Railside

Back to fieldwork today, with our second visit to Conington. After a rather overcast morning, the afternoon turned out to be warm and sunny - but not too excessively hot. Although much of the vegetation was quite parched, some species are thriving in the heat, particularly Soapwort and Greater Knapweed, here growing right at the edge of the East Coast mainline. 

As it approached five o'clock we spotted a van driving onto the site. Despite emails and text messages to Network Rail informing them exactly when and where we'd be, a passing train driver had reported us as possible trespassers. The Network Rail employee who came over to chat to us was very friendly and interested in what we were doing - he'd been watching us for a while and had concluded that we were entirely legit!