Ramblings, photos and thoughts from the village of Bepton, West Sussex – plus Midhurst, The South Downs, Chichester and surrounding areas.
My children are distraught. My wife says she won’t sleep tonight. And I’m thrilled to bits! It’s Britain’s most venomous spider and we’ve got one living in the shed!
Or maybe there’s more than one! Wah-hah-hah…
I like to leave some apples under the tree for nature to enjoy. Blackbirds and thrushes enjoy a rotting apple, and so does my dog! But yesterday in the autumn sunshine it was the butterflies that were making the most of it. And hundreds of Green Bottle flies too.
Bepton Down is just below The South Downs Way on a north facing slope with stunning views towards Midhurst and beyond. It should be 14 hectares of extraordinary habitat, home to protected species of plants and grasses – and one of the few remaining areas of chalk downland in West Sussex.
Even though Bepton Down has an SSSI status it has been neglected and it is now reverting to a mixture of scrub, wasteland and coarse vegetation. The steady decline of this SSSI has been overseen by Cowdray Estate and regulated by Natural England.
Please help me raise awareness about the decline of Bepton Down by sharing this article.
Thank you.
A big welcome to Andrew and Laura and all their wonderful sheep. Andrew and Laura join us from Locks Farm a few miles along the Downs near Pulborough and it will be lovely to see all their lovely sheep in the fields between Didling and Cocking.
At the weekend I took a trip over to Winkworth Arboretum near Godalming in Surrey. My 9 year old son is becoming a skilled photographer and we decided to head out at dawn to capture the autumn colours in the magic hour!
Winkworth is a fantastic location for autumn colours and this year has to be one of the best autumns for a long time.
Continue reading “Autumn colours”
A starlit autumn night at Severals Wood near Bepton, West Sussex.
Bepton Ranger 