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Bat attack
You can’t beat a melodramatic title. In truth, nothing was attacked and the bat in question has been safely released into the wild. That said, today has not been without incident. It was a grim morning, but by the time I had got up and done the worst of today’s work, it was looking a… Continue reading
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And still more clearing…
The blackcock has moved house into the windbreak above the farm buildings… The same windbreak that I have been busily felling. The shepherd has heard him calling at last light from the surviving hemlock trees, and it now seems silly to carry on knocking down the little wood that he calls home. While he continues… Continue reading
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Sorting out the rushes
The Chayne is a wet hillside. No one has made any attempt to drain the land for the past seventy years, and now even the inbye fields are filling up with wet patches, moss and rushes. The hayfield runs with water all winter, and three or four good quality fields have become totally choked with… Continue reading
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Unnecessarily confusing birds
I must admit that my self proclaimed mastery of British ornithology has recently been called into question. Usually, I can happily identify the majority of our bird species with the slightest glimpse or whistle, but I have recently been struggling with three birds who are effectively interchangeable. They belong to an avian family which is… Continue reading
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Feeding the ferrets
My ferrets are quite the most charming little beasts I have ever come across. Perhaps it is the same defensive pride a parent feels as their yowling child tears down a curtain and jabs a plastic knife into a passing teacher, but as far as I am concerned, they can do no wrong. One thing… Continue reading
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Oh! Rowan tree!
I have been forced to learn a great deal about trees throughout this project. Not that that has been a hardship. I now find them absolutely fascinating, and most of my spare cash is spent sampling trees from a variety of wholesalers up and down the country. The iconic tree for black grouse is silver… Continue reading
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Flushed!
We are now ten days into the black grouse shooting season, and although it will be a few years before I carry a shotgun to the birds on the Chayne, I am constantly reminded that they are classic “gamebirds”, flying strongly and with a will. I have been doing some bits and pieces in the… Continue reading
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Woodpigeon on the doorstep
Having recently moved house (to a new place less than twenty minutes from the old), I have been doing a little research into my new neighbourhood. One of the most striking bonuses to the new house is the fact that it is now less than six miles to the Chayne, whereas before the twenty five… Continue reading
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DESTRUCTION
Every little boy dreams of swinging a wrecking ball through a school or gymnasium. Well, at least I did. There is something innately appealing to men of all ages about really wrecking something, or, in scots vernacular “getting in amongst” it. Rockstars throw televisions out of hotel windows, pensioners put cats in bins and I… Continue reading
About
“Shout on, Morgan. You’ll be nothing tomorrow”
Swn y galon fach yn torri, 1952
Also at: https://andtheyellowale.substack.com
Bog Myrtle & Peat 