Ramblings, photos and thoughts from the village of Bepton, West Sussex – plus Midhurst, The South Downs, Chichester and surrounding areas.
Some awesome drone photos of Bepton, by the incredibly talented team at From the Air Property — everything looks so different when viewed from above! Thank you John and Paulina for sharing these fabulous photos 🚁📷.
Seen from the air, you realise just how dry and hot it’s been recently. And just how spread out everything is, and how lucky we are to be surrounded by so many trees and hedgerows.
This year we’ve seen some pretty impressive displays of bluebells. I’ve been told that the wet winter and spring has helped to produce lots of healthy plants, and that the lack of rain over the last few weeks has created the perfect finish. Bluebells aren’t very sturdy plants, and the heavy showers that we might normally expect in April usually make them collapse.
I’m sharing this video of Bepton Church and some little lambs to encourage people not to travel to the South Downs this weekend. Please stay at home and enjoy the view on YouTube instead!
Please read this blog and I’ll explain JUST HOW BAD the situation has become on Bepton Down – and why I believe that Cowdray Estate and Natural England are jointly responsible for the decline of one of Britain’s last remaining areas of Chalk Grassland.
The end of the day is when the owls and the badgers, and the creatures of the night are beginning to stir. Be aware. You are being watched…
Continue reading “Ever had that eerie feeling that you’re being watched?”
They’re one of my favourite moths, and if you’ve ever seen one you’ll know exactly why they get their name. In fact, they look and behave so much like their feathered namesake that every year the RSPB get phone calls from worried members of the public reporting that they’ve seen escaped Hummingbirds!
Continue reading “I planted Red Valerian to attract Hummingbird Hawk Moths to the garden…”
This map shows the scale of the proposed quarry on the edge of Midhurst. The proposed location is marked in red, Midhurst is in blue. It’s a vast area, right on the edge of town.
Continue reading “Proposed Sand Quarry at Severals Woods, near Midhurst”
This really is a horrible sight. This is what happens when a deer traps a leg between the top two wires of a stock fence. It leads to the slow, painful and agonising death of the deer. It’s upsetting to see – especially when (like this) it happens twice in a week. But worst of all, it’s totally avoidable. Let me explain why.
Continue reading “Deer with leg trapped in top of barbed wire fence”
This foggy view isn’t unusual over Midhurst and the Rother Valley. It’s a temperature inversion in the atmosphere. As air rises it normally gets colder, but if the temperature is only a couple of °C and there’s no breeze and clear skies, the reverse can happen and the air nearest to the ground gets stuck there – trapped under a layer of warmer air above it.
Another magical autumn morning on The South Downs.
Bepton Ranger 