tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-309357952024-03-13T21:51:13.860+00:00Whatlington, East Sussex in TQ7618An exploration of the biodiversity, landscape,history and other things of interest in a one kilometre square of East Sussex, UK.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-883519684868588382007-06-19T23:05:00.000+01:002007-10-29T22:20:36.768+00:00Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) on church<a href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RnhWMrBl8qI/AAAAAAAAAR4/seX-drGimjY/s1600-h/20070619+Whatlington+Arabis+hirsuta.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077903355568059042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RnhWMrBl8qI/AAAAAAAAAR4/seX-drGimjY/s400/20070619+Whatlington+Arabis+hirsuta.jpg" border="0" /></a> On one of the buttresses of Whatlington church there are a few plants of <strong>shepherd's purse</strong>. <div></div><br /><div>The plants are growing in harsh conditions in the mortar and are very small. The largest, in the picture above, is only about 7cm tall.</div>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-77545590194164820902007-05-02T21:02:00.000+01:002007-05-02T21:33:29.919+01:00Wayside pheasant's-eye daffodils (Narcissus poeticus)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/Rjj1JPdo-DI/AAAAAAAAAOs/RXrw4Lnj3bw/s1600-h/20070502+Narcissus+jonquilla+b.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/Rjj1JPdo-DI/AAAAAAAAAOs/RXrw4Lnj3bw/s400/20070502+Narcissus+jonquilla+b.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5060063720469231666" border="0" /></a><br />One of my spring highlights is the appearance of these pheasant's-eye narcissus flowers beside one of the lanes through my Whatlington grid square. I remember when there was only one flower and now there are twelve, but I always worry that someone might dig the whole lot up. Judging by the white 'petals' this is <span style="font-style: italic;">Narcissus poeticus</span> var. <span style="font-style: italic;">recurvus</span>.<br /><br />This species is a garden escape, but has been here long enough to be regarded as naturalised and certainly seems to do well in an otherwise ordinary hedge-bottom. It is one of the latest daffodils to flower and does not really get going here until early May. Another bonus is that it has a delicious scent.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-56228412299265482082007-03-09T18:15:00.000+00:002007-03-09T18:39:45.359+00:00Daffodil designs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RfGpkpZ9O-I/AAAAAAAAAJY/Id1zZGmHJLA/s1600-h/20070309+Whatlington_03.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RfGpkpZ9O-I/AAAAAAAAAJY/Id1zZGmHJLA/s400/20070309+Whatlington_03.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039995905059404770" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RfGpVpZ9O9I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/__x3NSv_kbM/s1600-h/20070309+Whatlington_01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RfGpVpZ9O9I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/__x3NSv_kbM/s400/20070309+Whatlington_01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5039995647361366994" border="0" /></a><br />It is the season for early daffodils and these are an unmissable feature of the road through Whatlington just now. Some, as one of the pictures shows, are deployed in fairly naturalistic drifts, others are in straight lines which, alongside roads, hedges, telegraph wires and other manifestations seems as though people want to geometrise the countryside.<br /><br />The daffodils in these pictures look like <span style="font-style: italic;">Cyclamineus </span>hybrids and do have a greater elegance than the heavy headed show-stoppers that appear later on. I always wonder why people do not plant more of our native species, <span style="font-style: italic;">Narcissus pseudonarcissus</span>, the kind made famous in Wordsworth's poem. They still grow wild in places in Sussex but are nowhere near as common us they used to be. Unlike cultivated forms, they will seed themselves modestly and can eventually cover many acres in churchyard, lakeside or light woodland. Trouble is, like most good things, they cost more than popular modern hybrids and those looking for "a splash of colour" seem to think any sort of daffodil gold will do.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-59319110927113520682007-02-15T20:46:00.000+00:002007-02-15T21:01:12.869+00:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RdTJvWiRgCI/AAAAAAAAAHg/crCiABIQRAI/s1600-h/20070214_12.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RdTJvWiRgCI/AAAAAAAAAHg/crCiABIQRAI/s400/20070214_12.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5031868499020054562" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RdTJNmiRgBI/AAAAAAAAAHY/I8Mco7UvmvE/s1600-h/20070214_14.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RdTJNmiRgBI/AAAAAAAAAHY/I8Mco7UvmvE/s400/20070214_14.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5031867919199469586" border="0" /></a><br />Floods have come to the Line valley today, with the little river bursting its banks all over the place. My wondering in the post of January 30th as to why anyone would need a rowing boat here<span style="font-style: italic;"></span> is, maybe, resolved. If it floods badly stock may get marooned on islands and the boat is a means of getting them off. <span style="font-style: italic;">Lucky </span>would then seem an appropriate name from the point of view of the stranded animals.