A sunny January morning can be the best time of all for seeing trees. Once the leaves have fallen, the individual shape of each tree is visible – and the different kinds of bark add to the attraction. Bark protects the trees’ essential living systems from temperature extremes, storms, attacks from diseases, ...
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Nativity scenes apart, there are apparently twelve symbols which trigger thoughts of Christmas; amongst them are robins, poinsettias, bells, snowflakes, a jolly old man in a red and white outfit, and two which I find particularly evocative: the fir tree and the reindeer. Fortunately, I didn’t have to travel far to ...
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In Greek myths it never pays to be boastful before the gods. The young Arachne was a wonderful weaver and as Ovid writes in his Metamorphoses she had the temerity to challenge the goddess Athena to a tapestry weaving contest. Bizarrely Athena was the goddess of war, handicrafts and reason – which seem like an ...
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One of the two huge ants nests at Hurtwood After writing about ants last month, a friend sent me the following by Ogden Nash which sums up this little creature perfectly: The ant has made himself illustriousThrough constant industry industriousSo what?Would you be calm and placidIf you were full of formic acid! ...
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SURREY (ant) HILLS - photo by Andy Bamford We had such a lovely plan: we would have a volunteer evening mid-week instead of the usual Sunday morning. We would take advantage of the light evenings, do a few jobs, and get to know some of our new members over a fish and chip picnic supper. I also hoped that if we ...
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Elephant Hawkmoth It was a very warm day when I met up with a few of the Beryl Harvey Conservation volunteers. Right away we were aware of the most appalling stench. It wasn’t long before the source of the stink was discovered; a dead badger. Very dead and seething with maggots. This scene was an example of ...
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A Zebra in the Ewhurst Landscape? Who coined the disdainful description ‘Nimby’? People who had designs on your local landscape and tried to shame you into agreeing to development, that’s who. But we should all be Nimbys! Unless we fight to protect our surroundings, no one will protect them for us, particularly as ...
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Did you know that there is a conservation site in Cranleigh? It was given to the Parish Council in 1970 for the benefit of the village by Gordon Harvey, in memory of his wife. A naturalist who recently visited the 2 ½ acre site said that it was ‘small but interesting’. It is a valuable asset for Cranleigh which ...
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Landowners across the South East are being asked to consider planting trees to help tackle the climate and nature emergencies. The Woodland Trust has this week reopened applications for its flagship woodland creation scheme MOREwoods for anyone looking to get trees in the ground in the forthcoming 2021/22 planting ...
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The name ‘orchid’ perhaps conjures up the mental picture of some exotic, expensive plant – the sort much used by interior designers for dark corners, and indistinguishable from its artificial version. The orchids I prefer are the native ones, and here in Cranleigh we have at least two sorts. A friend sent me some ...
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