Regulars

Sun-filled woodland is stunning example of natural regeneration

AS I step out this morning a skein of maybe 30 Canadian geese are flying overhead in perfect formation and with such precision that they resemble the British Red Arrows display team minus the unmistakable red, white and blue coloured vapour trails....

Too windy and wild for a river trip but there’s plenty to see on land

THE wind is blowing hard and there is more to come, maybe with greater ferocity. I don’t really mind as long as I do not fall victim to the sudden crash and wallop of an enormous tree falling. One has to be careful at all times. Once dead, trees...

Ancient Chiltern landscape that inspired poets... and now me too

IPSDEN is a small, isolated village in a beautiful vale almost unparalleled in the South. The Ridgeway and Icknield Way both run through it, the former being some 5,000 years old and probably the oldest track or road in Europe. Ipsden also has...

I recommend this exquisite riverside garden for a peaceful stroll

1911 was the year in which Caversham was ceded to the borough of Reading, having formerly been the southernmost outpost and village of the county of Oxford. The result would have a lasting impact on this ancient settlement’s shape, development and...

Graveyards providing refuge for wildlife among the dead

I HAVE long been worried about how our treasured wildlife will survive as the years roll by and have a particular concern about our native flowering plants that provide a major component of the ecology of the world. Churchyards provide a singular...

Where have our once common native birds disappeared to?

SITTING in my garden a few mornings ago, I noticed a change in some of the birds’ behaviour. The once territorial instincts of the ...

From the survival of species to the destruction of others, that’s nature

IT is a wonder how varied the means our wild plants deploy to set seed for a new generation. In midsummer the foxglove relies on the ...

If only country litterbugs would disappear like the migrating birds

IT is early evening and looking up at the sky I notice that the swifts have gone, a kind of augury for the onset of autumn. I miss ...

Natural charms of this Chiltern escarpment are priceless

SHIRBURN HILL is located about a mile north of Christmas Common and a mile south of the M40. It is another glorious Site of Special ...

Woodland vandals should have more respect for our natural heritage

IF you go down to Lambridge Wood tonight you may be in for a big surprise. Motorcyclists unconcerned about the fact that these woods ...

Lady B’s ‘back garden’ is natural wonderland in the Chilterns

WHEN you love nature as much as I do, and have the chance to share your enthusiasm by writing about it, life can sometimes take quite ...

Rich meadow of flowers and insects almost too wonderful for words

MY good friend Matt Coome picks me up from home. On Monday last week was St Swithin’s day and it did not rain so according to folklore ...

Nature notes

MAPLEDURHAM is a very old place indeed, how old I don’t know but it is quite a serene hamlet. The Elizabethan house and watermill are ...

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From nearly standing on a snake to seeing a rare gem at the roadside

I HAVE boarded the no 25 bus in Prospect Street, Caversham, with my mother Maggie. We’re heading north through Emmer Green and Sonning ...

Common spotted, fragrant and pyramidals... orchids everywhere

SWAIN’S WOOD is a nature reserve in Buckinghamshire and leased to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust by the ...

Nature reserve on my doorstep makes me feel happy (shots excepted)

AFTER a pretty wet spell, things have brightened up somewhat so I decide to visit the nature reserve on my doorstep, Clayfield Copse ...

Returning to an old haunt in search of botanical rarities

HAVING not been there for some years, my friend Dave Kenny and I decide to visit Warburg nature reserve at Bix Bottom. We are not ...

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Art festival return date

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