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-26244408666929226122007-02-12T22:50:00.000+00:002007-02-04T19:29:25.984+00:00The thatched house<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RdD2ZmiRgAI/AAAAAAAAAHM/jU_kULmiAOQ/s1600-h/20070129_02.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RdD2ZmiRgAI/AAAAAAAAAHM/jU_kULmiAOQ/s400/20070129_02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5030791703474307074" border="0" /></a><br />On the side of the valley to the north west of the river Line is this delightful thatched cottage, clearly visible from the Whatlington Road as one heads towards Woodmans Green.<br /><br />There are usually ducks and chickens in the field, and sometimes horses and other livestock making it look like the farms of long ago.<br /><br />To the left of the picture there is one of those small, grey Ferguson tractors that were such a feature of my childhood and teenage years and are now collectors items. It gives me an excuse to quote a bit from Sir Max Hastings speech at the CPRE's Annual General Meeting in June 2004:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"Country people, more than townsfolk, find it hard to resist a touch of nostalgia. Some of us vividly remember childhoods when corn was reaped by binders. The great canvas belt powering the threshing machine raced far into the night lit by the harvest moon. We think of grey Ferguson tractors and village railway stations, of grey partridges rooting in the stubble, of ferreting for rabbits, of the days when blissfully silent bicycles were the English countryside's principal means of locomotion.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />All this was indeed lovely, and it is right to cherish the memories. Yet, to coin a phrase, there is no future in nostalgia. There is no purpose in pretending that today, we can cause the English countryside to return to the past, nor even to stand still. It has changed, is changing and will continue to change, amid the huge range of economic and social pressures which bear upon it."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Change it undoubtedly will, but it is still astonishingly beautiful and full of amazing variety at every turn as, maybe, my continuing delight in one square kilometre of East Sussex shows.</span><br /></span>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-57061886596814144732007-02-04T19:07:00.000+00:002007-02-04T19:29:26.133+00:00Black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RcYzazQgzaI/AAAAAAAAAF8/QtqWyF9jMN0/s1600-h/20070129_24.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RcYzazQgzaI/AAAAAAAAAF8/QtqWyF9jMN0/s400/20070129_24.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5027762569534819746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">On the south side of the road bridge over the river Line I found a small plant of <span style="font-weight: bold;">black spleenwort</span> fern (<span style="font-style: italic;">Asplenium adiantum-nigrum</span>). This is a pioneer species that often colonises bare, open rocky places though in this area it seems mainly confined to walls.<br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size:100%;">I particularly like a rather strange piece of writing on this. Talking of scree slopes, C. N. Page (1997) in <i style="">The Ferns of Britain and Ireland</i> says “In such sites where also semi-exposed but south facing, warm and sunny, some of the largest and oldest clumps of <i style="">A. adiantum-nigrum</i> can occur, each marking an island of least mobility, with bare unstable portions sliding all around it.</span><span style=";font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Such microcosms of pioneering vegetation are probably mostly initiated by the fern, and thereafter only gradually accumulate a humus content largely from mosses and the fern’s own frond decay, bound only within the zone of the fibrous roots of the fern.</span><span style=";font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">Into these eventually also typically establish a few other wind-pruned vascular associates, typically including scattered miniature shrubs of Gorse (<i style="">Ulex europaeus</i>), wind-blasted Wood Sage (<i style="">Teucrium scorodonia</i>) and tightly-leaved shoots of low-profiled English Stonecrop (<i style="">Sedum anglicum</i>) or compact and clinging Ivy (<i style="">Hedera helix</i></span>).”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-7093099323128091432007-02-02T07:28:00.000+00:002007-02-02T08:48:20.015+00:00The topiary garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RcL30TQgzVI/AAAAAAAAAE8/WrTF_Icgtvo/s1600-h/20070129+Whatlington+Topiary+garden.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RcL30TQgzVI/AAAAAAAAAE8/WrTF_Icgtvo/s400/20070129+Whatlington+Topiary+garden.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5026852611993685330" border="0" /></a>For the first time the other day I noticed the lovingly tended topiary garden in Whatlington Road opposite the Mill House (to which, I think, it belongs).<br /><br />I have driven and walked past this small feature innumerable times over the years, but never really looked at it. I wonder at the enormous amount of effort that must go into creating and maintaining it. A season or two's neglect and all would be lost. Maybe it is a kind of green active meditation, with the rhythm of cutting and shaping the bushes having a soothing effect. Maybe it is something that is kept in trim simply because it is there, like turf cut mazes or hill figures.<br /><br />I like the large ash tree in the centre too, with its winter brown keys hanging still in the misty air.