the car park I was pleased to see a melilot, probably Tall Melilot (Melilotus altissimus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BeaconHillMelilot.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="tall melilot" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18M73+39 Newbury, UK51.3126632 -1.346564851.291206230543018 -1.3808970753906249 51.334120169456988 -1.3122325246093749tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-38617858855142828682022-06-15T13:00:00.001+01:002022-06-16T12:15:26.273+01:00Bramshil 2022<p>My annual trip to Bramshill Plantation. Somewhat delayed waiting for suitable conditions. The weather turned out to be a little too hot for me to find really enjoyable.</p>
<div class="colboxfl">
<h3>Bramshill walks</h3>
<p>Walks around the Bramshill plantation.</p>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2010/06/after-very-hot-and-dry-spell-by-chance.html">Bramshill Orchids 2010</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/bramshill-and-riseley-part-1.html">Bramshill and Riseley</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2012/06/bramshill-2012.html">Bramshill 2012</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/bramshil-2013.html">Bramshill 2013</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/bramshill-warren-heath-and-hazeley-heath.html">Bramshill and Hazeley Heath 2014</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/bramshill-2015.html">Bramshill 2015</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/bramshill-20165.html">Bramshill 2016</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2017/06/bramshill-2017.html">Bramshill 2017</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2018/06/bramshil-2018.html">Bramshill 2018</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2019/06/bramshill-june-2019-bramshill-walks.html">Bramshill 2019</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2020/06/bramshill-june-2020.html">Bramshill 2020</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2021/06/bramshill-2021.html">Bramshill 2021</a><br/>
<b>Bramshill 2022</b>
</div>
<p>One of the first flowering plants I saw was Tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum) which has lovely orange buds.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Tutsan.jpg" width="800" height="630" alt="tutsan" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The winter and early spring have been dry and this has affected Bramshill. Where there are usually muddy and marshy areas there are now dry and grassy. One of the marsh loving plants is Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica) and I only saw it at one of its usual places. Hopefully it will come back after a wetter winter.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Lousewort.jpg" width="800" height="614" alt="lousewort" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>With the hot sun the Ox-eye Daisies (Leucanthemum vulgare) were attracting lots of beetles. I am quite pleased with this shot of a male Thick-legged flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis). It has been recently found that the swollen thighs are all about clinging on tightly to the female, not just decoration.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22ThickThighed.jpg" width="800" height="632" alt="thick thighed beetle" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>If you look carefully at a swathe of grass you might be lucky to see a red/purple flower among it. If you look at its leaves you'll see it is grass-like and without the distinctive flower impossible to see, it is a Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia) and quite tricky to get a sharp picture.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22GrassVetchling.jpg" width="800" height="613" alt="grass vetchling" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>One of the rare plants of Bramshill is Yellow Bartsia (Parentucellia viscosa). There is one area where it is the dominant plant but this year I spotted a few specimens a good distance from there, so it may be spreading.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22YellowBartsia.jpg" width="800" height="649" alt="yellow bartsia" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the peak time for orchids at Bramshill. Having photographed them extensively over previous years I will restrict myself to just a few. The dry conditions have affected them, there were less than usual. This is a Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22SouthernMarsh.jpg" width="579" height="750" alt="southern marsh orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>Without the ditches and ponds Bramshill would be a wildlife desert as it is mainly a conifer plantation. Here is one of the serene central pools.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22PondView.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="pond" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In previous years I have explored a newly deepened ditch. In only a couple of years it has become so overgrown that it was hard to walk along it and with the dry conditions the water is barely flowing. One or two Heath Milkwort (Polygala serpyllifolia) were growing on the exposed subsoil from the dredging of the ditch.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22HeathMilkwort.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="heath milkwort" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The exposed bare soil lacks nutrients as is made plain by this stunted foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) just six inches high.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22MiniFoxglove.jpg" width="477" height="750" alt="foxglove" class="picframe"/>
<p>I explored a marshy area next to a pond and found a good number of the small but distinctive Common Skullcaps (Scutellaria galericulata).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Skullcap.jpg" width="539" height="750" alt="skullcap" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another beetle I found on a daisy was this Black and yellow Longhorn Beetle (Rutpela maculata).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Longhorn.jpg" width="800" height="578" alt="longhorn beetle" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At this time of year galls are beginning to develop on leaves. These ones on oak may be Oak cherry Gall (Cynips quercusfolii) as they have been carefully placed on the leaf vein. Many galls on neighbouring leaves had been eaten before the gall hardens and thickens.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Oakgall.jpg" width="626" height="750" alt="oak leaf gall" class="picframe"/>
<p>One aim of the walk was to try to find a pond that has so far eluded me - it is some way from a path. On the way was an area dense in the delightful Slender St. John's-wort (Hypericum pulchrum) with its bright orange buds. A more delicate plant than the Tutsan I saw near the start.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22SlenderSJW.jpg" width="607" height="750" alt="slender st johns wort" class="picframe"/>
<p>And there it was, the pond I was looking for.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22PondView2.jpg" width="800" height="614" alt="pond" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There quite a few plants along the edge, most notably Marsh St. John's-wort (Hypericum elodes) (in leaf only) and
Marsh Pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris). What caught the eye was a mass of damselflies - Common blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). Here the male has latched onto the female and she will soon start laying eggs in the marshy fringe of the pond.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Damselfiles.jpg" width="800" height="580" alt="damselflies" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>One disadvantage of the hot weather was that insects, apart from beetles, did not stay put. I only saw a few butterflies mainly Speckled Wood, only one Common Blue, Meadow Browns but no Marbled Whites. I did see quite a few dragonflies particularly at this pond, I only managed to catch this Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) as it has one damaged wing and so somewhat reluctant to fly.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22BTSkimmer.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="black tailed skimmer" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The western area has large areas of mature conifer plantation. In the damper areas of the paths crossing it were Common Spotted Orchids (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22CSO.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="common spotted orchid" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In a place which is normally reliable for Bee orchids (none this year probably due to dryness) I found a large patch of another hypericum this time Rose of Sharon (Hypericum calycinum). Normally a garden escape but this is a long way from any garden.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22ROS.jpg" width="800" height="632" alt="rose of sharron" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The southern side has been undisturbed for many years and has a different flora. It was here last year that I had excitement of finding a Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) - the first record for this site. This year I was lucky enough to find another plant some distance away. Some nearby areas are covered with Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22CCF.jpg" width="800" height="589" alt="creeping cinquefoil" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And finally, one area near the end of the walk had an amazing number of foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill22Foxgloves.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="foxgloves" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0933M+M4 Hook, UK51.3541665 -0.9171998999999998551.332726137814113 -0.95153217539062485 51.375606862185883 -0.88286762460937485tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-66836043399956847802022-04-13T13:00:00.004+01:002022-04-14T09:37:08.018+01:00Pangbourne and Sulham<p>A local walk to look for some April flowers.
I took the train to Pangbourne and walked back - about 8 miles in all.</p>
<p>The main aim of the walk was to spot a rare plant in this area Petty Whin (Genista anglica) in Pangbourne Meadows to the south of the village. This plant likes acid heathland and seems strange to expect to see here but it was seen here in the 1970s. We did not see it and it would seem the meadows have been heavily grazed in the last few years and this have led to its disappearance here. However patches of Dwarf Gorse (Ulex minor) on the higher ground were seen and it seems to be spreading now that grazing is less intensive.</p>
<p>We did see a lot of a small grass in spectacular flower - Field Wood-rush (Luzula campestris). Another name is ‘Good Friday Grass’ and as that is due in two day’s time this year it is bang on time.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsGoodFridayGrass.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="field wood rush" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another indicator that Spring is under way is the appearance in damp areas of Cuckooflowers (Cardamine pratensis) always a delight to see.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsCuckooFlower.jpg" width="800" height="538" alt="cuckoo flower" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>But the highlight of this walk was seeing a large area of another spring beauty which was just coming into flower - Meadow Saxifrage (Saxifraga granulata). This is not all that common and even rarer in such large numbers.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsMeadowSaxifrage.jpg" width="800" height="576" alt="meadow saxifrage" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then moved to the meadows along the river Thames and for a while the sun came out.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsThamesView.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="River Thames" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I followed the Sulham Brook south and came across a very extensive display of Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris) a really strong yellow colour.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsMarshMarigold.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Marsh marigold" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then explored an area of damp woodland along the brook which I had not visited before. It all looks pretty undisturbed with some areas of interesting wildflowers.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsDampWoodland.jpg" width="800" height="569" alt="woodland" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The Sulham brook itself is an attractive stream with Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) in evidence.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsSulhamBrook.jpg" width="800" height="609" alt="Sulham Brook" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the distance I saw a rabbit in the hedgerow.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsRabbit.jpg" width="800" height="562" alt="rabbit" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then walked up to Sulham Woods which has areas of woodland plants like Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsWoodAnemones.jpg" width="800" height="606" alt="wood anemone" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's also the time to see Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) - no relation to normal ivy.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsGroundIvy.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="ground ivy" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And Common Dog Violet (Viola riviniana).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsDogViolets.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="dog violet" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Deep in the woods I saw a small insect on the flowers of Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides). I think it was Lygus sp. (I originally thought Deraeocoris ruber which particularly red) needs micsrocope to be sure but no records for this area in last 25 years.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsRedBug.jpg" width="800" height="563" alt="red bug" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's unusual not to see a deer somewhere on walks through local woods. This Roe Deer looks a bit bedraggled perhaps its shedding its winter coat. It kept it's beady eye on me for some time without dashing away.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsRoeDeerShaggy.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="roe deer" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There are a few places where the ancient woodland indicator species Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina) was in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsMoschatel.jpg" width="800" height="581" alt="moschatel" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Back over the fields one or two arable 'weeds' were already in flower including Field Pansy (Viola arvensis) and here Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PangMeadowsFieldMadder.jpg" width="800" height="561" alt="field madder" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0FWFF+MX Reading, UK51.4742141 -1.07503251.463521532084286 -1.0921981376953125 51.484906667915709 -1.0578658623046875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-51022590211140151222022-03-24T13:00:00.004+00:002022-03-25T10:39:58.025+00:00East and West Hendred, Ardington and Lockinge<p>Two months on and only one or two long walks to show for it. To make good use of an unusually warm and sunny spell I decided to revisit some villages just to the east of Wantage.</p>
<p>Here is a map of the ten mile walk.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=13z1z2VCGViFcWk9iH55fhff8M-lLZYQv&ehbc=2E312F" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I started in the picturesque village of East Hendred. It has probably more old houses than any other village in this area.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsHouse.jpg" width="800" height="632" alt="East Hendred" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It has three pubs, this is the poshest one, the Wheatsheaf.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsWheatsheaf.jpg" width="800" height="547" alt="East Hendred,wheatsheaf pub" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The village has easy access to the A34 and so commuters to Oxford must like it (Roy Jenkins spent his last years in the village). There are many building renovations taking place. In this one the new extensions to a much smaller cottage have been forced to be build with thatch to blend in. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsNewThatch.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="East Hendred,thatch" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On two sunny banks in the village I spotted busy colonies of solitary bees. I think they may be a Colletes sp..</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsSolitaryBee.jpg" width="800" height="510" alt="solitary bee,colletes" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>After exploring most of the village I set off west to West Hendred which is much smaller and less affluent. Both villages have access to water that runs out from the chalk downs to the south in springs. There is a whole line of Anglo-Saxon villages that were grew up close to the constant source of quality water (Aston Upthorpe, Blewbury, Upton, Chilton, Harwell, East and West Hendred, Ardington and of course Wantage).
West Hendred has the much smaller church and the chalk stream runs on its western side.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsWestChurch.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="West hendred church" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>From the church I headed west towards Ardington along what is probably an ancient track, it runs parallel to the Great Ridgeway two miles to the south.
