Sherborne Nature Catch-up

Several things to report:

• Cygnets! Hamlet and Blanche would like to announce the hatching of SIX cygnets. They are currently on the lower lake and you can catch a glimpse from the village road. Many thanks to Luke from the NT for enabling a path through the vegetation. Good work, Luke! I’ll post pics if anyone provides me with a suitable photo. MayMay has posted a short video on the village WhatsApp channel. (If you ain’t on it, you should be!)

• Wildflowers! The discussion at the Village Meeting on verge management came to a very sensible conclusion, I think, with a good, realistic compromise of wildflowers, safety and smartness. A very positive engagement on the subject from the Parish Council, with expert opinion woven in from residents. I’d like to to acknowledge the work of the NT who go above and beyond their obligations to assist the community in this area. I’m no botanist, but with a bit of assistance over the next few weeks I’m going to try and highlight some of the wildflowers that are coming up. The next time you drive past “the triangle” slow down and take a look at what’s growing there. Here’s the first example a very interesting wild flower

  • Sainfoin. This is a very pretty pink flower, with a fabulous heritage in the Cotswolds. Here’s a LINK to the detail and a photo from me. It’s worth a stop to investigate, I promise. Note to in the lower left “yellow rattle” a wild flower that knocks back grass , therefore encouraging flowers.

  

  More flowers to come in future posts. I also put pics of flowers as “notes” on my substack feed so if you formally subscribe you will get these too. Here’s some recent examples :

A Southern Marsh Orchid next to an early marsh orchid (I think) beside the Sherborne Brook.

A bistort flower beside the brook, being patrolled by ants.

• Caterpillar explosion! Rosi reports a peculiar sight on the road to Farmington - a stretch of hedgerow covered in what looks like cobwebs and seemingly infested with caterpillars. worth a stop and a look. I’m told it’s a perfectly normal occurrence. if you can identify the species for me, I’d be grateful. Here’s some pics and a close up of one of the culprits:

• Oak Trees. As you know we are growing a couple of hundred oak saplings on our allotment at the East End of the village, part of our “Ancestor Oaks” project. Just about all these saplings were lifted in February, their roots clipped and replanted in order to make eventual planting out more successful in years to come (hopefully a good proportion of them next winter). Given the extreme weather conditions since then I was most concerned that we would lose some of these disturbed trees. a close inspection the other day was a relief - just about all have survived and ey appear to be thriving. Special thanks to Amanda for watering them! I think this goes to show that eventual planting out needs to be done in places where we can routinely visit to keep an eye on them especially in the early years. That “link” with them to village ancestors will help that process.

• National Trust briefing - a package of major work on the Sherborne Brook. The NT have posted these notices on the village notice boards. Note that this is an important informational brief (not consultational regrettably) immediately prior to submission of a planning application within the village Conservation Area. I expect it to be a major package with significant impact. I strongly urge the Brook Group and everyone else in the village to attend one or other of the briefings. I think it’s very important.

  

  Finally, just a “heads-up”. I’ll be putting out a big report in the next few days - an extraordinary new heritage find right in the middle of our village. Complex, mind boggling, and a fusion of pre-historic and 17th C stuff, five minutes walk from the centre of Sherborne. I’m excited and think you will be too.