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-91057582899007597552007-01-30T18:52:00.000+00:002007-01-30T19:15:18.580+00:00Boating on the river Line<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/Rb-Yv-oqqCI/AAAAAAAAAEw/iWH4cK83TnA/s1600-h/20070129+Whatlington+Lucky+boat+1.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/Rb-Yv-oqqCI/AAAAAAAAAEw/iWH4cK83TnA/s400/20070129+Whatlington+Lucky+boat+1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5025903659203602466" border="0" /></a><br />A perpetually engaging site in the field by the river Line to the north west of Whatlington Road is the small rowing boat called 'Lucky', beached on the grass.<br /><br />What is she used for, I wonder. The river at this point is only two or three metres wide and someone rowing would find the oars reached the banks. Also there is nowhere much to go. Perhaps the vessel is used to access trees and bushes that need cutting back, or to rescue livestock that fall in.<br /><br />Whatever the case the boat, the water, the alders, the willows and the peaceful countryside remind me of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Piper at the Gates of Dawn</span> chapter in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Wind in the Willows: </span>"They got the boat out, and the Rat took the sculls, paddling with caution. Out in midstream, there was a clear, narrow track that faintly reflected the sky; but wherever shadows fell on the water from bank, bush, or tree, they were as solid to all appearance as the banks themselves, and the Mole had to steer with judgment accordingly."<span style=";font-family:";font-size:10;color:black;" lang="EN-GB" > </span>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-76190398573302335882007-01-20T18:48:00.000+00:002007-01-20T19:14:21.957+00:00The Little Black Cows of Whatlington<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RbJpnm3sn4I/AAAAAAAAAEk/BrH_fYQ5o9M/s1600-h/20070120+Whatlington_01.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RbJpnm3sn4I/AAAAAAAAAEk/BrH_fYQ5o9M/s400/20070120+Whatlington_01.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5022192663641497474" border="0" /></a><br />For a few weeks this herd of little black cows has been enjoying life in the fields to the south of Riccards Lane. They are an unusual breed - maybe Dexters, the small Irish cattle supposedly developed from ancient Celtic stock. Whatever the case, they are a delight to see as they seem to emanate health and contentment, often trotting about the grass seemingly for the sheer joy of being alive.<br /><br />If anyone knows for certain what breed they are, I would be glad to hear from them.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-48474843233705794832007-01-19T22:22:00.000+00:002007-01-30T19:18:44.081+00:00The January 2007 gale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RbFGRW3sn3I/AAAAAAAAAEY/oee7i_us0wc/s1600-h/20070119+Whatlington_02.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RbFGRW3sn3I/AAAAAAAAAEY/oee7i_us0wc/s400/20070119+Whatlington_02.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5021872323505725298" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday a great wind swept over Sussex and much of the rest of England, throwing trees, blocking roads and bringing down power lines everywhere.<br /><br />There were several trees across the Whatlington Road, which was closed for a while, including the one above now tidied away into a lay-by complete with its shroud of ivy.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-20607259351368927122007-01-02T20:30:00.000+00:002007-01-02T21:43:00.685+00:00The path through the wood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZrNJYSlv3I/AAAAAAAAAD8/93hBbwaQBn8/s1600-h/20060706+Whatlington+wood+by+r+Line.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZrNJYSlv3I/AAAAAAAAAD8/93hBbwaQBn8/s400/20060706+Whatlington+wood+by+r+Line.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5015546696053407602" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZrMtISlv2I/AAAAAAAAAD0/93dJtL6ZWXY/s1600-h/20060706+Whatlington+Path+by+r+Line5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZrMtISlv2I/AAAAAAAAAD0/93dJtL6ZWXY/s400/20060706+Whatlington+Path+by+r+Line5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5015546210722103138" border="0" /></a><br />One of my most surprising discoveries in the summer of 2006 was the public footpath through the wood next to the river Line - see link <a href="http://mc.multimap.com/cs/mi10//X23/Y47/X2304Y472S25W700H400.gif?pdel_id=20070102592012149&service_seq=2585">here</a> for map (the path is just above the 'i' in 'Whatlington'). A very beautiful, tranquil place with willows and alders, and the bruise blue <span style="font-weight: bold;">beautiful demoiselle</span> damsel flies, <span style="font-style: italic;">Calopteryx virgo</span>, flittering from bush to bush. Strangely it isn't marked as a wood on the map, though it looks ancient and shows up in aerial photos.<br /><br />It led to a wide enclosed field rich in flowers - more of that in another postingPatrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-48916617821221866152006-12-27T18:57:00.000+00:002006-12-27T19:15:13.866+00:00Round straw bales above Riccard's Lane<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZLFoKWsijI/AAAAAAAAACU/a6o8cnvH9ec/s1600-h/20060730+Whatlington+Riccards+Lane+post-harvest+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZLFoKWsijI/AAAAAAAAACU/a6o8cnvH9ec/s400/20060730+Whatlington+Riccards+Lane+post-harvest+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5013286628981770802" border="0" /></a><br />In the great heatwave of July 2006, the corn was cut and for a long time these huge straw bales stood in the field north of Riccard's Lane. These harvest bales are eternally popular with photographers, perhaps because of their standing stone-like quality: heavy, solid, casting a dark shadow, monumentally arranged across brown summer fields.