David Beeson The name John Lewis is synonymous with quality department stores in the UK. It has a subsidiary, Waitrose, that is its supermarket chain. However, unlike many similar companies, JL has other sides. It owns arable, dairy, mushroom and apple farms in Hampshire and its vineyards produce quality wines. Yet, there is more: itContinue reading “Longstock Water Garden in July”
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To my Russian Readers
GET OUT OF COUNTRIES THAT ARE NOT YOUR OWN. Why can your ‘so-called’ leader not grow up? We all lose empires – Britain, Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands to name some. So, you’ve had to give people their freedom back. (They did not give it, you took it.) So what. You’ve a huge country, liveContinue reading “To my Russian Readers”
Photography Competition Winners
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-60111369 Some beautiful images to enjoy. David
The English Cotswolds
David Beeson, October 2021 The Cotswolds are a limestone area in Central Southern England, a region of generally gentle rolling hills that were once dominated by sheep farming (now largely arable). It was rich in the middle ages, from the wool, and much of its character remains unsullied by C21. This is not an ecologicalContinue reading “The English Cotswolds”
Signs of Spring?
David Beeson With the cold snap having evaporated, and our local temperature hitting the mid-teens, our wildlife is waking up … slightly. NOTE: over 90 articles available, free of adverts. See: nwhwildlife.org – Rocky Mountains, USA and Index.
Secret Meadow
Secret Meadow John Solomon 29th May 2020 A field. Not a large field but, then again, not a truly small one. Roughly square and perhaps four hundred yards along each of its sides. Orientated just a little clockwise from North to South. A third of the way up from its Southern edge a line ofContinue reading “Secret Meadow”
The Edge of the A303
Wayside and Woodland Flora David Beeson 5th May, 2020. Sunshine and showers are designed to make plants grow. Add a touch of nutrients (Nitrates, phosphates and potassium salts – NPK) and a well-structured soil and they romp away. However, local soils are not the best and only the worst are bad enough to be leftContinue reading “The Edge of the A303”
More Creepy-crawlies!
Youtube videos produced by Graeme Davis
Good News
Beavers and Knepp David Beeson If you haven’t heard of the Knepp Estate you have a positive time ahead. What they have achieved is a breath of fresh air. It is in West Sussex and is a re-wilding project. The owners have finished with conventional farming (on admittedly difficult soils) and are reverting the estateContinue reading “Good News”
Watership Down
Watership Down – a celebration of a Hampshire Downland David Beeson A lark celebrates a new day with its complex territorial song as the world beneath it changes imperceptibly from night to day. Amongst the short grasses of the downland short-tailed voles, with their chestnut-coloured fur, feed on the species-rich vegetation, all the while maintainingContinue reading “Watership Down”
Water meadows
Water meadows and watery meadows David Beeson Water meadows abound in Hampshire. They used to line the Test, Itchen, Avon rivers and their tributaries and even today their remains can be seen. The first was dug in the 1600s. A few have been resuscitated and are regularly flooded – just south of Salisbury at Britford,Continue reading “Water meadows”
Stockbridge Down
Stockbridge Down in May. David Beeson, with butterflies by John Solomon. A butterfly walk that is best followed in the early afternoon. North-west Hampshire’s geology is dominated by chalk. Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary form of calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of theContinue reading “Stockbridge Down”
Snelsmore Common
Snelsmore Common. May – June. David Beeson Lowland heaths are not common habitats. Over 80% of the lowland heathland in the UK has disappeared in just 200 years. The New Forest’s 10,000ha is the most extensive area remaining in Europe. Snelsmore Common, near Newbury in the M4 Corridor, is a small patch of heather-dominated environment.Continue reading “Snelsmore Common”
Old Burgclere
Old Burghclere Lime Quarry, Mid-June David Beeson This is a Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Reserve. It is a ‘closed’ reserve, so you need to email them for permission to visit the small site. It is noted for its orchids and butterflies. The small reserve is the remnants of chalk quarrying, with bareContinue reading “Old Burgclere”
Wildlife and Ecology, the Wildlife Encyclopaedia 