The results of the poll where we asked about seating in the wood are in,  and almost unanimously opinion is for the natural solution: log seats. In reality, this is probably all we were likely to be offered by WDC, but it’s good that the two sides are in agreement. We’ll feed this back to WDC and hope it will reinforce the will to make it happen when the next thinning takes place. Meanwhile, we will identify some appropriate spots for seats. If you have suggestions let us know via our email address.

On this very subject, the log seat at the main “crossroads” in the wood that has been stuck in the water for some time (there are rumours as to how this happened!) has been pulled out by your FOW team, who can report that it was very heavy. It took a block and tackle, normally used for lifting car engines, along with much manual encouragement. I’m sure (I hope) that the effort will have been worth it!

My visit today (26 July) – apart for just enjoying the walk – was to look around for places for future seating. But what struck me most on this calm, warm and sunny morning was the number of butterflies about. Last year was a big disappointment, but today – wow! Within a very short space of time I had been treated to a peacock, two small whites, a red admiral, comma, gatekeeper, holly blue and brimstone, and a hornet (not a butterfly! but worth mentioning).

In the past, the buddleia bushes on the southern edge of the camp have been the place to see the “aristocrat” butterflies, especially peacocks, but last year I actually saw none at all. Today, at the first bush I counted (all at the same time) three red admirals, five peacocks and a comma. At the second, seven red admirals and four peacocks. And these were just the ones I could see. What a difference a year makes. Another sunny spot is around the loading bay, where teasels are the main attraction. There I saw, amongst others, a marbled white, and further down the path, a purple hairstreak (I had to look that one up), both firsts for me. As usual I had my camera with me, so here are some of the photos I took.