Chris and I managed a short walk and finished up at Harley Equestrian. As the name suggests it is a retail outlet for all things horsey. We do possess a clothes horse but basically we have no need for tack, neatsfoot oil, jodhpurs or any of the other curious items available. No, we were there for the rather good café.
En route I couldn't resist photographing a Lawson's Cypress Chamaecyparis lawsoniana. The prefix chamae means 'low' but in fact this genus can produce some impressive trees up to 45 metres high. The specimen I looked at was quite a modest tree, though very graceful and enhanced by the lovely claret male cones. It deserves a place in any reasonably large garden.
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Lawson's Cypress, showing the male cones.
Byfield, 29 February, 2020
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Our stroll produced little to get over-excited about and a cluster of Jelly Ears on a dead elder branch was about the only highlight. This fungus, Auricularia auricula-judae, was once known as Jew's Ear and of course the Latin name means precisely that, but the name Jelly Ear is now, for obvious reasons, preferred.
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| Jelly Ear on dead elder |
The fungus is, within my experience,confined to elder and its Latin name may refer to the tradition that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from this tree although I know of no evidence to give credence to this story.
Our short walk took us to a bridge overlooking the railway line which once ran from Towcester to Byfield and on to Stratford on Avon. The line at this point ran through a very fine cutting, now a nature reserve. The flora and fauna, particularly the insect life, is rich and Chris and I are resolved to take a closer look in a couple of months.
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More was present lower on the tree. Near Woodford Halse,
29 February, 2020
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This cutting, on the line to Byfield, supports a rich array of wildlife.
29 February, 2020
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At least it will give us an excuse for coffee and cakes.
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