Category: Notes from the sticks

COMMENTERS sometimes reminisce about the late TV presenter Jack Hargreaves, so I thought I would recall few of his programmes. I have to admit that I don’t really remember him, … Continue readingGentle Jack, a TV natural

I’VE always been keen on earthworms. As I wrote in a previous article, I am told that as a child I used to wheel them around in a pram meant for … Continue readingWriggle room

IT’S snowdrop time. I think these are amongst the most beautiful flowers, and the message that spring is on the way is so welcome. There are about 20 varieties throughout … Continue readingSnowdrops put a spring in my step

SOME months ago my husband Alan was walking our labrador pup beside the brook which runs behind our house and then through the centre of our village when he got … Continue readingOur little crayfish haven

THIS week my husband Alan heard a great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) drumming. We used to hear and see them quite often in the south London suburbs – they sometimes … Continue readingThe drummer in the woods

ON a walk through the park the other day I saw dozens of blackbirds – every one of them male. Where all the ladies have gone I have no idea. … Continue readingSing a song of blackbirds

IT HAS been a pretty cold winter so far in Lancashire, with night temperatures regularly down to about minus 8 deg C and staying at freezing point during the day. … Continue readingThe year with no summer

WHEN we lived in God’s own county, Essex, more than 30 years ago, we used to see flocks and flocks of lapwings, but I very rarely see them in Lancashire, … Continue readingOur tumbling lapwings

I AM tremendously keen on the British artist Eric Ravilious (1903 – 1942) and as usual I have a calendar of his work above my desk. This month’s picture is … Continue readingHave I got newts for you

I SAW these fresh molehills the other day, which reminded me that I wrote about moles nearly two years ago. There is stuff in the article I had forgotten, so I … Continue readingThe return of Mr Mole