Along the way early spring flowers were seen including ground ivy and here Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsWhitlow.jpg" width="800" height="590" alt="Common Whitlowgrass,Erophila verna" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The next village is Ardington, a small village clustered around a stately home <a href="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/ardington_house.html">Ardington House</a>. Now an exclusive wedding and conference venue this used to be the home of the Baring family - the merchant bankers. It was built in 1719 for the Strong family but soon sold on, it has not been much touched since.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsArdingtonHouse.jpg" width="800" height="665" alt="Ardington House" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In a little garden at Ardington were some Pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) - these are very rare in the wild.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsPasqueFlower.jpg" width="800" height="564" alt="Pasque flowers,Pulsatilla vulgaris" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the setting of the village with the church (the church was locked like all the other three that I would have also liked to have visited).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsArdingtonVillage.jpg" width="800" height="582" alt="Ardington village" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the village centre is a bench commemorating the life of an exemplary Lord of the Manor. Robert James Loyd-Lindsay (Lord Wantage) was a very rich man and the affluence of his estate is still evident. He was a friend of Florence Nightingale and his widow gave a generous bequest to Reading University.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsWantageBench.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Lord Wantage bench" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a bridge over the Lockinge Brook was a dandelion.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsDandy.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Dandelion" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A little further on a bank of Sweet Violets (Viola odorata) was indeed smelling sweetly.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsSweetViolet.jpg" width="800" height="655" alt="Sweet Violet,Viola odorata" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The villages of East and West Lockinge were laid out by Lord and Lady Wantage in the 19th century to provide housing for the house and estate staff.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsWestLockinge.jpg" width="800" height="637" alt="West Lockinge" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On the green at West Lockinge is a large bronze status of a horse. This commemorates ‘Best Mate’ three times winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup (2002,3 and 4). The reason it is here is that the horse trainer Henrietta Knight lives locally. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsBestMate.jpg" width="800" height="667" alt="Best Mate" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were many bees and butterflies around (Brimstone, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma) and a few bee-flies. Most of the bee-flies I see are the common species Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major) but this one is the rarer DottedBee-fly (Bombylius discolor) which is spreading in from the south. It's feeding on a periwinkle flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsBeefly.jpg" width="800" height="601" alt="DottedBee-fly,Bombylius discolor" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I've concentrated on buildings and flowers but the views were fine too.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsView.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At a West Ginge farmyard I noticed a beetle sunning itself. I rarely see ground beetles and there are many similar species that require dissection to tell apart. This one escaped that fate. May be it is in the Harpalinae family?</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsGroundBeetle.jpg" width="800" height="593" alt="ground beetle" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near West Ginge there is a waterfall marked on the map. This is an unusual geographic feature in this area. I managed to follow the roaring of water and finally found it I was then somewhat underwhelmed by the size - only a few inches in height however it is fast flowing and had hard-ferns growing nearby to confirm the wet conditions.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsWaterfall.jpg" width="800" height="557" alt="waterfall" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then joined one of the main tracks that run east-west parallel to the Great Ridgeway including the A417 and the paths between villages. There are no obvious indications that this is also an ancient track (no banks, ditches or ancient woodland flora). It is now a cycle route and may be it has been rebuilt some time ago. The trees along this stretch are conifers and under one long line of them were clumps of daffodils. Now as they were spread out and a long way from anywhere I suspect they may be the Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) rather than planted.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsDaffodil.jpg" width="800" height="607" alt="Wild Daffodil,Narcissus pseudonarcissus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Over the farmland further along were quite a few pheasants. One was exploring a field of winter wheat.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsPheasant.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="pheasant" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a warm, early spring day there were many birds singing away in the trees. Very few sat around long enough for a photograph. The exception was this one - may be a Linnet.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsLinnet.jpg" width="800" height="527" alt="Linnet" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Now I had hoped to see a few woodland plants in flower (Anemones, Sorrel) but I saw very little ancient woodland. I suspect the landowner (Lord Wantage) just cleared the whole area. So I was pleased to see something near Rowstock at the end of the walk that I would expect to see in ancient beech woodland. This is Spurge-laurel (Daphne laureola). At first I saw one rather poor specimen and then more and more until I found an area which had little else but spurge-laurel.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HendredsSpurgeLaurel.jpg" width="800" height="620" alt="Spurge-laurel,Daphne laureola" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I made my way back east to my car. I had taken 138 photographs and exhausted both my camera batteries in the process. The forecast is for cooler, cloudier weather in the short term so I am glad I made the effort to go out and explore.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Ascension Cottage, Horn Ln, East Hendred, Wantage OX12 8LD, UK51.5931042 -1.339664851.58244063246741 -1.3568309376953125 51.603767767532588 -1.3224986623046875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-70011191453826672702022-01-12T14:00:00.003+00:002022-01-13T11:01:42.641+00:00Savernake Forest 2022<p>In preparation for a possible walk I might be leading I drove over to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savernake_Forest">Savernake Forest</a> which is one of England's largest forests at 7 square miles. Winter is the best time to appreciate veteran trees as they are more easily visible among their neighbours.</p>
<p>However the first thing I noticed were a few patches of white, which from a distance looked like carelessly discarded tissues. There was still frost on the ground and on closer inspection they were ‘<a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/weather/types-of-weather/frost-and-ice/hair-ice">hair ice</a>’. This is a strange phenomenon where a fungus (Exidiopsis effusa) controls the growth of ice crystals into linear hairs. All the examples I found were on decaying sticks on the ground. These are relatively rare as stringent conditions of humidity and temperature are required for them to grow. It is something I have seen in photographs but never before with my own eyes.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22HairIce.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="hair ice,Exidiopsis effusa" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Now to the trees. Savernake has a few dozen trees significant enough to be named. This one is called the ‘Surveyed Oak’, not sure why.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22SurveyedOak.jpg" width="562" height="750" alt="savernake,oak,Surveyed Oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then followed the ancient ‘Old Harry’ track towards the north-west. Along the way were many veterans.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22Oak1.jpg" width="562" height="750" alt="savernake,oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>And some now dead trees. Fortunately Health and Safety rules have not been imposed and they have been left standing.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22OakDead1.jpg" width="588" height="750" alt="savernake,oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>The second named oak tree was ‘Old Paunchy’. The moss has the shape of a man resting against the tree. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22OldPaunchy.jpg" width="610" height="750" alt="savernake,oak,old paunchy" class="picframe"/>
<p>In most forests you see one veteran on its own. In Savernake they come in groups, here is one with Old Paunchy in the background.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22OldPaunchyPlus.jpg" width="643" height="750" alt="savernake,oak,old paunchy" style="max-width:643px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then turned south and admired more oak trees.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22Oak2.jpg" width="656" height="750" alt="savernake,oak" style="max-width:656px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And another dead one.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22OakDead2.jpg" width="651" height="750" alt="savernake,oak" style="max-width:651px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On one fallen tree fungi were taking hold. I think this is Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22HCC.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="fungi,hairy curtain crust" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near the western edge of the forest was my third named oak ‘White Road Oak’.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22WhiteRoadOak.jpg" width="664" height="750" alt="savernake,oak,White Road Oak" style="max-width:664px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I had planned my route to see veteran trees based on the information in the <a href="https://ati.woodlandtrust.org.uk/">Ancient Tree Index</a> maintained by the Woodland Trust. There are over 800 individual trees recorded for Savernake. For many trees it provides an 8 digit grid reference. This is not terribly helpful as the tree can by anywhere in 100m<sup>2</sup> area. I took 10 digit references that are probably accurate to 2m. Some of the references given were wildly inaccurate and I could not find the tree I wanted to see. There seems to be a mixture of the two native oak species Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea) and Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur) but at this time of year it is hard to tell which one.</p>
<p>Although oaks predominate there are other tree species including some veteran crab apples, hawthorns. Beech trees which tend to predominate on chalk are relatively few, they do not like their roots wet and Savernake is on a thick exposure of <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/qjegh/article-abstract/53/2/201/573213/The-origin-and-pedogenesis-of-the-Clay-with-flints?redirectedFrom=fulltext">'Clay with flints' </a>. This muddy layer is now thought to be of early Tertiary (Palaeogene) origin although it used to be considered a more recent deposit. In any case here is only one named beech tree, called rather unimaginatively the ‘Great Beech’ but there are more on the western side.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22GreatBeech.jpg" width="562" height="750" alt="savernake,beech,Great Beech" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then turned east and continued tracking down the veteran trees. This is the last named oak I saw ‘Bruce Oak’.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22BruceOak.jpg" width="612" height="750" alt="savernake,oak,Bruce Oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>Heading north-east back to my starting point were more striking trees. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22Oak3.jpg" width="628" height="750" alt="savernake,oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>And a pair of veterans, at 2pm in January the light was now only reaching the upper branches of most trees.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22OakTwins.jpg" width="590" height="750" alt="savernake,oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>Many of the older trees have a good population of mosses and lichens growing on the branches trying to form something similar to the rare habitat of ‘<a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/habitats/temperate-rainforest/">temperate rainforest</a>’. Quite a few of the real veterans had ferns established on the branches. These are probably polypody ferns growing epiphytically.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22Epiphytes.jpg" width="800" height="543" alt="fern,epiphyte" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I had to use a flash to capture the ferns and I think it may well have been this that brought me to the attention of an inquisitive roe deer. She was certainly spending a lot of time looking in my direction and hesitantly moved towards me.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22RoeDeer.jpg" width="800" height="619" alt="roe deer" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>As I lapped up the encounter she moved to where her two fawns were waiting for her.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22RoeDeerFamily.jpg" width="800" height="545" alt="roe deer" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And so back to the car which was in a very muddy place at sunset at 3:10pm.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Savernake22Sundown.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com098W7+P4 Marlborough, UK51.396802 -1.68713351.375381596957027 -1.721465275390625 51.418222403042975 -1.652800724609375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-4976240931692732622021-12-10T13:00:00.003+00:002021-12-13T14:09:45.524+00:00Wittenham Clumps, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Day's Lock<p>The prospect of a cloud free December day is not something to be ignored. I explored a well known ‘beauty spot’ about 15 miles away. Wittenham Clumps are two hilly outliers of chalk that became Iron age hill-forts and settlements. The cool north-west breeze was to give spectacular views all round.</p>
<p>I last visited this area in <a href="http://psophis.blogspot.com/2011/04/cholsey-wallingford-and-brightwell-cum.html">April 2011</a> and <a href="http://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/dorchester-long-wittenham-and_29.html">September 2011</a> so a re-visit was overdue. Here is a map of the 9 mile walk:</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=19qPS6Q14ezNiYwrg5y7dp18wQDTVWW5t&ehbc=2E312F" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I began at the village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell – a village with a very Anglo-Saxon feel. It is based around springs and has many old, twisting lanes with old cottages laid out in haphazard arrangement. Some of the old ‘cob’ walls (made of rammed earth with a mini thatch roof) can be seen near the church of St. Agatha's. The current church can only be traced back to 1087 but there was probably an earlier church near by.</p>
<p>Here is one of the many attractive looking thatched along the windy lanes.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsBrightwellHouse.jpg" width="800" height="570" alt="old cottage" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Running between the two villages of Brightwell (West) and Sotwell (East) is the Roman road that linked the major centre of Dorchester-on-Thames with Streatley to the south. The section to the north is now a straight line footpath (very muddy today). You can see here how medieval ploughing over many centuries has eroded away several feet of material on the left side of the picture.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsRomanRoad.jpg" width="800" height="588" alt="roman road" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>December is near the low point for wildlife, just ten days to the winter solstice. But White Dead-nettle (Lamium album) never fails to flower during winter months.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsDeadNettle.jpg" width="800" height="597" alt="White Dead-nettle " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>From the Roman road there is only limited visibility of Wittenham Clumps in the distant west. You can see the deep ditch and rampart surrounding ‘Castle Hill’.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumps0.jpg" width="800" height="493" alt="Castle Hill,Wittenham Clumps" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path turns west from the route of the Roman Road where it continues north to the original crossing point of the River Thames which is now lost (the river has probably moved a fair bit in 2,000 years). On my last walk, a couple of weeks ago, I found quite a few autumn trees, now only one or two oak trees were clinging on to their leaves.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsOakLeaves.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="oak leaves" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Nearing the hamlet of Little Wittenham I saw a magpie sunning itself in a tree.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsMagpie.jpg" width="800" height="554" alt="magpie" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the attractive church of <a href="https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/oxfordshire/churches/little-wittenham.htm">St. Peter's at Little Wittenham</a>. It is mostly a Victorian rebuild of a 15th century church.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsLittleChurch.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Little Wittenham church" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Inside is a brass to the Sir William Dunch (1578-1612) MP for Wallingford and his family.
It is from one member of the family we get the alternative name Mother Dunch's Buttocks for Wittenham Clumps another is Berkshire Babs (it was in Berkshire up until 1974).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsDunchBrass.jpg" width="800" height="690" alt="Little Wittenham,Dunch brass" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Little Wittenham lies beside the River Thames and just north-east is <a href="https://www.visitthames.co.uk/about-the-river/river-thames-locks/days-lock">Day's Lock</a> named after a 17th century yeoman.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsDaysLock.jpg" width="800" height="560" alt="day's lock" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along this stretch of the Thames Path there are a number of crack willow trees that look splendid in winter.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsWillows.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="crack willow" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The only bird life I saw on the Thames was a pair of swans heading north at a stately pace.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsSwans.jpg" width="800" height="609" alt="swans" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Becoming aware of the short day length remaining, I headed south back towards Day's lock.
This is the weir at the lock and it is on this stretch that the <a href="https://www.topendsports.com/sport/unusual/pooh-sticks.htm">World Poohsticks Championship</a> used to take place here.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsWeir.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="river thames,weir" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>If I had had more time I'd have explored <a href="https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-things-to-do-in-dorchester-on-thames-oxfordshire-england/">Dorchester-on-Thames</a>. This was an important Roman and then Anglo-Saxon centre. Indeed one of the copies of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle#Abingdon_Chronicle_I">Anglo-Saxon Chronicles</a> was written at Dorchester.