<br /><br />When I was young straw came only in the much smaller cuboid bales, or loose in stacks, and there was a period when it was regularly burnt where it lay on the ground. I traveled much by train in those days and the lines of flame and black smoke from burning straw were a familiar feature of the English summer landscape.<br /><br />Bales like those above suddenly disappear. Perhaps someone can tell me if they go for cattle bedding or some other purpose and why they always seem to stand for a while patiently awaiting collection.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-38103508160935121692006-12-26T20:38:00.000+00:002006-12-26T21:11:15.588+00:00Scentless mayweed (Tripleurospermum inodorum)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZGKY6WsihI/AAAAAAAAACA/kRl57DJ0dXo/s1600-h/20060706+Whatlington+Tripleurospermum+inodorum.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZGKY6WsihI/AAAAAAAAACA/kRl57DJ0dXo/s400/20060706+Whatlington+Tripleurospermum+inodorum.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5012940020826016274" border="0" /></a><span style="" lang="EN-GB">I found this plant growing on the edge of the car park for Whatlington Parish Hall in July 2006.<o:p><br /></o:p></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-GB">It is <b style="">scentless mayweed</b>, <i style="">Tripleurospermum inodorum</i>, often confused in the literature with <b style="">scented mayweed</b> or <b style="">German chamomile</b>, <i style="">Matricaria recutita</i>.<span style=""> </span>In <i style="">Gylfaginning </i>12<sup>th</sup> century Icelandic saga writer Snorri Sturluson</span> explains that because of the whiteness of the petals <b style="">scentless mayweed</b> is called ‘Baldr's brow’ (Baldr was one of the Viking gods): “He is best, and all praise him; he is so fair of feature, and so bright, that light shines from him. <span style=""> </span>A certain herb is so white that it is likened to Baldr's brow; of all grasses it is whitest, and by it you may judge his fairness, both in hair and in body.”<span style=""> </span><o:p><br /></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This plant, or its smellier sister, have been said to cure many afflictions, perhaps drawing on Baldr’s virtues.<span style=""> </span>Both are also frequently confused with true <b style="">chamomile</b>, <i style="">Chamaemelum nobile</i> and related plants. It is probably the case that <span style="font-weight: bold;">scentless mayweed</span> is little more than an attractive, but troublesome, weed.</p>Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-761439915546778452006-12-25T16:54:00.000+00:002006-12-25T17:12:57.230+00:00Whatlington Road, June 2006<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZAGOaWsigI/AAAAAAAAABs/GZjw3193PBg/s1600-h/20060629+Whatlington+letter+box+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZAGOaWsigI/AAAAAAAAABs/GZjw3193PBg/s400/20060629+Whatlington+letter+box+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5012513229925812738" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZAEBKWsifI/AAAAAAAAABk/Wp1cpmbmDgs/s1600-h/20060629+Whatlington+Road+030.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_CiuaRAVNwYs/RZAEBKWsifI/AAAAAAAAABk/Wp1cpmbmDgs/s400/20060629+Whatlington+Road+030.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5012510803269290482" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">25 December 2006</span>. It is midwinter and a friend has reminded me that I have not added to this blog recently. Well, what better way to counteract that than to add some pictures taken in June to warm up these dark winter days?<br /><br />Both the above were taken as I walked back along Whatlington Road from the parish hall to the church lay by.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-31377217537645023532006-08-26T12:10:00.000+01:002006-08-26T12:26:56.192+01:00Some plants by the river Line<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060706%20Whatlington%20%20Sallix%201.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060706%20Whatlington%20%20Sallix%201.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060629%20Ochrolechia%20parella%20Whatlington%20017.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060629%20Ochrolechia%20parella%20Whatlington%20017.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The pictures above show a few of the plants that grow by the river Line. On the brickwork of the bridge in Whatlington Road I found the lichen <span style="font-style:italic;">Ochrolechia parella</span> (kindly identified by Simon Davey, the Sussex Lichen Recorder).<br /><br />To the east there are the characteristic trees that line the river, <span style="font-weight:bold;">alder</span> and <span style="font-weight:bold;">willow</span>. The willows are a form of the <span style="font-weight:bold;">crack willow</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Salix fragilis</span>, and every time the breeze blows, as in the picture, the leaves ruffle over in a silvery shivering cat's-paw.