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The Tisbury and District Natural History society invites its members and guests to a screening of the film 'Six Inches of Soil' on the 7th of November at 6pm.
This is the inspiring story of British farmers standing up against the industrial food system and transforming the way they produce food - to heal the soil, benefit our health and provide for local communities. The screening will start at 6pm and the doors and bar will open 30 minutes before. Attendants are welcome to stay at the end for a discussion. This film screening is part of the film programme of the Tisbury and District Natural History Society, with three screenings per year, in November, January and March. This film has been suggested by several of our members, suggestions for future screenings are always welcome. Films will be free this winter for members and £2 for non-members. All welcome.
On 14 November we have an alteration to the programme and Robin Leach will be giving his talk "Wylye Valley Farmer Cluster: monitoring rivers" as Tom Slocombe is unable to be with us on that date. Please see the amended programme on the Talks & Films page.
Photos: Debbie & Andrew Carter
Andrew Graham is leading a field trip to Rushmore Park on Saturday 21st September starting from the Rushmore Golf Club car park at 10.00 am. It will be an autumnal walk through the woods which spread out near the Golf Club. We will be looking to see how many different fungi we can find in this ancient semi-natural woodland. We will not be able to take any home. No dogs. Meet at the Nadder Centre car park for 9:30am departure so that we can car share. Please let us know whether you will be joining us at the Nadder Centre or driving there direct. Anticipated end time: Concluding at 12:30 at Rushmore with return to Nadder Centre by 1pm. One evening last week Esther and Matthew Phillips kindly showed us around their nature reserve which they started two and half years ago when they moved to Swallowcliffe.
With a torrential downpour half an hour before we arrived we were fortunate that the sun came out and the warmth returned. As we gathered, we were shown two occupied Housemartin nests under the eaves as well as a very active Hornets' nest further along. Although Hornets are not aggressive and rarely sting they often cause problems in roof spaces by chewing plasterboard and roofing felt! Esther and Matthew are members of The Wiltshire Small Rewilders. It is a volunteer-run network providing support and knowledge sharing for small rewilding projects (of up to 50 acres) across Wiltshire and the surrounding area. One of the founders is Jonathan Thompson who is well known to our society. Esther and Philip have planted about twenty native trees in their first winter and have steadily increased the number of differing habitats for wildlife, with extensive swathes of grasses - home to two deer which happily spend most of their days in the reserve, and a perfect home for small mammals such as field voles which attract bird of prey. There are perches provided for them, an important detail as there aren't many large trees around the field. Also, they created an additional dewpond which will take a couple of years to become fully established but is already attracting more bird life. With vines, soft fruit, a forest garden and plenty of space to grow vegetables the Phillips are developing a reserve which will also support their enthusiasm for sustainable living. Our Chair especially enjoyed sampling a Szechuan pepper, with a lovely tangy long lasting flavour! We were invited in for refreshments at the end of the evening and had a lovely time chatting and seeing photos of the reserve taken during the spring and summer when it was awash with colour. As autumn approaches so trees and shrubs start to bear fruit and nuts. Chestnuts are marvellous in all kinds of recipes or simply roasted. These tasty nuts come from the sweet chestnut tree, a relative of the beech, and not to be confused with the horse chestnut, to which it is only distantly related. The latter is the one with large hand-shaped leaves, made up of up to seven leaflets, and which produces conkers from its showy-white candle-like flowers. The sweet chestnut, in contrast, has single spear-shaped leaves with serrated edges and less showy but often profuse flowers, which insects love. Both chestnut species have spiny cases in which the nuts develop. The spines of the sweet chestnut are more numerous and smaller than those of the horse chestnut.
Both species originate from hotter climates around the Mediterranean and have been introduced to this country. Sweet chestnuts were eaten by the Romans, but it is uncertain if the tree was cultivated here. The ones we can buy in the shops around Christmas are mostly imported. Nonetheless, the numerous small nuts our trees produce provide food for woodland creatures. Sweet chestnut trees only became common in this country in the Middle Ages, when they were exploited for its timber. It grows best in the south and east of England and is particularly well-suited for coppicing. The harvested stems are used for hop poles, furniture, charcoal, and fencing. The strong timber splits easily for use in wonderfully rustic and characterful cleft pale fences associated with Sussex and Kent. Sweet chestnut wood is essential to the construction of the distinctive Sussex trug, or gardening basket. Sweet chestnuts can live for hundreds of years and grow to a great size. Ancient coppice stools can grow to look more like a small copse. As a maiden tree ages, the bark develops a network of diagonal fissures which spiral around the trunk. This can make them look as if a giant has grabbed the tree and given it a vicious twist. Veteran, stag-headed, specimens can end up contorted into sinister shapes, like the stunted one in the field south of Old Wardour Lake. If you want to see some splendid sweet chestnuts, take a walk up the drive to Stourhead House where there are several ancient monsters with girths of up to 8 metres. Andrew Graham |
Photo: Avocets (Izzy Fry)
The headers display photos taken by our members. Do get in touch via the Contact Form if you'd like to submit a photo for selection.
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