9: Claverton Down, Bath
With sciatica I have had to curtail walking and cycling hundreds of miles as I used to. I have even had to give
up local and BBS surveys. I now let nature come to me instead of chasing it.
Sitting in the shade I look north to a Beech wood at the top of Widcombe Hill from which I can watch and hear:
Tawny Owl, Nuthatch, Raven, Buzzard, Goldfinch, Sparrowhawk, both our common woodpeckers, Song
Thrush, Chiffchaff and Blackcap. The Peregrines sometimes cruise up from St John’s in Bath and I saw a Red
Kite three times last month. Swallows line the wires and Swifts chase insects in thundery weather.
We are elevated like Lansdown, so get snow and high winds but in a good summer the breeze is welcome.
Mine is a mobile home so I have made a shingle garden with rock plants which attract bees. My favourite is a
leaf-cutter called Megachile. Its Indonesian cousin is the biggest bee in the world. Not so mine. It makes nests
in flower pots and stone walls and it is fascinating to watch it navigate and then dig holes like a terrier dog.
Salisbury Plain attracts military aircraft and there is a steady march of airliners between Europe and America
above the thermalling raptors.
This picture was painted by Dave French to illustrate a lecture he gave to his U3A History group in Bath on the subject of early
Monasteries. Dave modestly says that he makes cards from time to time for the amusement of friends and relatives. We thought it was
worth sharing.
Dave ‘Tiny’ French
