Violets at Snoxhall, Cranleigh. © Photo by Mark Matthews We hear a lot about ‘immersing’ ourselves in nature, noticing the sights and sounds of spring. But what about the smells? We say ‘spring is in the air’ and lift our heads and sniff the delicious fresh scent of a world warming and returning to life. Last ...
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Spring is on the way. When I drew the curtains a couple of weeks ago, a groggy ladybird fell onto the windowsill. Although most ladybirds hibernate outside, I usually find 3 or 4 a year who have decided my curtains are a better bet. Which made me think what a tricky strategy hibernation is. Come out too early, and ...
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Can these hedgehogs survive in our fast moving world? I have a copy of a sale brochure produced for A B Johnson, a local developer in the early 1920s – advertising plots for sale along the Horsham Road and stating that this is where ‘CIVILISATION and NATURE REMAIN UNITED’ A dubious claim, even then. One hundred ...
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Isatis tinctoria The writers of Genesis (2.20) understood the importance of names, and they have the newly-created Adam naming everything round him. Simon Barnes (naturalist and writer) argues that knowing the names of birds encourages us to observe more carefully. The closer we watch, the more we understand; ...
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Volunteers working on Beryl Harvey pond. Humans have always imbued the world around them with meaning. The natural world is not just itself, but becomes a symbol or allegory. According to Wordsworth, oaks represent endurance and dignity. White lilies in Christian art signal purity. Bees and ants are models of a ...
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Ancient woodland is an ecosystem – and recent research has shown that trees live and thrive in communities. They are able to communicate through a variety of methods; now nicely called the wood wide web, and there is growing evidence that they can contact each other above and below ground. The chemical and electric ...
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Tree Photo courtesy of Andy Bamford The French philosopher, Rene Descartes (1596-1650) believed that animals were automata. Just fleshy robots with all actions pre-ordained. He wasn’t even convinced that they felt pain. He spent a great deal of his life indoors, and in cold weather he did his cogitating huddled by ...
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Relationships With Nature - By Miki Marks Anthropologists call them ‘The Creation Myths’ – the stories that all peoples tell themselves about who they are and their relationship with the natural world. Not all the narratives are like Genesis, which tells us that we have ‘dominion’ over the whole of creation – ...
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Despite the cancellation of the regional South & South East in Bloom Awards this year, the Cranleigh in Bloom team remained as active as possible during the lockdown, working hard to keep the village looking up to its usual high standard. The Cranleigh in Bloom team has now submitted a portfolio to South & ...
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Are you feeling weedy? My grandmother would ask this if she thought I looked wane and feeble. An odd expression, as in my experience weeds don’t tend to suffer from feebleness. They are just waiting to colonise any space that might offer an opportunity. A crack in the pavement, a gutter, the fork of a tree – all can ...
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