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-55424428656726396512006-08-26T11:24:00.000+01:002006-08-26T11:43:14.347+01:00The river Line<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060629%20River%20Line%20at%20Whatlington%20Road%20014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060629%20River%20Line%20at%20Whatlington%20Road%20014.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060629%20Whatlington%20village%20hall%20012.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060629%20Whatlington%20village%20hall%20012.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060629%20Whatlington%20parish%20sign%20018a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060629%20Whatlington%20parish%20sign%20018a.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />My next walk took me down Whatlington Road to its lowest point at the river Line. This is little more than a small stream, but at least it is permanently flowing when other small streams in the neighbourhood are now only winterbournes.<br /><br />Whatlington Village Hall stands beside the river as does their splendid village sign (I remember my friends in the old government Department of Transport used to call such things 'confirmation of arrival' signs).<br /><br />The river Line rises about five kilometres to the west on the borders of Netherfield and Mountfield parishes and it then flows across a variety of strata including the Purbeck limestone which must make the water quite hard, unusually for the Sussex Weald. To the east it changes to the river Brede at Sedlescombe and joins the Rother at Rye. I think the word 'Line' is probably quite ancient - pre-Saxon and maybe even pre-Celtic. Even if there is no substance in it, I like to reflect that the people who lived here at the time Stonehenge was built might have used a word like 'Line' for this little river and successive generations have simply gone on using it. <br /><br />The banks of this small stream are lined with alder and willow and rich in waterside vegetation. There is also a good dragonfly population,including the very attractive <span style="font-weight:bold;">beautiful demoiselle</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Calopteryx virgo</span>.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-46095585406689878672006-08-19T14:21:00.000+01:002006-08-19T14:49:24.672+01:00Whatlington church and churchyard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060623%20Whatlington%20church%208.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060623%20Whatlington%20church%208.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060623%20Whatlington%20Diploicia%20canescens%205.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060623%20Whatlington%20Diploicia%20canescens%205.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/1600/20060623%20Whatlington%20vineyard%207.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/2803/3776/400/20060623%20Whatlington%20vineyard%207.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />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.<br /><br />As with all churchyards I was able to make many new records for the grid <br />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 <span style="font-style:italic;">Diploicia canescens</span>, a common species kindly identified for me by our Sussex lichen recorder Simon Davey.<br /><br />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.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-1155158633717292292006-08-09T21:53:00.000+01:002006-08-09T22:29:09.600+01:00The Midsummer Grove<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060621%20Whatlington%20looking%20SE%20from%20TQ763189.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/400/20060621%20Whatlington%20looking%20SE%20from%20TQ763189.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060621%20Whatlington%20Midsummer%20Grove.0.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/400/20060621%20Whatlington%20Midsummer%20Grove.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Right at the top of my grid square the map shows the kind of public footpath few would trouble to take (<a href="http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=576500.999962133&Y=119000.884810093&width=500&height=300&gride=576399.999962133&gridn=118999.884810093&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=grid&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=true&zm=1&scale=25000">see here</a>). It seems just to be a nondescript short cut across the top of a field from Whatlington Road to the A21.<br /><br />There is a lay by where this path joins Whatlington Road and, on Midsummer's Day, I ascended the bank to discover that the path led in one direction out into the barley field, but had a short spur leading into a grove of trees in a circular basin, possibly a long-forgotten pond. In the centre there was a small elder tree in full bloom.<br /><br />Finding a grove such as this on Midsummer Day had a pagan chime about it and it does show that following even the most obscure footpaths can reveal interesting places. A few days later I went there again with our son Charles and brought a piece of decaying birch log away with me to see if I can breed any insects from it. So far the only species to emerge is the fly Rhinophora lepida, a parasitoid of woodlice.<br /><br />The top picture shows the view from the Midsummer Grove towards the south east.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-1154339047603338672006-07-31T09:40:00.000+01:002006-07-31T10:44:07.623+01:00By the A21 in June<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060619%20Whatlington%20Large%20skipper%203.