Inkpen Crocus Field

Visited March 8th 2018    Best time to visit March – August http://www.bbowt.org.uk/reserves/Inkpen-Crocus-Field

A foray into Berkshire! Advertised on the BBOWT website as ‘Britain’s largest wild display of spring crocuses’  – well, you’ve just got to go and see it.  Preferably on a sunny day when the crocus are opened up and looking their best.

There are 2 pasture fields with millions of them. It’s not the same as a bluebell woodland – there is no mass of colour which can be seen from a distance. Crocuses grow discretely in these fields – you can walk amongst and between them if you really watch your step. It pays to get down to their level – the BBOWT webpage has the best picture:

But I took some half-decent close-ups:

Later on in the Spring and Summer there are wildflowers and butterflies, so a return trip is on the cards.

On a grassy bank surrounded by crocuses I ate my smoked salmon and cucumber sandwiches and worried about their carbon footprint (see New Scientist article below).

How I got there: I caught a train from Oxford to Newbury – and took my bike with me. There were stations that were closer but it looked a nice bike ride from Newbury – about 7 miles along the canal and a quiet Sustrans route.

For those of you who have never taken a bike on a train, here are a few bits of advice:

At the station, don’t struggle with the stairs, use the lift if there is one. If you do have to use stairs (some smaller stations don’t have lifts), remove your panniers before you try to lift your bike. If you don’t fancy carrying your bike, get some help from station staff. The last thing you want to do is fall down stairs whilst carrying a bike.

There are several different ways of storing your bike depending on what sort of train it is.  It pays to ask the station staff what sort of facilities are available, and the best place to stand on the platform. Here’s 2 methods:

The first photo shows my bike hanging by its front wheel off a hook in a special bike compartment – it’s actually quite easy to get it in position using one knee to shove the back wheel from behind. The other shows the only option where there are no facilities. Of course you have to watch out at every station in case the doors open on the side you’ve chosen. And watch out between stations in case your bike falls over.

Sometimes you have to book, and sometimes (like in rush hours on weekdays) you’re not allowed non-folding bikes on trains at all. I always buy my ticket from a human in the ticket office who will give me advice, and try to travel at quiet times. Weekends can be a problem as that’s when most leisure cyclists use the train and there can be too many bikes for the train’s capacity. But often the train staff will use their discretion and allow you on if there’s not too many passengers.

Basically it’s not easy. But it’s worth the hassle to have your bike with you. It was just lovely cycling along the Kennet and Avon canal and Sustrans Route 4….

…so much nicer than driving in a car along the A34 . Here’s where it crosses the canal….

And when you get to the nature reserve there’s always somewhere to park…..

WARNING! to anyone considering taking their bike by train between Reading and Newbury. The line is being electrified so there is a bus replacement service ‘on various weekdays throughout 2018’. Buses don’t take non-folding bikes. Told you it wasn’t easy.

The sandwich problem

Under the heading ‘Why ready-made sandwiches are bad for the climate’ an article in New Scientist has given me pause for thought. It appears that scientists at Manchester University have studied how much greenhouse gas is released from 40 different types of sandwich. The good news is that home-made sandwiches come out better than shop-bought ones. The bad news is that even the least harmful sandwich they studied, ham and cheese, generated 620 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent, THE SAME AS DRIVING A CAR FOR 8 KILOMETRES. That’s FIVE MILES!

Well, I reckon I could make a sandwich which is less harmful than that, by cutting out the meat (the ingredient with the biggest impact apparently) but, even so, it’s disturbing when sandwiches and car travel are compared. For anyone who wants more details the work is in Sustainable Production and Consumption, doi.org/cjt5

Postscript – I’ve just (sort of) read the article and it’s fascinating. Really. BUT it appears that the only home-made sandwich they tested was ham and cheese, but 16 variations of it…..two slices ham, one slice cheese; thick bread, thin bread….etc etc. If anyone has got the time and energy to read this amazing article properly and can give me advice on what home-made sandwich has the smallest carbon footprint equivalent to the smallest number of CAR MILES….please let me know 🙂

More info about the Green Challenge:                         https://sue6665.wordpress.com/about

To support the challenge and donate to BBOWT:              https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/susan-rowe2

To join BBOWT:                                                                                  http://www.bbowt.org.uk/how-you-can-help/join-us

Wells Farm

Visited March 5 2018   Best time to visit: March – November

http://www.bbowt.org.uk/reserves/Wells-Farm 

The Challenge lives on! But differently…..

In the New Green Challenge I aim to go and see BBOWT reserves when they are at their best. Tricky for a reserve like Wells Farm which has different features which are at their best at different times of year eg the overwintered stubbles are at their best during the winter; the woodland and wildflower meadow are at their best in the Spring/Summer. The BBOWT website suggests March to November.

I vowed when I last visited Wells Farm (Feb 19) that I would return soon,  and remember to bring my binoculars.

So…here I am again….complete with bins (see the strap round my neck) and a Corn Bunting sitting on my arm.  I was hoping to see good number of birds on the winter stubbles and field margins sown with wild flowers and grasses. 

This reserve used to be an intensively managed arable farm. It is still a working farm but has incorporated various features to make it more attractive to wildlife, such as over-wintered stubbles and field margins – good in the winter months for birds.

I walked for about 2 miles – I wanted to see the full extent of the reserve – along public footpaths and bridleways that go through the arable fields, not just restricting myself to the much shorter Wildlife Walk which only goes through the wood and pastures.

I managed to see 29 species of bird – an improvement on the 23 I counted last visit without bins. The Rooks were wonderfully noisy in the tree tops – I counted 15 nests which probably have young in them already. And it was a real joy to hear several Skylark giving it their all.

Here’s the 29: Red Kite, Wood Pigeon, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Green Woodpecker, Rook, Skylark, Jackdaw, Crow, Great Tit, Black-Headed Gull, Yellowhammer, Buzzard, Stonechat, Robin, Stock Dove, Dunnock, Wren, Pheasant, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Kestrel, Magpie, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Redwing.

I was really pleased to see the Stonechat – I reckon that was the species I saw last time sitting on the fence but, without optical aids, could not positively identify. Disappointed not to see Corn Bunting or Linnet.

Saw last time but not this time: Song Thrush, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Long-Tailed Tit,  so my Site List is 33 species.

Sandwich this time was Stilton and Cucumber – will try and branch out to something a bit different next time…any suggestions?

I went by bike – it was 20 miles in total from east Oxford and back. It’s so nice to not just ‘go for a bike ride’ but have a place to aim for and a purpose – and somewhere to sit and eat your sandwiches enjoying the beauty of the natural environment. And this reserve is a good distance for a reasonable ride out from Oxford, with pleasant quiet lanes and lovely views of the Chilterns.

Would be really nice if there was a bike rack I could lock my bike to 🙂

Wells Farm, I’ll be back!

More info about the Green Challenge:                         https://sue6665.wordpress.com/about

To support the challenge and donate to BBOWT:  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/susan-rowe2

To join BBOWT:                                                                                    http://www.bbowt.org.uk/how-you-can-help/join-us