On the loop of river to the south of the town is an old earthwork marked as ‘<a href="https://megalithix.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/dyke-hills/">Dyke Hills</a>’ this may have been a defensive structure for Dorchester when the Thames became the boundary between major kingdoms.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsEarthwork.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="dykes hills" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The large <a href="https://www.dorchester-abbey.org.uk/abbey-history/">Abbey church at Dorchester</a> is visible from the Thames Path. Its size and grandeur mark it out as 'cathedral' status. It was here that St. Birinus converted the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynegils_of_Wessex">Cynegils</a>, King of Wessex to Christianity in around 635. St. Birinus was buried there. In the foreground Canada geese were in the meadow.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsDorchesterAbbey.jpg" width="800" height="635" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then retraced my steps back over the Thames and saw more mundane things like ivy berries.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsIvy.jpg" width="800" height="621" alt="ivy berries" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The main focus of the walk was Wittenham Clumps (aka. Mother Dunch's Buttocks, Sinodun Hills and Berkshire Baps). I climbed the steep slope from the north side. Soon, impressive views north to Berinsford open up, some of the lakes along the Thames are a haven for many birds in winter.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsThamesView.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Thames View" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The view to the west was magnificent too. One of the reasons to choose Wittenham Clumps was because I expected views to be clear and I would estimate I could see about 80 miles to the north, east and west. This is the western view where you can see the towers of the new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didcot_power_stations">Didcot power station</a>. Years ago you could see five cooling towers of the coal-fired station now it looks like Cape Canaveral.</p>
<p>It was on this side of the hill that a <a href="https://www.thetvdb.com/series/time-team/episodes/303225">Time Team dig</a> took place in 2004. They found evidence of Iron Age occupation over a far greater area than previously thought. So in one small area you can see the move from life on chalk downs to the river valleys. It is probable that the Anglo-Saxons were given/took the marginal low ground - marshy and overgrown while the Celts / Ancient Britons retained the drier hills. The two communities may have co-habited the landscape quite peacefully for generations.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsDidcot.jpg" width="800" height="541" alt="Wittenham Clumps" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The Sinodun Hills are really three linked hills: Round Hill, Castle Hill and Brightwell Barrow all on the chalk outlier running north-west to south-east. This is the smaller Brightwell Barrow.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsBarrow.jpg" width="800" height="577" alt="Wittenham Clumps,Brightwell Barrow" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>To make a break in all the lovely views here was a rather attractively coloured cow munching away near the top.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsCow.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="cow" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the view west to Round Hill from Castle Hill.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumps1.jpg" width="800" height="519" alt="Wittenham Clumps" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally the view of Castle Hill ditch and the view south towards Blewbury and the Wessex Downs.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsHillfort.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Wittenham Clumps" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then left the high ground of the clumps. Here I must make a confession. I managed to leave home without my trusty Ordnance Map and with no smartphone to guide me I navigated this walk from memory – it could have ended badly... So as I was not quite sure of the footpaths to take me back I decided to retrace my steps back east and then south on the Roman Road (the map above shows my ‘intended’ path which is a better route). On the way I saw some fungi possibly Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsFungi.jpg" width="800" height="523" alt="fungi,Velvet Shank" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There was a vigorous fern that had not died down possibly a male-fern and clinging to the frond was a Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsLadybird.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="male-fern,ladybird" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The fast setting sun bid me to make my way quickly back to Brightwell-cum-Sotwell. Just by the car, coincidentally parked on the Roman Road through the village, was another old cottage with a nice old Telephone box in front of it. To end on a Christmasy theme the tree behind is festooned with mistletoe.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/WittenhamClumpsBrightwellTB.jpg" width="800" height="563" alt="Brightwell-cum-Sotwell,telephone box" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1Little Wittenham, Abingdon OX14, UK51.6355169 -1.185245912.176067242163448 -71.4977459 90 69.1272541tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-79349894371203145112021-11-25T13:00:00.003+00:002021-11-25T19:54:18.658+00:00Ashampstead Common and Tutts Clump<p>I like to do at least one longish walk each month and so with November almost over it was time to put on the boots and venture into the autumn woods. The forecast this week has been for cold but sunny weather so I chose local beech woods in the hope of seeing the last autumn colours on beech trees.</p>
<p>I started at Ashampstead Common and chose the south facing walks to make the most of the sunshine which proved unbroken.</p>
<p>Here is a map of the 6.6 mile walk:</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1pdXLXaa6n02Rn_6h7LbcqBpAcu9mZfFB" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I was in time for the autumn colours on beech but only just, I watched as one tree shed a huge number of leaves in one great avalanche.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonLeaves.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="beech leaves" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Then a chance encounter with a pair of grey squirrels. I happened to be standing still in deep shade so they did come quite close. Firstly one was foraging for acorns among the leaves.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonSquirrel1.jpg" width="800" height="558" alt="grey squirrel" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>One squirrel then climbed a tree to eat and keep an eye on me at the same time.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonSquirrel2.jpg" width="800" height="611" alt="grey squirrel" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were still some fungi here and there and mostly of the 'permanent' bracket type.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonBracket.jpg" width="800" height="542" alt="bracket fungus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My path then headed south along a quiet lane. Black bryony berries added some colour.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonBlackBryony.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="black bryony" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Some blackberries that were catching the sun were still in bloom. Unless we get a really cold spell there will be odd flowers all the way through winter.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonBlackberry.jpg" width="800" height="626" alt="blackberry flower" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>More autumn leaves.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonLeaves2.jpg" width="800" height="587" alt="autumn leaves" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And this is the lane 'Scratchface Lane' showing its ancient status by the banks on either side - a 'hollow way'.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonLane.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Scratch face Lane" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The general view over the surrounding countryside shows little colour remaining in the trees.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonView.jpg" width="800" height="566" alt="autumn view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My path took me down to the River Pang near Tutts Clump. I briefly saw a grey wagtail but also two swans on the river.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonPang.jpg" width="800" height="609" alt="river pang swans" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Dandelions are another plant with reliable flowers throughout autumn and winter.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonDandelion.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="dandelion" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then headed back northwards and along a lane a rather old oak tree had not yet shed all its leaves. In some years when it remains mild the oaks tend to keep their foliage longer than beech.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonOakTree.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="oak tree" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I branched off the lane and immediately found an old stump with attractive fungi growing on it.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonFungi2.jpg" width="606" height="750" alt="fungi" class="picframe"/>
<p>Can't resist more autumn colours - this time of fallen sycamore leaves.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonAutumnLeaves.jpg" width="800" height="568" alt="autumn leaves" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>As I approached Ashampstead Common one stump had an impressive collection of Candlesnuff (Xylaria hypoxylon) fungi making a forest in miniature.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonCandlesnuff.jpg" width="800" height="543" alt="candlesnuff fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally one last wildlife highlight. This is the first time I have found an Orange Ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata). This is one native species that is doing reasonably well. Apparently the species has moved from its 'ancient woodland' habitat to feed on ash and sycamore trees but this one has stayed in the old habitat.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/AshampsteadCommonOrangeLadybird.jpg" width="800" height="607" alt="orange ladybird" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Quite often December is a tricky month to have an opportunity to walk - with low sun and short day length it can be rare to find suitable days but lets hope for more sunny days!</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Ashampstead Common, Reading RG8, UK51.4722783 -1.171201951.42951209417545 -1.23986645078125 51.515044505824548 -1.10253734921875tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-19520404117684715322021-10-14T13:00:00.003+01:002021-10-15T09:56:31.743+01:00Haughurst and Ashford Hill<p>It was one of those days when the forecast had been for grey cloud but when I opened the curtain I was confronted by a blue, cloudless sky. The online forecasts were still sticking to their guns, some early sun possible but soon clouding over. I looked at the visible satellite observations - no sign of any cloud - only to the north. So I decided, for once, to ignore the forecast and it turned out mainly sunny, just a little cloud later on.</p>
<p>As there was a bank of cloud to the north I decided to go south and fill in another missing piece of the mosaic of local paths. This is the area south-west of Aldermaston and east of Tadley.</p>
<p>Here is a map of the 7 mile walk:</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1JC6tt9yWh9iG50j6Mn9370DhyaPS131h" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>In Mid October when there has yet to be a sharp frost allows many plants that ‘flower all year’ to just keep on going. I found this bright Nipplewort (Lapsana communis) soon enough.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstNipplewort.jpg" width="800" height="558" alt="nipplewort" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Emerging from some woodland I saw a line of bee hives but no obvious bee activity.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstBeeHives.jpg" width="800" height="632" alt="bee hives" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I headed roughly south-east and came to the hamlet of Haughurst Hill - a mix of houses but all rather posh.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstHill.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="Haughurst Hill" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Heading south-east still I came to some fields and at this time of year there are often a good range of arable weeds still flowering. Including here Common Field-Speedwell (Veronica persica).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstSpeedwell.jpg" width="800" height="606" alt="common field speedwell" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Continuing over fields towards <a href="http://www.baughurst-pc.gov.uk/community/baughurst-parish-council-19874/home/">Baughurst village</a> I was amazed to see a whole field of the herb Coriander (Coriandrum sativum). I have never seen this grown on this scale before in the UK. It seems to be flourishing.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstCoriander.jpg" width="800" height="587" alt="coriander" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the field was a plant I did not immediately recognise, I believe it was Corn Spurrey but my photograph was too poor to include here.</p>
<p>Near Baughurst was a garage with a veteran van (Austin A35?) in great condition.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstVan.jpg" width="800" height="726" alt="vintage van" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>After exploring a little of Baughurst I set off south-west towards Kingsclere. The path soon is through fields and small woods. One striking veteran oak caught my eye.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstVeteranOak.jpg" width="561" height="750" alt="veteran oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then turned north-west following a damp stream valley. Among the water mint was a forget-me-not.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstForgetMeNot.jpg" width="800" height="612" alt="forget-me-not" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And further on a Hawkbit now in seed - just as attractive as Dandelions and Goatsbeards.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstHawkbit.jpg" width="800" height="606" alt="hawkbit seed" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A continuing welcome sight over winter and spring will be the flowers of Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstHerbRobert.jpg" width="800" height="660" alt="herb robert" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My path then led roughly west along the valley that forms the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashford_Hill_NNR">Ashford Hill National Nature Reserve</a>. This is a rare type of habitat that is being farmed to maintain the conditions that used to cover a large part of southern England - boggy ground that has not been drained to improve the ground for 'intensive' agriculture. This is the view across part of the marshy valley bottom. Lots of reeds and willows.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstView2.jpg" width="800" height="500" alt="Ashford Hill Reserve" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Not much around in way of fungi or butterflies. It was a warm day and I had hoped to see more butterflies but just saw this Peacock (Aglais io) resting on nettles.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstPeacock.jpg" width="800" height="671" alt="peacock butterfly" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>With concerns that Christmas will be miserable due to lack of imported goods it was pleasing to see that we will at last have some holly berries available.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstHollyBerries.jpg" width="800" height="639" alt="holly berries" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I climbed up the path heading north through woodland. On the path I spotted an oak twig with two large galls. The galls were attached to the leaves not the twig and so are not 'oak apples' but probably Oak Cherry Gall (Cynips quercusfolii). I am starting to make more interest in galls, they demonstrate the complex interactions of insects and plants. The gall wasp that creates them is often restricted to just one species of plant and so is totally dependent on it.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstOakGalls.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="oak galls" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Very little colour change in the trees, but bracken had turned russet. Near this spot I briefly glimpsed a fox looking back at me before slinking away.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstWoodland.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="woodland" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally back near the car cyclamen that had no doubt been planted some time ago was flourishing and reminded me that despite the warm temperature, autumn will soon be here.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HaughurstCyclamen.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="cyclamen" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I'm glad that for once my weather forecast was more accurate than the official one. October and November can be the best months for walking.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com09R47+FH Thatcham, UK51.356164199999988 -1.186008251.345443959696546 -1.2031743376953126 51.36688444030343 -1.1688420623046876tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-89846687491812621852021-09-20T13:00:00.007+01:002021-09-21T14:26:42.345+01:00Wansdyke and East Kennett<p>A very long overdue walk to a favourite area just within an hour's journey time to the start point.
This time though it took longer as a major road incident had closed the A4 near Savernake and I had to take a long but scenic detour. </p>
<p>The aim of the walk was to complete a short section of the <a href="https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Wansdyke%2bPath">Wansdyke Path</a> that I had managed to miss. As it is so long since a posting this is a bumper selection of photographs, I took 137 on the day which I have managed to whittle down to 29...</p>
<p>My chosen parking spot happened to be by a traveller's camp (some traditional wooden caravans) and was met with cheery ‘hello’s from the families living there.</p>
<div class="colboxfl">
<h3>Other Wansdyke walks</h3>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/marlborough-and-upper-kennet-valley.html">Marlborough to West Woods</a><br/>
<b>This walk: West Woods to Ridgeway</b><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2017/08/wansdyke-and-bishops-cannings.html">Ridgeway to Bourton</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2020/06/wansdyke-and-morgans-hill.html">Bourton to Morgan's Hill</a><br/>
</div>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Travellers.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="traveller,gypsy" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Autumn is in the making, no autumn colours as yet but plenty of fruit like this Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2GuelderRose.jpg" width="800" height="632" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Quite a few Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) butterflies were patrolling the hedgerows.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2SpeckledWood.jpg" width="800" height="626" alt="Speckled Wood " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My route took me into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Woods">West Woods, Marlborough</a> which is now thought to be the source of the famous <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/07/29/stonehenges-giant-sarsens-came-marlborough-downs-say-archaeologists/">sarsen stones of Stonehenge</a>. The only fungi I noticed there was Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Earthball.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="Common Earthball " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I joined the proper Wansdyke within the woods, and here it is just an average sized ditch. More a marker of territory rather than defence.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2WoodStart.jpg" width="800" height="576" alt="wansdyke start" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And some proof I was actually on the right path - I did take a wrong turn as this path is hard to spot.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Sign.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="Wansdyke sign" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path follows the ancient ditch for only a short stretch before branching off over farmland. Here I found a thistle flower which had attracted a number of Nettle Tap moths (Anthophila fabriciana) with a spider waiting eagerly for one to step into its web.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Taps.jpg" width="800" height="622" alt="Nettle Tap moth" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finding the overgrown path continued to be a challenge. Here is one section that required care to avoid the brambles and nettles.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Path.jpg" width="800" height="631" alt="overgrown path" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In places there were still some wildflowers such as Meadow Crane's-bill (Geranium pratense).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Cranesbill.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="Meadow Crane's-bill" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path then took a route over pastures and the tree-lined route of the Wansdyke was evident on the horizon.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2WRoute.jpg" width="800" height="562" alt="Wansdyke" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path had excellent views south to Adam's Grave and Knap Hill both ancient hill-forts.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2AdamsGrave.jpg" width="800" height="526" alt="Adam's Grave" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At the top of the downs was where the Wansdyke Path rejoins the Wansdyke proper. In this section it was full of scrub including honeysuckle.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Scrub.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Wansdyke" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>As soon as the top was reached views opened up to the north. This is the division between the Vale of Pewsey where water runs south to the Solent and the Kennet valley where water runs East to reach the Thames at Reading and on to London. Immediately the ancient artificial mound of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silbury_Hill">Silbury Hill</a> (largest in Europe of this type) sprang into view. It is believed to be 4,350 years old - contemporary with some Egyptian pyramids. It is part of the Avebury extensive Neolithic complex. The village of Avebury and its stone circle is hidden among trees - unlike Stonehenge it was built in a valley and not visible from a distance.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2SilburyView1.jpg" width="800" height="581" alt="Kennet valley,Silbury Hill " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The Wansdyke becomes a considerable construction in this section. The effects of a thousand or more years of weathering and farming may have worn it down in other sections but not here. Note that the southern bank is much higher than the northern one.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Ditch1.jpg" width="800" height="550" alt="Wansdyke ditch" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The banks are really good for wildflowers. Even though now late September there were still plenty of Devil's bit scabious and here Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Harebell.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="Harebell" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Further along, near where the Great Ridgeway makes its final section south to Alton Priors the Wansdyke is a dramatic 'scar' on the landscape. With its length and depth this is a really monumental piece of landscaping comparable to Hadrian's Wall or a great pyramid.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Ditch2.jpg" width="800" height="490" alt="Wansdyke" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path briefly dips at a saddle point where views south into the Vale of Pewsey, Westbury, Warminster and beyond can be glimpsed. The hill to the right has a hill-fort on top of it - the whole area is festooned with surviving constructions from the last 3,000 and more years.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2ViewS.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="Vale of Pewsey" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then turned off the Wansdyke having joined up with previous sections I have walked heading north-east towards East Kennett. On the field margin were a number of arable weeds including Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2ScarletPimp.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="Scarlet Pimpernel" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path provided good views back to the Wansdyke as it winds along the top of the downs - a good five miles of the ditch and bank are clearly visible.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2RidgeView.jpg" width="800" height="479" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along the path one section had loads of snails all anchored high up in vegetation. Some had attractive marking others plain yellow.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Shell.jpg" width="800" height="609" alt="shell" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A little further along and I captured another view of Silbury Hill, now quite close. In between is another ancient remains - the ancient <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/west-kennet-long-barrow/history/">West Kennett long barrow</a>. The barrow is dated to around 3650 BCE making it older than Silbury Hill and the Avebury stone circle (the largest megalithic stone circle in the world) dated to around 2870-2200 BCE. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2SilburyTomb.jpg" width="800" height="550" alt="Wansdyke,West Kennett long barrow" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Now I have a radical theory that I hope to find time to develop some day.
I believe this stretch of the Wansdyke is related to Silbury Hill and the Avebury complex. Most sources date the Wansdyke to when the Anglo-Saxons were busy building defences (400-700 CE) to keep out the invading Danes from Wessex. It is true that the western sections on lower land can be dated to this period from archaeology but I do not think this was the original use of the Wansdyke in this upland downs section. One reason is the monumental scale - it would have taken hundreds of men decades to built it. Another is that is not the best place to build such a defensive structure - up on the exposed ridge rather than lower down.
