On my next expedition to TQ7618 I stopped in a small lay-by on Whatlington Road and walked up to Norman church, a tranquil, classically English spot well-hidden from view and probably rather seldom visited.
As with all churchyards I was able to make many new records for the grid
square and wished I had had a lichenologist with me as the walls and gravestones were particularly rich in these plants. The photo shows an example of Diploicia canescens, a common species kindly identified for me by our Sussex lichen recorder Simon Davey.
To the east of the church there was a vineyard with the rows of grape vines stretching neatly down to the Line valley. The quality of the wine may improve (not that I know what it is like now) if the climate gets warmer, but I think it will be small compensation for all the problems it might bring. As it is wine-making in England seems to be a rather precarious way of trying to make a living.
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