Hogweed

Another beautiful autumn day for the second meeting of Langdyke Creative at Swaddywell Pit. A couple of the group were keen to have a guided walk round the site, so four of us spent most of the morning exploring and discussing all manner of things, from the landscapes that John Clare knew via the importance of managing sites to retain habitat mosaics to concepts of wilding. All the talking meant there wasn't much time for photography - I took a few shots of some Hogweed seed heads near the cabin and had a quick photoshoot with a Dark Bush-cricket. 

I then joined other members of the Peterborough Local Group committee for lunch at the Willowbrook Farm cafe, courtesy of the Wildlife Trust. This was a thank you for all our hard work during lockdown. It was lovely to finally see everyone in person, and we had an enjoyable social occasion, which turned into a very useful meeting planning out the future of the group as we finally emerge from the pandemic. I'm stepping down as Chair, but we've decided we don't want to have people with set roles but will work as an equal team, meeting once a month over lunch. We finally wrapped up the conversation about four o'clock and I then headed into the farm shop to buy dinner.

On the way home I stopped briefly at my favourite damson bushes, and was pleased to see that some were still in good conditions. I managed to find enough to make a batch of Damson Gin for the festive season. A good day!