The fact that a large portion of the Wansdyke is directly visible from Silbury Hill suggests to me that it was built as a clear demarcation of territory between the Kennet and Avon valleys. The steep southern bank could have been kept faced with white chalk to make it appear as a clear line across the landscape. It is possible that the original Wansdyke was re-cut by the Anglo-Saxons as a defensive structure. Only a careful archaeological dig across the Wansdyke will work out the original date for building of this section.</p>
<p>The path goes close to the East Kennett Long Barrow and the farmer had planted a strip of Flax and Fiddleneck (Phacelia tanacetifolia) which had attracted many cabbage white butterflies and bees.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Phacelia.jpg" width="800" height="715" alt="phacelia,fiddleneck" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near the village of East Kennett (near the source of the River Kennet but spelt with a double 't') was an old hedge with a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2RedAdmiral.jpg" width="800" height="551" alt="Red Admiral" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And loads of autumn fruits including Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Haws.jpg" width="800" height="682" alt="haws,hawthorn" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The small village of East Kennett is surrounded by ancient hill-forts, stone circles and barrows. You might expect the church to be ancient too, but unlike nearby Avebury this was built from scratch in 1864 on the site of a 12th century church. You might notice that the weather cock has a crow sitting on top of it.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2EastKennettChurch.jpg" width="596" height="750" alt="East Kennett" class="picframe"/>
<p>The village has some attractive thatched cottages. An interesting local feature is that the end wall is made of blocks of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsen">sarsen</a> sandstone rather than brick.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2Cottages.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="East Kennett,sarsen,thatch" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Sarsen stones were used everywhere in the walls and gardens. There was a long phase when the sarsen was broken up for building stone. One is left to wonder how many ancient sites were plundered for their stones. The village is only two miles from Avebury's famous stone circle.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2SarcenBits.jpg" width="800" height="543" alt="East Kennett,sarsen" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I took the country lane running south-east towards my start point. The lane climbs gradually giving one final glimpse of Silbury Hill. This view gives a clue to its scale as the church even though closer looks insignificant by comparison. Silbury Hill is visible for at least 120° angle - this must surely have been the reason for its placement - maximum visibility from the widest area.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2LastSilburyView.jpg" width="800" height="536" alt="East Kennett,Silbury Hill" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Crossing over into the next valley of Lockeridge loses the view, the hedgerow here was rich in different fruits. There was also some Robin's pincushion Gall (Diplolepis rosae) growing on a dog rose.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Wansdyke2RobinsPC.jpg" width="800" height="640" alt="Robin's pincushion Gall" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another long distance path completed, I am running out of them in my local area. I may have to begin re-exploring them all again.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Unnamed Road, Marlborough SN8 4HA, UK51.400625899999987 -1.827038251.379207103091979 -1.8613704753906251 51.422044696907996 -1.7927059246093751tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-76937482200198441372021-06-16T14:00:00.005+01:002022-06-16T12:26:16.285+01:00Bramshill 2021<div class="colboxfl">
<h3>Bramshill walks</h3>
<p>Walks around the Bramshill plantation.</p>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2010/06/after-very-hot-and-dry-spell-by-chance.html">Bramshill Orchids 2010</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/bramshill-and-riseley-part-1.html">Bramshill and Riseley</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2012/06/bramshill-2012.html">Bramshill 2012</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/bramshil-2013.html">Bramshill 2013</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/bramshill-warren-heath-and-hazeley-heath.html">Bramshill and Hazeley Heath 2014</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/bramshill-2015.html">Bramshill 2015</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/bramshill-20165.html">Bramshill 2016</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2017/06/bramshill-2017.html">Bramshill 2017</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2018/06/bramshil-2018.html">Bramshill 2018</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2019/06/bramshill-june-2019-bramshill-walks.html">Bramshill 2019</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2020/06/bramshill-june-2020.html">Bramshill 2020</a><br/>
<b>Bramshill 2021</b>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2022/06/bramshil-2022.html">Bramshill 2022</a>
</div>
<p>My annual visit to Bramshill took place on a hot and humid day with the idea that there might be more chance to see butterflies and dragonflies. Also, being a plantation, you are often find some shade among the trees.</p>
<p>Last year I posted a picture of Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) so let's continue from there with another picture of this pretty plant.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Cinquefoil.jpg" width="800" height="525" alt="Creeping Cinquefoil " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I started from at the south-west corner eastward and explored two new ponds to the south but saw nothing very photogenic. At a gravel area where there was Goat's rue not yet in flower but there was plenty of Biting Stonecrop (Sedum acris).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Stonecrop.jpg" width="800" height="571" alt="Biting Stonecrop" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>My mission was to explore some new areas of the extensive plantation which is still easy even though I must have made 20 visits spread over 11 years. Near one 'new' pond I was excited to see the leaves of what may be a Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine). I haven't seen helleborines on this site before so it would be great to check its flowers in July-August.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Helleborine.jpg" width="800" height="640" alt="Broad-leaved Helleborine " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the first few years of visiting Bramshill in June I concentrated on orchids as it is one of the best local sites. Having seen them now so many times I've become a bit blasé about them. I saw a number of bee orchids but not in some of the places I usually see them. I also saw pyramidal orchids but the main interest at Bramshill are the hybrids of Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) and Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) which form a nice spectrum of characteristics. Here is one at the Southern Marsh end of the range.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Orchid.jpg" width="800" height="602" alt="Southern Marsh Orchid " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I revisited a ditch that was dredged two years ago. It's already dominated by just one or two species mainly Hemlock Water dropwort so is of less interest than when it was being colonised. One curious feature is a large clump of lupins right in the middle of the plantation.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Lupin.jpg" width="800" height="602" alt="lupin" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The normal sort of thing one would expect to see in these marshy conditions is Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21RaggedRobin.jpg" width="800" height="614" alt="Ragged Robin" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>As I was taking the picture of the Ragged Robin I noticed I was being watched by a spider lurking on a leaf. I think this is a female Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) heavily pregnant. They are one of our largest UK spiders.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21NurseryWebSpider.jpg" width="800" height="520" alt="Nursery Web Spider,Pisaura mirabilis" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I left the ditch and continued heading west. I continued to see literally hundreds of damselflies and dragonflies but as it was warm they rarely held their pose to be photographed; but one 'dragonfly' that did was this male Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum), one of the most common species at Bramshill.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Skimmer.jpg" width="800" height="630" alt="Black-tailed Skimmer" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then headed north along a track to the north-western corner of the extensive plantation. My research on Google Earth has shown up an unexplored 'pond' area just off the track. Sure enough there was a small pond fed by slow-flowing ditches. In one ditch was a great mass of water-crowfoot. I have seen this plant several times at Bramshill but only in small numbers, in this ditch it was the dominant plant. I think it is Round-leaved Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus omiophyllus) based mainly on the leaf shape and size of sepals.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21WaterCrowfoot.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="Pond Water-crowfoot" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The outlet ditch from the pond was even more species rich. I believe this is Water Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides). It was growing directly in the ditch.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21WaterFMN.jpg" width="800" height="655" alt="Water Forget-me-not" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I usually set out on my trips to Bramshill with a hope of seeing one thing in particular. This year I hoped to track down Celery-leaved Crowfoot (Ranunculus sceleratus) as I had seen it only once before and did not get a good photograph of it. It's a plant of marshes and ditches which aren't that common in this area. Well this ditch had several splendid specimens so that is one more thing to cross off the list.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21CLCrowfoot.jpg" width="603" height="750" alt="Celery-leaved Crowfoot" class="picframe"/>
<p>After the excitement of discovering a new 'good' area within Bramshill I set off to explore an area that has been kept as grassland rather than tree plantation. I saw lots of Tormentil, Heath milkwort and in places Slender St. John's-wort (Hypericum pulchrum) was coming into flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21SlenderDJW.jpg" width="538" height="750" alt="Slender St. John's-wort" class="picframe"/>
<p>I found myself 'trapped' in this open area as it was surrounded by thick gorse bushes and I had to retrace my steps. On the pond at the north of the site a pair of swans were swanning around, one doing a little preening.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Swans.jpg" width="800" height="620" alt="swans" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then had a less rewarding search for things I have seen before, there was no sign of Lousewort at a previous 'stronghold' on a muddy track and the Bee orchids near the centre of the site were nowhere to be seen. However I was rewarded by the unusual Grass Vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia) plant. It's flower are definitely 'pea' family but the leaves look just like a grass.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21GrassVetchling.jpg" width="528" height="750" alt="Grass Vetchling" class="picframe"/>
<p>Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) were all over the site as usual, I tried to take a picture from a more 'unusual' perspective.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Foxglove.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="foxglove" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I had one more area to explore on my list, just near a pond I know very well. I was delighted to find there was a much better range of pond/marsh plants at this new location. One of the most obvious was Cyperus Sedge (Carex pseudocyperus) with its bold flowers.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21CypSedge.jpg" width="800" height="677" alt="Cyperus Sedge" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I also saw a toad and a digger wasp, there were also horsetails and a very dainty Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata). It is a place to return to and explore more fully next time.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21MarshSpeedwell.jpg" width="800" height="619" alt="Marsh Speedwell " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then headed west towards the car as the humid conditions were getting the better of me. On the way I passed a grassy area and was lucky to spot a Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug (Aelia acuminata) cleverly camouflaged on a grass seedhead. If I had not seen it move I would never have spotted it.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21BishopsMitreBug.jpg" width="800" height="613" alt="Bishop's Mitre Shieldbug,Aelia acuminata" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>You'll have noticed the lack of butterfly photographs. This was mainly because it was rather hot and the butterflies did not linger anywhere for long, I saw Common Blue, Small Skipper, Large Skipper? and Speckled Wood but not as many as I hoped to see. For many species the adults have not yet emerged, the caterpillars are still busy munching leaves.</p>
<p>Similarly with dragonflies and damselflies I saw a good range of species but they weren't content to stay still for very long. Only this female Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) obliged.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21Demoiselle.jpg" width="800" height="593" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The ground dries up as it rises to the southern edge of the plantation and there was less to see. A plant seen a lot during the walk, and present near the end was Common bird's-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill21BFTrefoil.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="Common bird's-foot Trefoil" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>So Bramshill continues to slowly reveal its secrets. There's no other nature reserve that I know of that can still surprise after 20 extensive visits, may it long continue!</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Bramshill, UK51.3486237 -0.9241506999999998825.08812187370664 -36.0804007 77.609125526293354 34.2320993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-30563050668695990282021-03-30T14:00:00.006+01:002021-03-31T06:16:28.041+01:00Greenham Common<p>With further Covid19 lock-down relaxation I risked an exploration a little further afield to the disused Greenham Common airbase (just under 15 miles away) .</p>
<p>My trip was rather spoilt by an unexpected road closure - so I had to drive all the way around the common to get to the car park at the east end. The woods were full of dog's mercury and wood sage. Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia) was just breaking its buds, it will soon be a mass of blossom.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonMountainAsh.jpg" width="800" height="576" alt="Mountain Ash,Sorbus aucuparia" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were quite a few butterflies around in the hot weather (23°C) few stayed around long except for this Comma (Polygonia c-album). The other ones I saw were Brimstones and quite a number of Peacocks.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonCommaButterfly.jpg" width="800" height="579" alt="Comma,Polygonia c-album" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Now the reason for this trip was to try and locate a local rarity. This is the Alternate-leaved Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium alternifolium) rather than the much more common Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage (Chrysosplenium oppositifolium). Now on this walk I must have seen 1,000 individual plants and they all looked 'opposite' to me. It was amazing to see so many of them as usually I have seen them in small numbers. My main handicap was that I only had walking boots and the ground was too boggy for me to get close enough to be certain on identification. They were all out in flower but will grow bigger (and more easily to check) in a couple of weeks.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonGoldenSaxifrage.jpg" width="800" height="597" alt="Opposite-leaved Golden Saxifrage,Chrysosplenium oppositifolium" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In this same area I saw some Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina) which was just coming into flower. Another unusual ‘plant’ I saw in these boggy places on the south side of the common was not a plant at all but a liverwort. I think it is the Great Scented Liverwort (Conocephalum conicum).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonLiverwort.jpg" width="800" height="556" alt="Great Scented Liverwort,Conocephalum conicum" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Keeping to the boggy places I came to the pond I have seen before later in the year when bog-bean is the main attraction. In late March the only plant in flower was Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonMarshMarigold.jpg" width="800" height="664" alt="Marsh Marigold,Caltha palustris" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum) was showing its leaves, some spotted, others not. It is a genetic thing but there is also a smut fungus that creates pustules on the leaves, but not on this one.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonArumLeaves.jpg" width="800" height="645" alt="Cuckoo-pint,Arum maculatum" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Whenever I heard a buzz of insects I only had to look up and then could see that they were strongly attracted to the willow catkins that were opening out. This is a strange setup as willows are both wind pollinated (like most trees with catkins) and insect pollinated (hence the nectar to attract them). One reason might be that it flowers so early it can't totally rely on insects being around for pollination and so it hedges its bets and uses both methods.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonCatkins.jpg" width="800" height="607" alt="catkin" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I discovered a new area of the common that had quite a lot of concrete and gravel surfaces that attract a range of different wildflowers including Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonSpeedwell.jpg" width="800" height="622" alt="Germander Speedwell,Veronica chamaedrys" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A good chunk of the south side is now taken up with a noisy industrial estate and I quickly walked further west to another new area for me. Here on the impoverished soil were some lichens. I am tentatively thinking Cladonia portentosa.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonLichen.jpg" width="800" height="524" alt="Cladonia portentosa" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I headed south down the slope away from the flat area. A particularly purple form of Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea) was spotted, already in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonGroundIvy.jpg" width="800" height="653" alt="Ground Ivy,Glechoma hederacea" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Here is a picture of one of the boggy gullies that are on the south side of the common. The top 'airfield' area is mainly dry with lots of gravel so the rainwater seeps down and emerges in these gullies. This is where I needed my Wellington boots. A good proportion of the wet 'hummocks' have a golden saxifrage growing on it, it is a small plant.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonGully.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Apart from surveying hundreds of golden saxifrage I found an area covered in Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), it likes acid soil. Most were just putting out their leaves but one or two were already in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonWoodSorrel.jpg" width="800" height="614" alt="Wood-sorrel,Oxalis acetosella" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Time was getting on so I abandoned my search and headed back over the airfield part of the common. In areas of really poor soil I found lots of Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna) but also Parsley-piert and here a rather red form of Rue-leaved Saxifrage (Saxifraga tridactylites) not yet in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonRueleavedSax.jpg" width="800" height="587" alt="Rue-leaved Saxifrage,Saxifraga tridactylites" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>If you ignore magpies and crows the most common bird I see at Greenham Common is the Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola). There were several, the males proclaiming their territory and singing to attract a mate. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/GreenhamCommonStonechat.jpg" width="800" height="603" alt="Stonechat,Saxicola rubicola" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>So my primary mission failed, as I did not positively identify any Alternate-leaved Golden Saxifrage but I have a much better idea as to where and go and look for it, but next time wearing proper boots.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Burys Bank Rd, Thatcham RG19 8DB, UK51.3850343 -1.279267851.363613647212389 -1.313600075390625 51.406454952787612 -1.244935524609375tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-44250770181863675552021-03-09T13:00:00.002+00:002021-03-09T19:30:25.216+00:00Stichens Green and The Holies<p>With Covid19 lockdown rules still in operation this has been the first walk outside my immediate local area in 2021. I decided to repeat a natural history led walk of last year as it is only 10 miles away.</p>
<p>I parked up at the base of the National Trust ‘<a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/basildon-park/trails/the-meadows-and-woodlands-of-streatley">The Holies</a>’ nature reserve, Streatley and headed up the steep track that runs south.</p>
<p>At the top was this very hairy-leaved plant. I believe it is Mouse-ear Hawkweed (Pilosella officinarum) but hard to be certain until it flowers in May.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesHawkweed.jpg" width="800" height="588" alt="Mouse-ear Hawkweed" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Having climbed to the top the track turns into a tarmac road that slopes down again. At the bottom I followed a lane with a grassy bank. which hada good range of early spring wildflowers. Including Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna), I'll soon be bored with all the different yellow flowers but this is usually the first and they won't be around for long.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesLesserCelandine.jpg" width="800" height="627" alt="Lesser Celandine" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A little further along was Barren Strawberry (Potentilla sterilis). It's barren form looks very like the ‘normal’ strawberry but has no red succulent fruits.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesBarrenStrawberry.jpg" width="800" height="588" alt="Barren Strawberry" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another welcome spring flower is the Sweet Violet (Viola odorata). They have a delicate sweet smell but you have to get down to ground level to detect it.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesSweetViolet.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="Sweet Violet" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At this time of year many wildflowers are emerging and flowering very rapidly because they need to do this before trees put out leaves and steal all the sunlight and the moisture. Dog's Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) is about the most common groundcover of local woodland. It's green flowers are some of the first. This is a male plant, the female plants are subtly different.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesDogsmercury.jpg" width="800" height="643" alt="Dogs Mercury" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At the top of the lane rooks were busy noisily protecting their chosen nest within the rookery.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesRookery.jpg" width="800" height="675" alt="rook,rookery" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The main reason for this walk was to take some photographs of Green Hellebore (Helleborus viridis). On my previous visit it was overcast and so the pictures were not as good as I had hoped. There are about 30 plants in a small area of woodland, and very easy to miss. It is quite a rare plant and has great trouble colonising new areas.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesGreenHellebore.jpg" width="800" height="699" alt="Green Hellebore" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the hedgerows the familiar white blossom was beginning to appear. Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera) appears a little before Blackthorn with which it is easy to confuse.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesCherryPlum.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="Cherry Plum" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I climbed up to the top of The Holies. The walk although not long is strenuous, Google Earth tells me the total vertical climb was 863feet (263m). I explored the open grassland at the top and headed back towards the car. The view over the Thames from this point is amazing. Two people were admiring the view.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesView.jpg" width="800" height="577" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At this precise time it was Primroses (Primula vulgaris) that was the most conspicuous flower in the woodlands. Primroses have two types of flower a ‘pin’ form and a ‘thrum’ form this one is a ‘pin’. This ‘Heterostylous’ mechanism prevents self pollination. For a good explanation of this fairly rare mechanism see <a href="http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/devon_bap/prim2.htm">this page</a>.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesPrimrose.jpg" width="800" height="601" alt="Primrose" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Last and actually least is Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna). It's another very early wildflower that gets through its life cycle in just a few weeks. It has pretty little white flowers and is normally found in places where there is very little soil - such as moss over tarmac.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/StichensHoliesWhitlow1.jpg" width="800" height="583" alt="Common Whitlowgrass" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Hopefully will soon have a trip to see the woodland spring wildflowers that are just emerging.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0The Holies, Streatley Hill, Streatley, Reading RG8 9RB, UK51.5174551 -1.157009323.207221263821154 -36.3132593 79.827688936178845 33.9992407tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-9397841919011810932020-12-24T13:00:00.005+00:002021-03-18T20:35:02.590+00:00Beedon and East Ilsley<p>It's Christmas Eve and it was fine enough weather, if a bit chilly, to fit in one more walk. As we are stuck in lockdown again I wanted somewhere not too popular or too muddy after recent rain. I chose Beedon and East Ilsley where I managed to find an isolated parking space. I'd walked some of the paths before but not this way around and not in December.</p>
<p>It manages to just touch the previous posted walk at <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2020/12/hampstead-norreys.html">Hampstead Norreys</a>.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=15JBs1FgifcKp26T51aRxEbqceetY7hDV" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>The winter's low sun brings the countryside alive with greater contrast of light and shade, this is the first track I followed eastward.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyViewE.jpg" width="800" height="496" alt="track" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along the side of the track was a good range of wild flowers, crab apples, loads of blackthorns and loads of Old Man's Beard (Clematis vitalba).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyOMB.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Old Mans Beard,Clematis vitalba" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>After joining with the NE corner of the Hampstead Norreys walk I then followed an ancient trackway north towards <a href="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/eastilsley.html">East Ilsley</a>.
