It's the butterfly month

Abby Eaton shows us what we might find if we're lucky in Garston Wood, the RSPB reserve near Sixpenny Handley and Martin Down just back up the A354 towards Salisbury.  (Even I might like a large white if I saw it in such a dramatic shot as Abby's!)

Along with the wonderful butterflies, Garston Wood also has a hill-fort somewhat concealed - look out for big ditches on the left as you go into the wood.

Martin Down is famous for having a good stretch of the massive Bokerley Ditch or Dyke - no one really knows why it was built, though there's some idea it might later have been an attempt to keep the Saxons out.  But there is (or was) also a population of turtle doves - in a copse reached most easily from the car park in Martin village itself, rather than the one on the A354.

​And of course the A354 is mostly on or near the Ackling Dyke, the Roman road that runs from Old Sarum to Badbury Rings near Wimborne.

I just love the atmosphere round here!   All those ancients ... and all that wildlife!