Still some countryside left!

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Having moved from one side of the county to the other my dentist is now an hour and a half drive away and not wanting to change him, once a year I go for my check up.
While travelling across I get to see how the countryside is bearing up.
Some of the farmers have left headlands to grow wild with flowers and ‘weeds’ for the wildlife, others – the fields are a mono culture of pure green wheat. Nice to see some new plantations of mixed woodland being set and even some hedges being replaced.
The sixties saw the mass removal of hedges to allow for the bigger tractors and machinery, ditches filled in, ponds removed and drainage pipes inserted instead. Then the farmers discovered that the hedges were there to shield the crops and prevent the snow drifting onto the roads, the ditches and ponds had a purpose and lo and behold, they were left with wet spots in the field that drowned the crops planted there, so might as well have left the ponds.
I did find a glorious field of poppies and probably field marigolds and rape and a bit of waste ground full of the most lovely pink flowers, looking like a vetch but probably (according to R.Digest field guide) Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia). Whether planted or wild I don’t know.
Also spotted and I had to stop and take a photo was the 6-8ft length of hedge covered in webbing, one of the caterpillars, though these had all dispersed by now. Just surreal, I remember these webs covering the gorse bushes along a whole stretch of headland on the Cornish coast years ago. Not necessarily the same species but just as remarkable.

The country road showing the hedge and the webs

The field with poppies

The corner of the field with the pink flowers and closer looks.

And just to prove there are some country lanes left!

• 20 Jun, 2013
• 9 likes

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