The track here was wide with a number of notable trees, hazel with catkins and a few remnants of fungi. This I tend to call Stag's horn fungus, but more correctly its Candlesnuff (Xylaria hypoxylon).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyCandlesnuff.jpg" width="800" height="589" alt="Candlesnuff,Xylaria hypoxylon" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's been mild recently and no harsh frosts as yet so blackberries are still forming. Nestling beneath one was a Seven-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) - andthere's another ladybird on another fruit behind it.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyLadybird.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="bklackberry,ladybird" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>One old decayed tree had a profusion of Jelly Ears (Auricularia auricula-judae).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyJellyEars.jpg" width="562" height="750" alt="Jelly Ears,Auricularia auricula-judae" class="picframe"/>
<p>The track then narrowed with fine views of the downs to the east towards Compton.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyViewE2.jpg" width="800" height="463" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I was lucky to see this crop of wild rose-hips before the birds eat them. I actually saw fewer birds than expected and no fieldfares or redwings as yet.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyRoseHips.jpg" width="800" height="525" alt="rose hips" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path led directly down to the church at <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp24-31">East Ilsley</a>. It was unfortunately locked but still looked impressive in the winter sun.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyChurch20.jpg" width="800" height="565" alt="East Ilsley church" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's an attractive village complete with a village pond and its resident mallard ducks.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyDucks.jpg" width="800" height="563" alt="mallard,duck,village pond" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The village once had the very busy A34 running straight through it and has two pubs (the Swan and Crown & Horns), now sadly closed with the Covid lockdown on what would have been a busy day.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyPubs.jpg" width="800" height="634" alt="East Ilsley pubs" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's nice to see flowers even at the end of the year, I saw Common Hogweed, Dog's Mercury, Cow Parsley, Groundsel, Field Speedwell, Yarrow, Red deadnettle, White deadnettle and here just a Common Daisy (Bellis perennis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyDaisy.jpg" width="800" height="626" alt="daisy,Bellis perennis" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I followed a farm track south-east from East Ilsley to Stanmore. I scanned the fields hoping to see a hare or two as I have seen them in this area quite often, but no joy. I startled a flock of red-legged partridge but was amazed to see an isolated group of Fallow Deer (Dama dama) in the middle of a large field. I reckon they'd found a spot in the sun sheltered from the cold wind.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyDeer.jpg" width="800" height="557" alt="Fallow Deer,Dama dama" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At South Stanmore Farm there is always something worth photographing, as I've shared these from <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2011/02/east-ilsley-lands-end-and-stanmore.html"> 9</a> and <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2018/04/east-ilsley-and-stanmore.html">2</a> years ago I'll stick with a seasonal picture. By the side of the old stables a Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus) had a really impressive display of festive red fruits.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyGuelderRose.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Guelder Rose ,Viburnum opulus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Just by the road a Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) was in full flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyHogweed.jpg" width="800" height="680" alt="Common Hogweed,Heracleum sphondylium" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Walking east along the quiet lane I came to the next group of houses close to Beedon church an ornamental tree was bursting into flower. I am not sure which species this one is, maybe a Quince.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyFlower.jpg" width="800" height="614" alt="quince" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally back to <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol4/pp40-43">Beedon</a> and one of my favourite 'chocolate box' thatched cottages. It does have a busy road on one side but is really fine building.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/EastIlsleyCottages.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="Beedon house" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And so back to home and with the Covid restrictions that means home alone on Christmas Day. Still I have another pleasant walk to look back on and can start to plan for making more explorations in 2021.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Beedon, Newbury RG20 8SN, UK51.498814 -1.30175423.188580163821157 -36.458004 79.809047836178848 33.854496tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-55070347387767559642020-12-01T13:30:00.002+00:002020-12-02T10:44:05.088+00:00Hampstead Norreys<p>After a few cold nights winter has definitely set in.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1brW1PNBOLnckL7h65UessYIopsMPX0cq" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I had hoped to do this walk the previous week but low cloud failed to clear until late morning; with so little precious daylight this time of year its necessary to set off early.</p>
<p>Hampstead Norreys is a small village among the chalk downs near the source of the River Pang. The <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1135735">church of St. Mary</a> was built in the 12th century but largely rebuilt in the 13th century and then later extended. You can see an old blocked up north door in the wall. The strange stepped pyramid is a monument to the Lowsley family and made of cast iron.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysChurch.jpg" width="800" height="592" alt="Hampstead Norreys church" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On the house just to the east of the church there was an amusing weathercock of hen and chickens, I am making quite a collection of pictures of them - there is an entertaining range of forms.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysWeathercock.jpg" width="800" height="597" alt="Hampstead Norreys weathercock" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near the entrance to the village playground a seasonal robin was being its inquisitive self.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysRobin.jpg" width="800" height="574" alt="robin" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p><a href="http://hampsteadnorreys.org.uk/custom-1/Hampstead%20Norreys%20Paths.pdf">Park Wood</a> is just to the south of the village and has a good number of veteran trees but some areas have been clear felled and replanted.
There is a bronze age burial mound within the woods and without the tree cover it would be visible from a large area across the valley. There is a large iron age hill fort <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perborough_Castle">Perborough castle</a> to the north of the village.</p>
<p>As the wood was on a north facing slope with a low sun it was a bit too gloomy for photographs. I did however see one mature sycamore tree with rather interesting bark pattern.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysBark.jpg" width="800" height="572" alt="sycamore bark" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Within the most of the fungi were well over, there was some jelly fungus, hairy curtain crust and underneath a stump a rather unusual pattern of a decaying fungus.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysFungi.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>In just three weeks most of the leaves have gone. The only deciduous trees retaining a few of their leaves were oaks.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysOakLeaves.jpg" width="800" height="590" alt="oak leaves" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I left Park Wood crossed the remnant track of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didcot,_Newbury_and_Southampton_Railway">Didcot-Southampton railway</a> and headed off over farmland. I walked over a large field (with no clear path) to reach a lane. Old man?s beard and ivy were common in the hedges.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysIvy.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="ivy berries" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Here and there blackberries were still flowering.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysBlackberry.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="blackberry" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Leaving the lane I came across a holly bush with more berries than I think I have ever seen - more berries than leaves!</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysHolly.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="holly berries" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A trusty wildflower for any winter month is the White Dead-nettle (Lamium album).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysWhiteDeadnettle.jpg" width="800" height="563" alt="white deadnettle" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I reached a point quite close to the A34 at <a href="http://berkshiredownsvillages.co.uk/East_Ilsley.html">East Ilsley</a> and turned back towards Hampstead Norreys. As well as dead-nettles another reliable winter flower is Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysYarrow.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="yarrow" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The hedge on the north of the track had a very good mix of hedgerow plants including spindleberry, wild rose and in one spot loads of Dogwood.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysDogwood.jpg" width="800" height="663" alt="dogwood berries" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>There seems to more white winter flowers than other colours, but on the field edge quite a few Common Field-Speedwell (Veronica persica) were managing to keep on flowering.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysSpeedwell.jpg" width="800" height="584" alt="Common Field-Speedwell,Veronica persica" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>At about 2pm the shadows were starting to lengthen and the views are enhanced greatly by the long shadows.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysFarmView.jpg" width="800" height="496" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I last passed this farm on <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2010/11/compton-and-hampstead-norreys.html">10th November 2010</a>, ten years ago. I remembered as I drew near taking a picture of a Pied Wagtail (Motacila alba) on the roof of the barn.
When I came to the building then - blow me down - a pied wagtail was on the roof again (plus ça; change, plus c'est la même chose)! It didn't stay around long enough to have its photograph taken this time.</p>
<p>Further views of the farmland north-west of the village opened up.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysView2.jpg" width="800" height="537" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The highlight of the walk was seeing this brightly coloured fellow, a Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysStonechat.jpg" width="800" height="593" alt="stonechat" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I'll end with a view to the woods that lies north-east of the village.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/HampsteadNorreysView3.jpg" width="800" height="589" alt="view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Hampstead Norreys, Thatcham RG18, UK51.484008499999987 -1.240166923.173774663821142 -36.3964169 79.794242336178826 33.9160831tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-63284303861296522572020-11-06T13:00:00.002+00:002020-11-07T11:00:40.553+00:00Padworth and Aldermaston Wharf<p>There have been very few cloudless days in the last few months so I decided to make good use of the sunshine today to research a possible December natural history walk. here is a map of the 7 mile walk.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1j-LQuoKsMfXbf1j6rnhSOfEDvRwfNaY0" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I intended to start at Padworth Common but I happened to choose the one day of the last ten years when the road was closed for resurfacing - as we are back in covid19 lockdown I foolishly discounted this possibility.
