Your seasonal guide
Seasonal observations, what to see in nature when out and about, environmental matters.
October brings the Mop and Statute Fairs
Once the hiring markets of rural England, now vibrant autumn gatherings of rides, stalls and tradition. From Abingdon to Marlborough, we’ve gathered 2025’s dates and stories so you can enjoy these living links to the harvest past.
Harvest 2022 and a stressful year Harvest 2022 is an unprecedentedly early harvest, and would ordinarily be the only feature of a year like this. However, this has been an extraordinary year in so many other ways. The price of fuel, fertiliser, and other inputs has increased almost exponentially. Labour supply for some has also…
It does make me wonder sometimes. I like to be outside and go for walkies and am always on the lookout for the next stick. Don`t know how I am going to get it home or what to do with it when I get it there, but I want it. Most end up on the…
Stockbridge Down is one of my favourite local nature reserves. There are amazing views of farmland and villages below with soaring red kites and buzzards above and greater for rare wildflowers, butterflies and moths. The site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), managed by The National Trust as a grassland site for rare…
Devizes Pie was a local speciality for hundreds of years, an ancient version of the recipe written in Old English. The Devizes Food and Drink Festival think it is about time Devizes has a new pie and a competition is being run to discover the new pie.
I love walking. I love being out and about, seeing, touching, smelling, listening, getting the air and exploring. However, sometimes life and your brain get in the way. Sometimes we need to just get out there, enjoy that Wonders of a Wander, but our head might get in the way. I explore this and the…
Rodborough Common is a 116-hectare site situated on the outskirts of Stroud, Gloucestershire. The site is now owned by The National Trust and was cited as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1954. The site is also a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), in part because of its herb-rich limestone grassland. The common…
Harmony Woods is part of the Jubilee Woods complex found on Augusta Park. The project to create a new community woodland was started in 2012 by Andover Trees United. The ‘woodland’ has been planted using mainly deciduous native trees by school children and other community volunteers. The plan for the woodland is to have woodland…
Last spring, like most of us during the lockdown, I did a lot of exploring in my local area. While wandering through the woodlands and coppices I had discovered on the Dorset/Wiltshire border, I came across loads of wild garlic (Allium ursinum) growing on the forest floors. That was when I first decided to pick…
There is a lot of outrage over hedge cutting. This gives me so much hope, as it shows a level of emotional investment in these wonderful habitats. Often, this frustration is justified, but sometimes it’s a little misplaced. Let’s have a closer look…….. Is it natural to cut a hedge? I often hear that it…