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/400/20060619%20Whatlington%20Large%20skipper%203.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060619%20Whatlington%205-spot%20burnet%208.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/400/20060619%20Whatlington%205-spot%20burnet%208.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060619%20Whatlington%20Riccards%20Lane%20at%20A21.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/400/20060619%20Whatlington%20Riccards%20Lane%20at%20A21.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />In mid-June I walked up to the junction of Riccards Lane and the A21, the main trunk road to Hastings once known as Windmill Corner (TQ766188). The wide verges here are very rich in wildlife and seem to be the tiny remnants of ancient meadows. On one I found several <span style="font-weight:bold;">narrow-bordered five-spot burnets</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Zygaena lonicerae latomarginata</span> (middle picture above), as well as the <span style="font-weight:bold;">large skipper</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Ochlodes venata</span>, and some 'undisturbed grassland' indicators such as <span style="font-weight:bold;">fairy flax</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Linum catharticum</span>. A detailed survey over a full year would, I suspect, deliver a long species list for this verge.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060619%20Whatlington%20Fairy%20flax%202.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/200/20060619%20Whatlington%20Fairy%20flax%202.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br />Yet it is hardly an auspicious spot with fast traffic racing past most of the day and night. I have passed by hundreds of times, often more than once in a day, but this is the first time I have stopped and taken a proper look.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-1152569654866078782006-07-10T23:00:00.000+01:002006-07-10T23:15:59.260+01:00Haymaking, Riccards Farm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/1600/20060619%20Whatlington%20haymaking%20Riccards%20Farm%205.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1483/2394/400/20060619%20Whatlington%20haymaking%20Riccards%20Farm%205.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>My first picture shows the view from Riccards Lane looking south westwards into the valley of the little river Line and across towards Battle. The few houses and church of Whatlington village itself are largely hidden in the trees right of centre.<br /><br />I took this from a gate leading from the busy A21 road and it is a view I have never had before, though passing within a few metres of the vantage point many times a year.<br /><br />As W.H.Davies famously said "What is life if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare ..."Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30935795.post-1152568534330010862006-07-10T22:11:00.000+01:002006-07-10T22:55:34.340+01:00Introduction to Whatlington in TQ7618I have set up this blog to try and show how selecting a 1 kilometre Ordnance Survey grid square from which to record biodiversity and other things of interest will reveal much that is unexpected.<br /><br />In most parts of the British Isles, and Sussex is no exception, many 1 km grid squares have very few wildlife records. The main reason is that they appear, from the map at any rate, to be rather nondescript. They may have no nature reserve, country park or Forestry Commission woodland; no large lake or river. Few would aim to undertake a recording expedition to such a place, especially as access often looks poor and restricted.<br /><br />However, I have found over the years that these squares almost always have hidden delights. Roadsides and little used footpaths often pass through places whose quality as biotopes cannot possibly be divined from an OS map.<br /><br />Working, as I do, with the <a href="http://www.sxbrc.org.uk/">Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre</a> I know how important it is to gather records from these less visited squares. Rarities might be few, but we need records of every species in the wild to build up as full a picture as possible of wildlife in Sussex and how it is changing.<br /><br />If you would like to look in detail at an under-recorded square, the Record Centre will gladly suggest one (or more) for you.<br /><br />For this first excercise I chose a square about 2km from my house, a square I regularly travel through so all I have to do is take a little while out to do some recording. Have a look at it one the map <a href="http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/output1/gam/gam_ordsvywat-sun-17341811254340.png">here</a>.<br /><br />My chosen square lies mostly in Whatlington parish, but there are a few bits of Sedlescombe on the eastern boundary. I did some recording in these years ago as it was part of my own area, but the rest away from the roads is almost all terra incognita. Other than these few records, only 25 species were recorded in the SxBRC, many of these of fish in the river Line.<br /><br />My main aim is simply to do what is known as a 'walk over' survey, and not look in great detail of some of the larger orders of smaller things. I may perhaps focus on this square for a year and then move on to another square with a new blog. If other recorders would like to join me on my perambulations they would, of course, be very welcome.Patrick Roperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05656486045726647263noreply@blogger.com0