So instead I started at Aldermaston Wharf at the other 'end' of the walk. Close by the River Kennet there are a lot of lakes where gravel has been extracted. They are now rather pleasant refuges for winter birds.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthLake.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="lake,birds" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a fallen tree some gulls (juvenile black-headed??) were having a rest.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthGulls.jpg" width="800" height="494" alt="lake,gull" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then headed south and the path steadily climbs up out of the valley.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthWalkers.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="path,walkers" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Walking across farmland some oaks were holding on to their autumn-tinted leaves.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthAutumnOak.jpg" width="800" height="539" alt="oak,autumn" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Switching to a different path the autumnal theme continued.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthPath.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="path,autumn" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then reached the top of the flat area to the south of the valley which is covered with heathland plants. There remained one or two fungi on decaying logs.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthFungi.jpg" width="800" height="614" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p><a href="https://www.bbowt.org.uk/nature-reserves/padworth-common">Padworth Common</a> is an open area of grassland; it is the site of more sand/gravel extraction that is gradually returning to nature. I was surprised to see a butterfly flying around. It turned out to be a Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
that nestled into the grass in the strong sunshine.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthSmallHeath.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="Coenonympha pamphilus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I was equally surprised to see a few dragonflies flitting around so late in the year. One was co-operative and landed on a fence post. I think it is a Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthDarter.jpg" width="800" height="613" alt="Common Darter,Sympetrum striolatum" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Here and there holly was already showing its berries ready for the festive season.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthHollyBerries.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="holly berries" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I left Padworth Common and headed north back down towards the Kennet valley. On the side of the lane Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) was still flowering well.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthYarrow.jpg" width="800" height="630" alt="Yarrow,Achillea millefolium" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Nearby one of the Hawksbeards (Crepis sp.) (I think) was giving a good show.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthHawksbeard.jpg" width="800" height="631" alt="Hawksbeard" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The sky had some marvellous cloud formations. There was an easterly breeze bringing these cirrus clouds into view.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthSky.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="cirrus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>One of the real delights of the walk is the lovely little Norman church at <a href="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/padworth.html">Padworth</a> with its rounded apse.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthChurch.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Padworth church" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>It is a manorial church - built and managed by the lord of the manor who lived in the grand mansion next door. The mansion has become <a href="https://www.padworth.com/">Padworth College</a>, an independent school (£ 10,000 a term). It is surrounded by shrubs in autumn colours.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthCollege.jpg" width="800" height="545" alt="Padworth college" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The path leads down to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBNYjvJm8aU">Padworth Mill</a> on the River Kennet, the river has been swollen by recent rains.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthKennet.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="River Kennet" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then walked a little further north to the Kennet and Avon canal. Unfortunately all the vegetation along the canal banks had been severely chopped back but this burdock had survived.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthBurdock.jpg" width="800" height="601" alt="burdock" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>And so back to the road bridge over the canal at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldermaston_Wharf">Aldermaston Wharf</a>.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/PadworthWharf.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Aldermaston Wharf" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Padworth, Reading RG7, UK51.3926045 -1.113380423.082370663821152 -36.2696304 79.702838336178843 34.0428696tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-60180521653680211302020-11-04T13:00:00.004+00:002020-11-05T17:10:49.634+00:00Sulham Woods in Autumn 2020<p>For fourteen years or so I have been to nearby Sulham Woods looking for fungi. It never disappoints, I always find some new fungi and normally fail to be able to identify them. I don't like picking them as they are often not that many, and you need to pick and study to be sure of identification.</p>
<p>This is the first oak tree I come to when walking from home towards Sulham Woods. You can just see that new houses are being built at Stoneham Farm</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamStonehamOak.jpg" width="800" height="567" alt="oak tree" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>One of the many that I can't identify beyond being one of the gill fungi.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi101.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="fungus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Porcelain Fungus (Oudemansiella mucida) has this glossy mucus-like sheen. Grows on decaying wood.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi09.jpg" width="800" height="547" alt="porcelain fungus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I found one fallen tree with the fungus spread over about 20 feet of the trunk. This enabled me to get a look from underneath.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamPorcelainFungus.jpg" width="800" height="526" alt="" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This one looked so impressive I spent a long time trying to find an ID. My best guess is Spectacular Rustgill (Gymnopilus junonius), a new one to me.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi08.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="spectacular rustgill" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I often find this one in Sulham Woods but only here and there. It is one of the stranger looking ones: Yellow Stagshorn (Calocera viscosa).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi18.jpg" width="800" height="638" alt="yellow stagshorn" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A very impressive display of red berries of Black Bryony (Dioscorea communis). The leaves wither away quickly before the frosts leaving the fruits for the wildlife.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamNovBlackBryony.jpg" width="650" height="750" alt="black bryony" style="max-width:650px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the most common fungus appear in groups - lines or rings following a decaying root system. I think this is Clouded Funnel (Clitocybe nebularis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamLactariusFungi.jpg" width="800" height="549" alt="clouded funnel" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Over the winter one of the few splashes of orange you see are the seeds of Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamStinkingIris.jpg" width="800" height="588" alt="stinking iris" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Most fungi are pale 'mushroom' coloured I tend to prefer those with stranger colourations such as Rosy Bonnet (Mycena rosea)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi103RosyBonnet.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="Rosy Bonnet" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A particularly striking form are tiny - a few millimetres in size. Lemon Disco (Bisporella citrina) occur on wood when it has been decaying for a long while. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi104LemonDisco.jpg" width="800" height="576" alt="lemon disco" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The purplish colour of Wood Blewit (Clitocybe nuda) is also striking .</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi04.jpg" width="800" height="583" alt="Wood Blewit" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is the view back towards Sulham Woods.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi21.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="Sulham Woods view" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>What happens when Chicken of the Woods is left to grow up? Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa) of course! But it is actually a different species but considered good eating.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi05.jpg" width="800" height="495" alt="Grifola frondosa" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This pure white one has an exotic contorted shape that looks like it's diseased or something. However White Saddle (Helvella crispa) always looks like this.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi22.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="White Saddle,Helvella crispa" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This is just a pinky grey type of unknown species.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi17.jpg" width="800" height="540" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>A tree festooned with mistletoe near Purley Hall.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamNovMistletoe.jpg" width="597" height="750" alt="mistletoe" class="picframe"/>
<p>It's a very busy time for these creatures, burying food for consumption in the bleak months ahead</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamGreySquirrel.jpg" width="800" height="546" alt="grey squirrel" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another tiny favourite, which grows on twigs and are stemless. The gill patterns are amazing. I think it is Variable Oysterling (Crepidotus variabilis)
.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi02.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="fungi,variable oysterling" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Popping up here and there giving off its putrid smell to attract flies was Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamStinkhornFungi.jpg" width="800" height="560" alt="stinkhorn" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This one ought to be possible to identify with its distinctive gill structure.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi106.jpg" width="800" height="526" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Stump Puffballs (Apioperdon pyriforme) are rather like the standard puffball but grow out of old wood rather than the ground.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi06.jpg" width="800" height="631" alt="stump puffball" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I find that the first week in November is when the beech trees turn to gold. Within a week most of the leaves have gone.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamNBeechAutumn.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="beech,autumn" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>The distinctive pattern of Magpie Inkcap (Coprinus picaceus) makes it a favourite, quite common in these woods but fairly rare elsewhere.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi16.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Magpie Inkcap" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>I believe these are Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) looking very much like shells on a seaside rock.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi11.jpg" width="800" height="599" alt="Oyster Mushroom " style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Can't suggest an ID for these, they do however look quite tasty!?</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi107.jpg" width="800" height="533" alt="fungi" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>This small jelly blob is a living thing - a splodge of Yellow Brain fungus (Tremella mesenterica).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi13.jpg" width="800" height="564" alt="Yellow Brain fungus" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>These are tiny little cute fungi that I found growing out of a twig. I think it is Marasmius multiceps.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi03.jpg" width="800" height="559" alt="Marasmius multiceps" style="max-width:800px;width:96%;height:auto" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally another of my favourite types of fungi are the 'corals'. I think this is one is Upright Coral (Ramaria stricta). They grow in these small branched arrangements rather like coral.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/SulhamFungi20.jpg" width="566" height="750" alt="Upright Coral" class="picframe"/>
<p>And that's definitely enough for now. Over the autumn and winter no doubt I'll see a few more fungi but not in a great range. 2020 has proven quite a good year for fungi.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Sulham, Reading RG8, UK51.462602999999987 -1.07466723.152369163821142 -36.230917 79.77283683617884 34.081583tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-91311212004934560122020-07-12T14:00:00.001+01:002021-03-18T20:34:04.282+00:00Aston Tirrold, Lollingdon Hill and Cholsey<p>I decided on a shortish walk on a Sunday - a day I rarely choose but the forecast had it as the best day for sunshine in the next week.
The total mileage turned out to be 6.4 miles. I had done about half of the walk before <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cholsey-to-didcot-via-moretons-and.html">back in 2013</a>. Here is a map of the walk</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1ZLEe3u2HYK_z1-OQlGZvMDfKx3Mu4MnM" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I started at the old village of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Tirrold">Aston Tirrold</a> and headed east on an ancient track beside a stream. The path marks the very edge of the chalk downs, to the north is very, flat land. The last house in Aston Tirrold is a particularly attractive one; grand but not too grand.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonATHouse.jpg" width="800" height="554" alt="Aston Tirrold,house" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along the path there were some teasels and despite the vicious prickles on the flowers a number of insects were feeding. Here a peacock butterfly and if you look closely on the right side is a meadow brown butterfly and there is a hoverfly on the lower left.
They are good plants for pollinators, I now have several in the garden which mainly attract bumblebees.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonTeaselPeacock.jpg" width="800" height="601" alt="teasel,peacock butterfly" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another wild-flower that I have in the garden is White Bryony (Bryonia dioica), soon it will have bright red berries.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonWhiteBryony.jpg" width="800" height="629" alt="White Bryony,Bryonia dioica" class="picframe"/>
<p>The main purpose of the walk was to explore Lollingdon Hill. It is a chalk down in line with <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2020/05/aston-tirrold-lowbury-hill-and-blewbury.html">Blewburton Hill</a> which I had visited a couple of months ago. The poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Masefield">John Masefield</a> lived at the farm there for a while. As I climbed up the wildflowers began to change to those normally associated with chalky soils like Black Horehound (Ballota nigra)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonBlackHorehound.jpg" width="800" height="616" alt="Black Horehound,Ballota nigra" class="picframe"/>
<p>It has good views in all directions. To the north are the Blewbury Downs and Lowbury Hill.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonView1.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="view" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near the top I saw another chalk grassland plant Wild Basil (Clinopodium vulgare). I was somewhat hoping to see a few orchids but the hillside looked like herbicide had been used and there was no public access to the main hillside.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonWildBasil.jpg" width="800" height="620" alt="Wild Basil,Clinopodium vulgare" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along the south side of the hill there was a damson 'tree' already full of fruit.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonDamsons.jpg" width="800" height="574" alt="damson" class="picframe"/>
<p>Having walked around the hill, I continued to head east towards <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3/pp296-302">Cholsey</a>. There were a lot of Burdock plants probably Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus). One had had an infestation of black-fly and ladybirds had moved in. Some were the 'foreign'
Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) but I found one 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) larva. Incidentally I looked up why they are ‘lady’ birds and it seems one possible answer is that ‘lady’ refers to the ‘Blessed Virgin Mary’ who was at times depicted with a red cloak.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonLadybirdLarva.jpg" width="800" height="576" alt="Seven-spot Ladybird,Coccinella septempunctata" class="picframe"/>
<p>And here is the adult form.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonLadybirdAdult.jpg" width="800" height="531" alt="Seven-spot Ladybird,Coccinella septempunctata" class="picframe"/>
<p>Further on were some bright patches of Common Poppy (Papaver rhoeas).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonPoppy.jpg" width="800" height="622" alt="Common Poppy,Papaver rhoeas" class="picframe"/>
<p>Approaching the fringes of Cholsey a plant that had probably escaped a garden was a Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum) also known as Duke of Argyll's tea tree.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonGoji.jpg" width="800" height="603" alt="Goji Berry,Lycium barbarum" class="picframe"/>
<p>I only had to walk briefly into Cholsey beyond the main Great Western railway line before emerging from a Brunel tunnel made specially for walkers.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonTunnel.jpg" width="585" height="750" alt="tunnel,great western" class="picframe"/>
<p>Cholsey is where it is because there is a stream which joins the Thames there, the stream has its source in the springs around Blewbury and Aston Upthorpe. In the flat area the stream has been canalised into deep ditches. This area is rich farmland as the soil is deep from a time when a large lake had formed as the Ice Age melted. In the stream itself was Watercress while along the ditch were many marsh plants like Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria). </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonMeadowSweet.jpg" width="800" height="590" alt="Meadowsweet,Filipendula ulmaria" class="picframe"/>
<p>Also Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonGreatWillowherb.jpg" width="800" height="598" alt="Great Willowherb,Epilobium hirsutum" class="picframe"/>
<p>After following the ditch for a while the path turned south. Mercifully the farmer has left a wide margin and it was rich in all sorts of plants.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonDitch.jpg" width="800" height="490" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were plenty of bees, butterflies and other insects. During the whole walk I saw Red admiral, Peacock, Meadow brown, Cabbage white, Small skipper, Speckled wood, Ringlet, Comma and Small tortoiseshell butterflies. Some of the Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) had already gone to seed. The seeds are supposed to taste like cardamom spice.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonHogseed.jpg" width="800" height="571" alt="Common Hogweed,Heracleum sphondylium" class="picframe"/>
<p>The ditch then turned west back to Aston Tirrold and the stream was hidden by shrubs and trees, along the path were still many wildflowers including Bistort, Scarlet Pimpernel and here Woody Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara)
</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonWoodyNightshade.jpg" width="800" height="601" alt="Woody Nightshade,Solanum dulcamara" class="picframe"/>
<p>Just before the path ends at the village was a fine example of Common Mallow (Malva moschata).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonMallow.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>I had hoped to be able to visit the churches at Aston Tirrold or Aston Upthorpe, both ancient places of worship, but both were closed. I was surprised as it was a Sunday and I thought individual prayer was now permitted during the covid19 lock-down. Here is the wooden tower at <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1369068">Aston Upthorpe church</a> (12th century).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonUpthropeChurch.jpg" width="617" height="750" alt="Aston Upthorpe church" class="picframe"/>
<p>The house next to the church had a cow on the driveway. But on closer inspection a fibreglass version, so it is not just Milton Keynes that has them.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonCow.jpg" width="800" height="639" alt="cow sculpture" class="picframe"/>
<p>The village has a real mixture of modern and traditional houses scattered around. Some of the oldest must be this set of black-and-white cottages, the last one still thatched.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonCottages.jpg" width="800" height="582" alt="Aston Tirrold,cottage" class="picframe"/>
<p>I parked up next to the village's recreation ground. I was surprised to find on my return that a village cricket match had begun, so life is slowly getting back to normal.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/LollingdonCricket.jpg" width="800" height="547" alt="cricket match" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Aston Tirrold, Didcot OX11, UK51.5698218 -1.200655651.5599513 -1.2208256 51.5796923 -1.1804856tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-74948544558797341232020-06-23T13:00:00.001+01:002021-03-18T20:33:26.890+00:00Wansdyke and Morgan's Hill
<p>Nearly <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2017/08/wansdyke-and-bishops-cannings.html">three years ago</a> I continued my exploration of the Wansdyke as far as Bishops Cannings which left the last section to Morgan's Hill to be completed. I chose a sunny day just before summer heat restricts my desire to go out on long walks. It's at the western extreme of my walking area - determined by a one hour travel limit. Here is a map of the eight mile route.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1xLtMVDGAZpo8U1B35pt2TxhwotwMdavC" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I parked at the quiet village of Bishops Cannings where I had also parked to explore the <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2019/02/devizes-and-bishops-cannings.html">Kennet and Avon canal to Devizes</a>.
People are more relaxed out here in Wiltshire and everyone said hello, the first person I saw was a decorator up a ladder and we had a pleasant chat - so different from Reading!
