I have been cataloging the trees in the park. It is a long job! I thought you would be interested to hear that we have a surviving elm tree. The story across the UK is that we lost many of the old elms to Dutch Elm disease in the 70s, then some smaller ‘hedgerow’ elms emerged from saplings of that period, only to succumb to the disease in the 90s. It is surprising therefore to find an elm hidden away in this substantial oak tree (just after you have gone down the slope towards the Langley end).

Sadly it is showing signs of the disease in at least one limb, but at this point there is also much healthy foliage. Here is a picture of the characteristic fissured bark and leaf with its asymmetric base.

The park has been full of activity in the summer. Did you see the green woodpecker? There is also a very daring pigeon nesting in a crazy place – I wont tell you where, in case it gets disturbed, but here it is.

Birds of prey have been active too. I suspect this is the sign of a kill. If you are interested in hawks and the like you may enjoy ‘The Peregrine’ by JA Baker, a nature classic that is written with an extraordinarily rich literary style.

Finally, the sci-fi looking Cardoon in the orchard remind me to say that this Saturday 5th August is our next orchard work party. Please come if you can – we start at 10, finish at 12 and have jobs to suit all ages.