Day Moth

Summer Cep

This tea plate sized Summer Cep or Boletus reticulatus has gone over, but the shape of things to come? Possibly!

Hazel nuts

Cherry Plums

3kg of Cherry Plums picked in 10 mins and plenty more available. Cherry Plum or Prunus cerasifera Wild trees can be large or small reaching 6-15 meters tall, one of the first European trees to flower in spring, often starting in mid-February, it is easily spotted. The flowers are white with five petals and the fruit is drupe 2 or 3 cm in diameter and are yellow through to red in colour ready to eat from early July. A welcome early harvest.

East Man towards Seacombe

Black Crowes

The Black Crowes put on a spectacular show at Shepherds Bush Empire today. Two sets, each an hour and a half, one more acoustic, one rocking it out, both played note perfect and with passion, culminating in the legendary Jimmy Page joining the Crowes on stage for the encore. The band appeared to be enjoying their performance as much as the euphoric crowd were and the three hours passed blissfully, albeit far too swiftly. A memorable night and no mistake.

Hod Hill

Hambledon Hill

Oak

Rowan

The berries on the Rowans are ripening fast, only a few days ago they were yellow and hard, newly formed, now they're rosey red and add colour amongst the woodland greens.

Hod Hill

From the high ramparts of Hod Hill the adjacent Hambldon Hill stands steadfast against the windy onslaught, ominous clouds streaked across an azure sky, releasing frequent blasts of summer sunlight bathing the rolling hills. Both hills are steeped in history. The first traces of human activity on Hambledon Hill are the faint sections of shallow ditch which represent a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, a communal site used by surrounding farmsteads and small communities for ritual activities, gatherings, feasting and in this case excarnation prior to deposition in communal chambered burial mounds. Later barrows crown the summit, memorials to local dignitaries and finally the multi ramparted Iron Age Hillfort. They say that it's the hill which the Grand Old Duke of York marched his 10,000 men in preparation for the attack on Quebec. Hod Hill too wears a multi ramparted hillfort as a crown, this one attacked by the Romans after the invasion of AD43; once the inhabitants were subjugated the Romans remodelled one corner of the Iron Age fort into a square Roman style cavalry fort, the earthworks of which are clearly visible.