Sadly we found a partially squashed baby grass snake along Coombe Road. This is the time of the year when they hatch out of eggs that are laid in June or July. Hundreds of eggs may be laid in one manure heap, which can give rise to reports of a Read more…
A local bird enthusiast, has had many sightings of the rare and magnificent goshawks in the parish. They have been spotted in Hen Wood, and possibly Coombe Woods and Chappetts Copse. Historically goshawks have had a long history with East Meon. The Bishops of Winchester embraced the sport of hawking Read more…
Sunday 2nd August saw the Hay Harvest completed in a very good time by 20+ volunteers. The hay was well dried, which made it much easier to collect. The hay was sent to Butser Ancient Farm, who were very pleased with the quality. They plan to make one or two Read more…
At 3.00 pm on Sunday 2nd August a working party will be gathering the hay in All Saints churchyard. This is done every year as part of the process to develop a wildflower meadow in the churchyard. You are welcome to join in this work. Please contact Graham Davenport at Read more…
Blackberries are now ready for picking throughout the Parish. These blackberries pictured are at the top of Halnacker Lane and are particularly abundant. Yum yum!
Yes, it is that time of year when the blackberries will soon be ready for picking. The bramble flower nectar is one of the main sources of food for the comma butterfly in the summer months. Blackberries should not be confused with dewberries which are ripe and in the hedgerows Read more…
Lady’s bedstraw is now flowering throughout the parish. It has a wonderful honey like scent. This picture was taken of a great flush of flowers on the footpath from South Farm to the South Downs Way. Flowers of the bedstraw family where often used in the stuffing of mattresses in Read more…
Silver-washed Fritillaries are flying around in the sunny glades in Hen Wood today.
There a some wonderful patches of wild thyme flowering near the top of the path from South Farm to the South Downs Way as the track enters into a sunken section.
Meadowsweet is very fragrant, it has a smell like that of aspirin. This is due to the plant containing salicylic acid, similar to the synthetic acetylsalicylic acid of aspirin. Meadowsweet (filipendula ulmaria) originally had the latin name spirea ulmaria hence the link to the commercial name of ‘aspirin’.