The first delight was seeing a party of screaming swifts flying around the church, I believe they were families with the youngsters already adept at flying at speed. The rich farmland looked in good heart despite weeks of drought. Here I found some Chicory (Cichorium intybus), remnants of a crop grown years ago.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillChicory.jpg" width="800" height="655" alt="chicory" class="picframe"/>
<p>The village has a good many pretty thatched cottages.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillCottage.jpg" width="800" height="611" alt="thatch cottage" class="picframe"/>
<p>After walking around fields I started a steep climb up onto the chalk downs. There were many good wild-flowers along the side of the track (Creeping Cinquefoil, Agrimony, Field Scabious, Knapweed, Silverweed, Tufted Vetch, Kidney Vetch, Birds Foot Trefoil, Self-heal and Ladies Bedstraw). This Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) is a variety that has a fairly rare central coloured patch.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillBindweed.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="bindweed" class="picframe"/>
<p>The track was then crossed by Wansdyke and I continued my exploration further west. One of the first things I saw was what I think is Thyme-leaved Sandwort (Arenaria serpyllifolia).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillThymeLeavedSandwort.jpg" width="800" height="645" alt="Thyme-leaved Sandwort" class="picframe"/>
<p>The first section was great for wild-flowers and I did not have time to explore it fully. There were plenty of butterflies - mainly Meadow brown, Ringlet, Small Heath and here Marbled White (Melanargia galathea) on a Nodding Thistle (Carduus nutans). </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillMarbledWhite.jpg" width="800" height="660" alt="Marbled White,Nodding Thistle" class="picframe"/>
<p>Dotted here and there were orchids - mainly Common Spotted but quite a few Pyramidal Orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis). There were also patches of Thyme, Fairy Flax, Kidney Vetch and Restharrow.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillPyramidal.jpg" width="800" height="610" alt="Pyramidal Orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>As I approached the busy Sindon-Devizes A361 road I saw a Buzzard being mobbed by groups of mainly swallows. The views were splendid. Now I need to expound my view on the origin of the <a href="http://www.wansdyke21.org.uk/wansdykehomepage.htm">Wansdyke</a>. The experts describe it as an Anglo-Saxon defence against the Danes. I disagree, I believe it was re-dug at that time but the original ditch (a vast undertaking) was made at the time of <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury">Neolithic Avebury</a>. Why do I think that? The famous <a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/silbury-hill/history/">Silbury Hill</a> (The English 'Pyramid') is clearly visible from much of the Wansdyke. The Wansdyke follows the ridge on the edge of the Kennet valley - the home to the builders of Avebury. Even near the end of the Wansdyke you can see the top of Silbury Hill. You can see it in this view just above the yellow field of rapeseed. When in use it would have been bright white as it was capped with chalk. The Wansdyke and Silbury Hill was a marker to anyone coming north into the upper Kennet valley that this area was taken by a mighty people.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillSilburyView.jpg" width="800" height="555" alt="silbury hill view,wansdyke" class="picframe"/>
<p> The Wansdyke begins to be more prominent as you climb up out of the valley that holds the road. Just by a stile where the dyke turns west was a patch of Dropwort. I began to see Spiny Restharrow (Ononis spinosa). </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillSpinyRestharrow.jpg" width="800" height="625" alt="spiny restharrow" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a hawthorn bush a Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) was singing its 'a little bit of bread and no cheese' ditty.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillYellowhammer.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="Yellowhammer" class="picframe"/>
<p>Here is the view north-east from the Wansdyke. A green and pleasant land. Silbury Hill is still just about visible as a tiny lump by the central trees in the distance.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillView2.jpg" width="800" height="574" alt="Silbury Hill view,wansdyke" class="picframe"/>
<p>The Wansdyke now climbs up to form the southern boundary of the <a href="https://www.wiltshirewildlife.org/morgans-hill">Morgan's Hill</a> nature reserve. Quite a few of the rarer plants are on the old earthwork rather than the reserve. I found only one Clustered Bellflower (Campanula glomerata) in bloom - its rather early for them.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillClusteredBellflower.jpg" width="800" height="656" alt="Clustered Bellflower" class="picframe"/>
<p>The local rarity that I was keen to see was Round-headed Rampion (Phyteuma orbiculare). It best known in Sussex but is also here on the Wansdyke. It's spiky flowers are most dramatic in bud.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillRoundHeadedRampion.jpg" width="800" height="638" alt="Round-headed Rampion" class="picframe"/>
<p>Unfortunately by the time I had reached Morgan's Hill the temperature was too high for me to really want to spend a lot of time exploring. The main reserve is a north-facing slope with interesting wild-flowers in patches.
I was hoping to see Frog or Fly orchids here but spotting them over such a large area proved too difficult. I really needed a guide or at least a detailed map of whereabouts to look for them. I did however spot one small area of Chalk fragrant-Orchids (Gymnadenia conopsea).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillFragrantOrchid.jpg" width="658" height="750" alt="Chalk fragrant-Orchids" class="picframe"/>
<p>I decided to curtail the exploration and head back. The path down was across farmland and not much to see except dozens and dozens of Small Tortoiseshell butterflies (I reckon I saw about 80 in all on the walk). Eventually I reached a small wooded gully which looked like an ancient trackway. There was a mixture of woodland plants including the glossy leaves of Black Bryony (Dioscorea communis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillBlackBryony.jpg" width="800" height="554" alt="Black Bryony" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a track was a nice specimen of Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillMeadowVetchling.jpg" width="800" height="570" alt="Meadow Vetchling" class="picframe"/>
<p>I crossed the A361 to walk back to Bishops Cannings over fields. As I approached I saw these hares made of reed. Thatchers show off their skill by adding these sculptures to the roof ridge, sadly they don't last a long time in such an exposed position.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillThatching.jpg" width="800" height="514" alt="Bishops Cannings,thatch" class="picframe"/>
<p>I can't resist one last shot of the village of Bishops Cannings showing the pub nestled close to the imposing church.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MorgansHillBishopsCannings.jpg" width="519" height="750" alt="Bishops Cannings" class="picframe"/>
<p>Morgan's Hill is a place to revisit but I must admit that parts of the Wansdyke were just as inspiring.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Bishops Cannings, Devizes SN10 2LA, UK51.3783249 -1.94731825.856290400000002 -43.255912 76.9003594 39.361276tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-79717795588539039602020-06-17T12:00:00.002+01:002022-06-16T12:26:47.226+01:00Bramshill June 2020<div class="colboxfl">
<h3>Bramshill walks</h3>
<p>Walks around the Bramshill plantation.</p>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2010/06/after-very-hot-and-dry-spell-by-chance.html">Bramshill Orchids 2010</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/bramshill-and-riseley-part-1.html">Bramshill and Riseley</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2012/06/bramshill-2012.html">Bramshill 2012</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/bramshil-2013.html">Bramshill 2013</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/bramshill-warren-heath-and-hazeley-heath.html">Bramshill and Hazeley Heath 2014</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/bramshill-2015.html">Bramshill 2015</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/bramshill-20165.html">Bramshill 2016</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2017/06/bramshill-2017.html">Bramshill 2017</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2018/06/bramshil-2018.html">Bramshill 2018</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2019/06/bramshill-june-2019-bramshill-walks.html">Bramshill 2019</a><br/>
<b>Bramshill 2020</b><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2021/06/bramshill-2021.html">Bramshill 2021</a><br/>
<a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2022/06/bramshil-2022.html">Bramshill 2022</a>
</div>
<p>Another year passes and I can not yet claim to have fully explored Bramshill plantation. This walk is a mix of two walks I did as this year I led a small natural history group (maximum six due to Covid19) to share the delights of this plantation.</p>
<p>The first thing to see just yards away from the car park is a very large Wood Ant 's nest (Formica rufa). It's been built up to a height of over a metre by the busy insects. I rarely see large nests like this.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-WoodAnts.jpg" width="800" height="634" alt="wood ant nest" class="picframe"/>
<p>In quite a few areas of rough ground Creeping Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) was in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Cinquefoil.jpg" width="800" height="531" alt="creeping cinquefoil" class="picframe"/>
<p>A flower of summer is Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea). Inconspicuous until it flowers and present in small numbers all over the plantation.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Centaury.jpg" width="800" height="611" alt="common centaury" class="picframe"/>
<p>In an area where sand and gravel had been stored for years the vegetation changed. Plants like Biting Stonecrop that like dry, sandy soil were found but also Goat's Rue (Galega officinalis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-GoatsRue.jpg" width="532" height="750" alt="goats rue" class="picframe"/>
<p>It wouldn't be Bramshill in June without Bee Orchids (Ophrys apifera). Following two months of little or no rain the numbers were much lower than usual, usually reliable plants had failed to flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-BeeOrchid.jpg" width="800" height="700" alt="bee orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>The seed-head of this dock plant caught my eye. I think it is either Clustered Dock or Curled Dock, they are hard to distinguish to species level.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Dock.jpg" width="800" height="803" alt="clustered dock" class="picframe"/>
<p>Following a ditch north we spent considerable time admiring a freshly emerged Dark Green Fritillary (Argynnis aglaja). It is quite similar to the Silver-washed Fritillary that I see more frequently as it is a woodland species. You really need to see the underside of the wings to be sure.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-DarkGreenFrit.jpg" width="800" height="621" alt="dark green fritillary" class="picframe"/>
<p>A welcome sight was the delicate pairs of blue flowers of Common Skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata). There were quite a few plants dotted here and there along the bottom of ditches.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Skullcap.jpg" width="800" height="623" alt="common skullcap" class="picframe"/>
<p>One plant also growing in the bottom of the ditch was Water Figwort (Scophularia auriculata), unfortunately for this plant it had been demolished by a hungry Mullein Moth (Shargacucullia verbasci) caterpillar.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-MulleinWaterFigwort.jpg" width="800" height="608" alt="mullein moth caterpillar" class="picframe"/>
<p>A perennial fascination with Bramshill is seeing hybridization in action. There are two species of Dactylorhiza orchids: Common spotted and Southern Marsh. They freely hybridize but because Common spotted prefers dry soil and Southern Marsh roots in water there is a dynamic that stops one form of hybrid taking over as it does elsewhere. We found hybrids in a spectrum where those genetically mostly Common spotted were on drier soil and those mostly Southern Marsh in damper soil. It's evolution in action. Here's a Common Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-CSO.jpg" width="800" height="659" alt="common spotted orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>And its cousin Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-SoutherMarshOrchid.jpg" width="800" height="681" alt="southern marsh orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>On the first walk it was overcast and we saw very few butterflies and dragonflies, but with the sunshine on the second walk there were many more to be seen. This is the most frequent seen damselfly: Common blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-CommonBlueDamselfly.jpg" width="800" height="641" alt="common blue damselfly" class="picframe"/>
<p>In a ditch re-dug 18 months ago many of the marsh plants were re-colonising. The smell of water mint was very strong. One of the rarer plants in this ditch was Cyperus Sedge (Carex pseudocyperus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-CyperousSedge.jpg" width="534" height="750" alt="cyperous sedge" class="picframe"/>
<p>Sometimes the flowers of grasses can make an appealing subject:</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Grass.jpg" width="515" height="750" alt="grass seedhead" class="picframe"/>
<p>In a grassy area I spotted a Cinnabar Moth (Tyria jacobaeae) hiding away.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-CinnabarMoth.jpg" width="800" height="587" alt="cinnabar moth" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near the centre of Bramshill plantation is a pool inhabited by rather noisy marsh frogs. As well as several dragonflies, two families of coot we were delighted to see a family of Dabchicks (Tachybaptus ruficollis). The male was busy feeding at one end of the pond while the female with two chicks on her back were hiding among the reeds at the edge.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Dabchick.jpg" width="800" height="561" alt="dabchick" class="picframe"/>
<p>By the side of the pond I saw what you usually expect to see in arable fields: Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis )</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-ScarletPimpernell.jpg" width="800" height="584" alt="scarlet pimpernell" class="picframe"/>
<p>One area of meadow had a dozen Pyramidal Orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) in a group, elsewhere we saw only one or two dotted around.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Pyramidal.jpg" width="800" height="621" alt="pyramidal orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>When I see a wild rose I often assume it is a 'dog rose' (Rosa canina) but there are quite a few separate species. I was lucky that an expert was
at hand to recognise the apple-scented leaves of Sweet-Brier (Rosa rubiginosa).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-SweetBriar.jpg" width="800" height="612" alt="sweet briar" class="picframe"/>
<p>Last year I was delighted to find half a dozen Yellow Bartsia (Parentucellia viscosa) plants. These are 'red listed' for rarity. This year I was concerned that I might not see any due to the dry spell. In fact we found whole new areas where there were lots of plants. I have been to the wrong area at the wrong time and somehow missed them.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-YellowBartsia.jpg" width="800" height="632" alt="yellow bartsia" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were several dragonflies around (including Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa)), only one stopped still long enough for me to take its picture : Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)
</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-BlackTailedSkimmer.jpg" width="800" height="675" alt="black-tailed skimmer" class="picframe"/>
<p>Finally another picture of the unusual looking Lousewort (Pedicularis sylvatica)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Bramshill-Lousewort.jpg" width="800" height="612" alt="lousewort" class="picframe"/>
<p>Looking forward to further explorations, hopefully the summer heat will not prevent another visit this year.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Unnamed Road, Hook RG27 0RH, UK51.35303104555841 -0.918432256811523351.348072545558409 -0.92851725681152331 51.357989545558411 -0.90834725681152328tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-72458794742878660672020-05-19T13:00:00.000+01:002020-05-20T13:30:06.527+01:00Aston Tirrold, Lowbury Hill and Blewbury<p>I've started to venture afield as that actually results in meeting fewer people during the covid19 crisis than if I walked locally from home. Last week I made it to Streatley and this week I went one village further - to Aston Tirrold.
Here is a map of the 11.5 mile route.</p>
<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1qx7Or5ADcOkn7IYoSNnAFi2Aq4ZRSkLL" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
<p>I headed south towards the chalk downs and the path took my past a large field of free range pigs. This lot didn't seem too stressed or densely packed, on a sunny day it seems almost idyllic compared to many other pig farms.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonPigs.jpg" width="800" height="574" alt="pigs" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then followed the path through the Aston Upthorpe Nature Reserve. There used to be a good range of rarer wildflowers here but it continued to be over grazed by sheep and rabbits.
