Latest news

Buttercups, Martins and Yellow RattleBy Rob Rowe (May 2020) Swallows and House martins seem to have been scarcer than ever this year, so suddenly, for the first time, to be surrounded by them is a pure joy 30, 40, 50 of them swooping low above the grass and flinging...

Spring vergesBy Rob Rowe (May 2020) Some of the road verges around Bishops Castle have been looking great this spring. Travelling a couple of miles away on my bike I saw this group of Dusky cranesbill straddling the border near Sned. Not really a native of the UK it...

Notes from the HillBy Simon Cooter and the Natural England staff at Rigmoreoak (April 2020) Following current Covid-19 guidance, the rights of way on the Stiperstones National Nature Reserve can be used by local people for exercise, but dogs must be kept on leads at...

ElmBy Rob Rowe (April 2020) This time of year is Spring greens time and trees are among my favourite food particularly the young buds and leaves of beech and lime. However the very best to my taste buds is elm. The seeds not the leaves. Many people are really...

Alder WoodBy Rob Rowe (April 2020) Somehow with each visit the wood expands. With each crossing and recrossing it divides into more and more parts. The sum of the parts  larger than the whole. Synergistic magic. A fallen log becomes a fungal world. A dead standing...

7 fungiBy Rob Rowe (April 2020) Many of these bracket fungi are tough perennials. They will survive for several years and grow a new ring each year. Others are still quite tough and leathery but only last for one season. Some fungi are very specific to which tree they...

Startled!By Rob Rowe (March 2020) I am startled by a pair of mallards rising from the river directly below me, as I flush them into panicked flight. Lifting me too, from inward thought, to where I stand below the silent rookery. Why their absence? A solitary raven...

CrinoidBy Rob Rowe (March 2020) Sitting on the bare soil under the oak tree are two similar objects. Superficially similar in size and shape. Both oval and about three inches long. One an owl pellet; brown like bran, rain-washed to reveal the protruding mass of tiny...

Woodland training a great successBy Gary Cowell (March 2020) Volunteer, Knighton Community Woodland Group We are pleased to announce that our Introduction to Woodland Management training course has been a great success, even though the last day had to be postponed due...