Monthly Update - February 2024

It didn’t say “Beware of the Dogs”, although there was a scruffy box outside the entrance to the cottage. The new gate and post was tempting for me because the old one had been difficult to open and shut. So, in I went, Parish Magazine at the ready. But just as I got to the front door two large dogs appeared, pleased with my presence in an aggressive way.  I ran for the gate and emerged to safety with a well-placed and decisive bite on my backside, thankful it was just the one.  My fellow distributor wryly commented “You should have put it in the box”. I will the next time. Do offer your appreciation to your magazine distributor next time you see them. It can be a dangerous job!

Now the Black Barn at Rushall Manor has its impressive new thatch we have been painting the woodwork with two coats of Barn paint, having learnt that the cheap stain we used four years ago was cheap for a reason. 

We have also moved on to cutting bean poles for Englefield Garden Centre.  Woodland here is mainly ancient oak stand with hazel underwood. In early spring the long yellow catkins send out masses of pollen to fertilise the tiny bright red stigmas, barely visible on the bud, going on to produce the delicious hazel nuts. In the past hazel was harvested on a regular basis for thatching spars, woven hurdles, faggots (dried bundles for bread ovens) and, of course, firewood. It is an amazing plant, producing shoots at the base each season, so continually regenerating. But these shoots are very tasty to deer so each plant needs to be protected with brash or some sort of fencing material around the base.  About four years ago a terrific number of these shoots emerged, coupled with low deer numbers. The last two volunteer groups here have been cutting out the older wood on unmanaged hazel to encourage this new growth. What is fantastic about this type of woodland is the lovely succession of wildflowers, with primroses first, celandines and wood anemones, orchids, woodruff, wood spurge, yellow archangel, bugle and foxglove and those really impressive carpets of bluebells. All these plants and the underwood hazel pile into that period of spring in the woodland before the oak canopy obscures the vital sunlight from the woodland floor. A rich diversity of plant life leads to many different insects, butterflies and moths, frogs, newts and toads and an abundance of bird and animal life. We have the privilege of walking on the many footpaths to enjoy and wonder at the created world we live in.