There is one remaining enclosure to protect Pasque flowers and this showed how good an area it could be if properly managed. One of its main attractions are the juniper trees, one of the first plants to re-colonise the UK after the last ice age. Here they are in decline because over-grazing is preventing natural regeneration. Somewhere around here is the reputed site of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ashdown">Battle of Ashdown</a> where the Saxons beat back the Danes. The Saxons moved on to attack the Danes at their stronghold at Reading and were defeated at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Reading_(871)">Battle of Reading (871)</a>. </p>
<p>There were quite a few Burnet Companion moths and for butterflies Small Heath were numerous as well as Common Blue also a few Brimstones and Dingy Skippers.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonUpthorpe.jpg" width="800" height="527" alt="Aston Upthorpe valley bottom" class="picframe"/>
<p>One of very common wildflowers in the valley is Salad Burnet (Sanguisorba minor) this has easily overlooked small globes as flowers. They are rather pretty when the anthers can be seen. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonBurnet.jpg" width="800" height="594" alt="Salad Burnet" class="picframe"/>
<p>The Pasqueflowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) were already over but the seedheads are attractive. It's such a shame that the protective enclosure can't be extended to a larger area, perhaps there would then be more than just a handful of these rare flowers on the site.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonPasqueSeeds.jpg" width="800" height="604" alt="Pasqueflower" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along the valley bottom are many, many rabbit holes and some badger sets. Surrounding them are drifts of Forget-me-not. I'd guess Field Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonForgetMeNot.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="Forget-me-not" class="picframe"/>
<p>After leaving the valley I joined a north-south track which had a different and varied range of plants. Ox-eye daises were most conspicuous but also some early Field Scabious (Scabiosa arvensis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonFieldScabious.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Field Scabious" class="picframe"/>
<p>I took a detour to climb the local high spot: Lowbury Hill at a dizzying 600 feet <span class="alt_units">[183 meters]</span>. This is the site of a <a href="https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/9401/lowbury_hill_camp.html">Romano-British temple</a>. it probably started as a Bronze/Iron Age sacred site converted in Roman times into a standard temple building. It has commanding views in all directions but is not a prominent feature on the skyline.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonLowberryHill.jpg" width="800" height="572" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>The field containing the temple had a good range of wildflowers including Yellow Rattle and carpets of Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonKidneyVetch.jpg" width="800" height="625" alt="Kidney Vetch " class="picframe"/>
<p>I then followed an ancient track north towards Blewbury. This is a wide track with a rough hawthorn hedge on either side. It had a good range of wild-flowers here and there include Chalk Milkwort but the star was
Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) which is usually considered an escape from cultivation but this is the sort of place where the ancient, native form might be possible. The hawthorn bushes had yellowhammers and various finches singing away and sky larks patrolled the skies overhead.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonSainfoin.jpg" width="518" height="750" alt="Sainfoin" class="picframe"/>
<p>Further along there were the bright flowers of Common Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonBirdsFootTrefoil.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="Common Birds-foot-trefoil " class="picframe"/>
<p>Passing the stables the track becomes a metalled road. The high banks had the pretty flowers of Dog Rose (Rosa canina).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonRose.jpg" width="800" height="610" alt="Dog Rose" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then branched off to have a look at Lids Bottom nature reserve. This was heavily grazed but I did see a moth: Mother Shipton moth (Euclidia mi). </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonMotherShipton.jpg" width="800" height="596" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>On reaching the village of Blewbury I was, as ever delighted to see some fine old buildings. It's an Anglo-Saxon village built and is full of winding paths and lanes. </p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonBuilding.jpg" width="800" height="593" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>Near one path an attractive plant in white and violet colours was Dame's Violet (Hesperis matronalis).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonDamesViolet.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Dames Violet" class="picframe"/>
<p>This plant likes damp conditions and there was plenty of water in the several streams flowing north from the springs. It was a reminder of how crucial a reliable water supply is.
After two months of very little rain everywhere else was dry and fairly parched but the slow release from the chalk of winter rain is a godsend and the reason for the line of ancient villages along the base of the chalk - Aston Tirrold, Blewbury, Upton, East and West Hendred, Lockinge and then the town of Wantage.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonStream.jpg" width="800" height="539" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>On a bank within the village a fine display of Common Poppies (Papaver rhoeas)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonPoppies.jpg" width="800" height="531" alt="poppy" class="picframe"/>
<p>Another village building - many are thatched; not so sure about planting a tree so close to the house though!</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonBlewbury.jpg" width="800" height="539" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>To complete my historical voyage into the distant past I visited <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4922">Blewburton Hill</a>. I hadn't been there for 16 years and my interest was kindled by seeing reports of some rarer wild-flowers some years ago.</p>
<p>I found some areas had a good range of plants including Chalk Milkwort and Rock-rose but much of the top area is just grass and nettles.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonHill.jpg" width="800" height="503" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>There are great views to be seen from the top of the hill including the next great Iron Age town that nestled by the feet of <a href="https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=238126">Wittenham Clumps</a>.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonHillView.jpg" width="800" height="561" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>On the sunny southern edge of the hill were many bulbous buttercups and quite a few Grizzled Skippers (Pyrgus malvae).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonGrizzledSkipper.jpg" width="800" height="559" alt="Grizzled Skipper" class="picframe"/>
<p>On just leaving the hill was an incredibly dense stand of Hemlock (Conium maculatum). I always seem to find it close to human habitation, perhaps its been here since the Iron Age.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/BlewburtonHemlock.jpg" width="800" height="591" alt="Hemlock" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Blewbury, Didcot OX11, UK51.566821999999988 -1.23403851.547082999999986 -1.2743785 51.586560999999989 -1.1936974999999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-46750357120609699272020-04-22T14:00:00.000+01:002020-05-01T11:17:30.763+01:00Moor Copse Spring 2020<p>One of a few local walks I can easily do with Covid-19 lock-down without a car took me through Sulham Woods down to Moor Copse nature reserve on the River Pang.</p>
<p>The first plant of any note was actually within the housing estate, there is a bank that hosts a range of relict wild-flowers from when it was part of the woods (only about 30 years ago).
This one was Common Stork's-bill (Erodium cicutarium) and you can see why it gets its name now the fruits are developing.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Storksbill.jpg" width="800" height="610" alt="Common Storks-bill" class="picframe"/>
<p>Going through Cornwell and Clay Copses I managed to find a plant I had missed out on <a href="https://psophis.blogspot.com/2020/04/sulham-woods-2020.html">last week</a> when it was just emerging and not in flower but it is now - Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420WoodSorrel.jpg" width="800" height="607" alt="Wood-sorrel " class="picframe"/>
<p>Walking along a field margin of a path the strange flowers of Field Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) were present in clumps (they produce spores rather than pollen and so not strictly flowers). It is one of our most <a href="http://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2015/5/21/ancient-equisetum">ancient species</a>, little changed from 270 million years ago.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Horsetail.jpg" width="800" height="631" alt="Field Horsetail" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then headed west between fields towards the M4. Along here it was trees that were in flower. This one is I think Field Maple (Acer campestre)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420FieldMaple.jpg" width="800" height="660" alt="Field Maple" class="picframe"/>
<p>And the next tree along the path was a Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea) which had its catkin-like flowers almost open - it is a wind pollinated plant.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420OakFlowers.jpg" width="800" height="682" alt="Sessile Oak" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then reached the Moor Copse Nature Reserve. First port of call was a very wet meadow that had many Cuckooflower (Cardamine pratensis) but I was also pleased to see a rarer plant that usually flowers in May and so was not fully open - Water Avens (Geum rivale). In this picture I managed to get both of them together.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420WaterAvens.jpg" width="563" height="750" alt="Water avens,Cuckooflower" class="picframe"/>
<p>My main motive in visiting <a href="https://www.bbowt.org.uk/nature-reserves/moor-copse">Moor Copse</a> at this time of year was to see Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula). I found them in both Park Wood and Moor Copse but not in large numbers - just one or two together scattered over a wide area.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420BluebellEPO.jpg" width="800" height="590" alt="Early Purple Orchid,bluebell" class="picframe"/>
<p>Along the path through the woods I happened upon a pair of Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) butterflies, the male was zooming in on the female resting on a bramble leaf. I was lucky to get them roughly in focus as it all happened so fast, the pair immediately took off and spiralled around each other for a while.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420OrangeTips.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="Orange-tip" class="picframe"/>
<p>I thought these two wild-flowers made a nice contrast (blue) Bugle (Ajuga reptans) and Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon)</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420YAB.jpg" width="520" height="750" alt="Yellow Archangel,Bugle" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the woods the woodpeckers were busy. Great Spotted Woodpeckers were hammering away and Green Woodpeckers yaffling.</p>
<p>Some years ago now I went on a guided tour of Moor Copse and was shown some Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum multiflorum). I decided to try and find it again and despite first walking past, I did eventually find the patch of 20 or so plants.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420SolomonsSeal.jpg" width="800" height="615" alt="Solomons Seal" class="picframe"/>
<p>The native Solomon's Seal is a strong indicator of ancient woodland as is this next one: Goldilocks Buttercup (Ranunculus auricomus agg.). It has this strange habit of losing petals making it look rather dishevelled.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Goldilocks.jpg" width="800" height="626" alt="Goldilocks Buttercup" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then reached the River Pang with a lovely fresh look of Spring.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420PangView.jpg" width="800" height="530" alt="River Pang" class="picframe"/>
<p>Just outside <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3/pp433-437">Tidmarsh church</a> Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) was just bursting into flower emitting its sweet, heady scent.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Hawthorn.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="Hawthorn" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the graveyard were Cowslips, Buttercups and here Honesty (Lunaria annua).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Honesty.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Honesty" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then headed back home over fields which turned out to be still flooded in places from the winter rains. In the damp areas cuckoo-flower was abundant. This view is towards the hamlet/village of <a href="http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/sulham.html">Sulham</a>.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420SulhamView.jpg" width="800" height="552" alt="" class="picframe"/>
<p>Within Sulham Woods there are a few locations where an ancient woodland indicator plant can be seen. This is Sanicle (Sanicula europaea) whose name is derived from 'sano' to heal (hence sanitary, sanitise, sanatorium) and was used for healing wounds.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Sanicle.jpg" width="800" height="581" alt="Sanicle" class="picframe"/>
<p>When walking across the fields back to home I was pleased to hear a Skylark singing, they used to be a frequent delight but I did not hear them here last year.</p>
<p>My final photo is of a butterfly sunning itself on the path for a break from all the flowers, it is an over-wintered Peacock (Aglais io). Other butterflies seen on the walk were Speckled Wood, Holly Blue, Comma and Orange Tip.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/MoorCopse0420Peacock.jpg" width="800" height="581" alt="Peacock" class="picframe"/>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Sulham, Reading RG8, UK51.462602999999987 -1.07466751.452710499999988 -1.094837 51.472495499999987 -1.054497tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1301411800599708536.post-64574225305766809132020-04-15T14:30:00.000+01:002020-05-01T11:18:26.074+01:00Sulham Woods 2020
<p>For over ten years I have posted pictures of the local woods at spring-time. This year with the Covid-19 lock-down in operation it is one of the few woodland walks I can do.</p>
<p>I followed my normal route through Cornwell Copse and Clay Copse where there was a good array of Wood Anemones (Anemone nemorosa) in bloom.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420WoodAnemone.jpg" width="800" height="609" alt="Anemone nemorosa" class="picframe"/>
<p>Not everyone's favourite but Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) was now fully in flower.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420WoodSpurge.jpg" width="800" height="655" alt="Wood Spurge" class="picframe"/>
<p>The warm sunny weather had brought out a number of butterflies. The Orange tips, Peacocks and Brimstones would not linger long enough to get a good shot but this Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) was more obliging.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420SpeckledWood.jpg" width="800" height="612" alt="Speckled Wood" class="picframe"/>
<p>I explored the damper parts of the woods in the hope of seeing some Golden Saxifrage but I could not find any, I don't think it is continuously damp enough here. I ended up at the Early Purple Orchid (Orchis mascula) spot. They were at their best which is a little early compared to previous years.
However there seemed to be a lot fewer than usual and when I looked around there were a number of shallow holes where someone had dug them up and taken them away. This is very sad as they won't survive away from this location. The holes were partly overgrown so I suspect they were dug up last year after I had visited last April.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420EarlyPurpleOrchid.jpg" width="535" height="750" alt="Early Purple Orchid" class="picframe"/>
<p>The bluebells were in peak performance. After over ten years of posting pictures of bluebells in these woods it seems repetitive to post even more. The sweet smell was overpowering at times. Here is a patch with some Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) interspersed for some variety.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420BluebellsPlus.jpg" width="800" height="571" alt="bluebell,Greater Stitchwort" class="picframe"/>
<p>The last few years I have attempted to get a good photograph of the curious flowers and developing fruit of Common Box (Buxus sempervirens) trees. Boxgrove wood is a good place for this! I did find a number of shrubs that had the fruits developing. I saw no evidence of attacks by the Box moth that is devastating commercial plantings.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Box.jpg" width="800" height="605" alt="Common Box" class="picframe"/>
<p>Unfortunately I could not see any Early Purple Orchids at their only other location in the woods but in a damper patch I did find this fine specimen of Wood Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420WoodForgetMeNot.jpg" width="800" height="569" alt="Wood Forget-me-not" class="picframe"/>
<p>There were quite a few people in the woods, far more than usual and a number of families. No-one was wearing a face mask but there are enough paths to keep a good safe distance. Here I managed a horizon shot of a family going back from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilder%27s_Folly">Nunhide Tower</a> half a mile away.
Incidentally why don't we keep two yards rather than two metres away from each other? I thought we had left the E.U.!</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420NunhideTower.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="Nunhide Tower" class="picframe"/>
<p>Nunhide Lane has a good range of wild-flowers on its chalky banks. There was the bright blue of Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420GermanderSpeedwell.jpg" width="800" height="617" alt="Germander Speedwell" class="picframe"/>
<p>A little further on I was delighted to see a good sized patch of Crosswort (Cruciata laevipes).</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Crosswort.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="Crosswort" class="picframe"/>
<p>The bright blue flowers of Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) were also present along the hedge line.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420GreenAlkanet.jpg" width="800" height="652" alt="Green Alkanet" class="picframe"/>
<p>I then took the path back into Sulham Woods passing a nice clump of Cowslips (Primula veris) on the way.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Cowslips.jpg" width="800" height="638" alt="Cowslip" class="picframe"/>
<p>In the woods there were a few Wood Speedwell (Veronica montana) plants dotted here and there.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420WoodSpeedell.jpg" width="800" height="600" alt="Wood Speedwell" class="picframe"/>
<p>I passed through the car park on Sulham Lane, it was pretty much full despite the lock-down. I then decided to follow a path running alongside the lane rather than through the conifer plantation which is my normal route. I was delighted to find that there is quite a wide belt of native woodland along the lane with a good range of woodland plants.
I was keeping an eye out for Toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) that grows at the base of hazel coppice of which there was a good number in this wood but did not spot any. However the bluebells were in fine form.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Bluebells.jpg" width="800" height="573" alt="Bluebell" class="picframe"/>
<p>By a sluggish stream some Yellow Archangel (Lamium galeobdolon) was just coming into flower, elsewhere it was in bud.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420YellowArchangel.jpg" width="611" height="750" alt="Yellow Archangel" class="picframe"/>
<p>This path comes out by The Mud House at the road junction with Long Lane and here a very healthy looking patch of Greater Stitchwort (Stellaria holostea) was lapping up the sun.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Stitchwort.jpg" width="800" height="637" alt="Greater Stitchwort" class="picframe"/>
<p>To avoid walking along the road I took the path through the woods that has a large number of Wild Service trees. Some buttercups (just the common field variety I think) were also shining away.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Goldilocks.jpg" width="800" height="595" alt="buttercup" class="picframe"/>
<p>The woods alongside Gypsy Lane have a good display of Bluebells, Wood anemones and Pignut. There is even some Butcher's broom and Moschatel however I have already posted too many plant pictures, I'll end on an Cuckoo-pint (Arum maculatum) which provides quite a challenge to get the spadix in focus.</p>
<img src="//www.sudokudragon.com/psophis2/Sulham0420Arum.jpg" width="524" height="750" alt="Cuckoo-pint" class="picframe"/>
<p>Hopefully a relaxation of the isolation rules will soon permit me to travel a little further in search of more spring delights.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Sulham, Reading RG8, UK51.462602999999987 -1.07466751.452710499999988 -1.094837 51.472495499999987 -1.054497