… a review of 2020’s species list
by Ian Bushell
Continue reading “On the sixth day of Christmas”On the sixth day of Christmas
On the fifth day of Christmas…..
…we are foregoing the five gold rings and sending you, instead, five of Clive Knight’s pictures of the park’s Christmas floodwaters.
Flea circus part 3
by Barbara Johnson
After reading how chemicals used in flea treatment can damage and pollute our waterways, I asked a vet for information and asked if he could suggest an alternative flea treatment.
Continue reading “Flea circus part 3”Nature Prescriptions
By David Feather
What would you say if you went to see your GP because you were feeling a bit down and was told to get out into a green space like Southwick Country Park? I ask because a number of GP practices in Scotland are doing just that.
Continue reading “Nature Prescriptions”DKG
We are saddened to announce the loss of DKG, our gifted in-house photographer; David Keith Galliers died peacefully at home after a short illness.
We will miss his dry sense of humour, his kindness and his hard-working enthusiasm for the park, which he recorded for us in all its seasons and moods. His obsession with early morning light has left us some truly unforgettable images.
Our heartfelt condolences go to his family.
More handbrake turns
These are photographs taken last weekend, early on Sunday morning. Whoever it is who is churning up our car park does it on Saturday night; if you know him or her please ask them to stop. Please tell them that our poor car park’s surface is not tarmac, it is rolled planings, and will not last long under such treatment.
Thank you.
The last work party before lockdown
Yesterday was FoSCP’s last work party in the park until after this period of lockdown ends. If all goes well, we will next meet on Wednesday, 9th December.
Park users, if you see that there is something to be fixed or damage to be mended, please contact us and we will do our best.
Another month’s lockdown.
All non-essential services closed, reduced travel, households no longer able to meet indoors or in their gardens: this is the new lockdown.
Updated 10.45am
Continue reading
Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act of 1953
After yesterday’s post about dog attacks on a neighbouring farmer’s sheep, we were told of dogs chasing the horses in the field beyond the stile at Puddle Corner. If your dog chases livestock, you are committing an offence; read on for a précis of the Dogs (protection of Livestock) Act of 1953.
Read onSheep worrying
Is your dog a sheep worrier?
A neighbouring farmer has reported that a dog chased and injured his sheep on two separate occasions last week. He reported both incidents to the police, who believe that it was probably an off-leash dog from the park.
Continue reading “Sheep worrying”Handbrake turns
Please, don’t do handbrake turns in our car park!
Continue reading “Handbrake turns”Thanks!
Over the weekend, the grass was cut and baled in all the park’s fields except Village Green. Unfortunately, in Cornfield, the fence around the Lone Oak was damaged by the farm machinery as it turned.
Continue reading “Thanks!”Blackberry and apple jam
The park is full of ripening blackberries, all free from the contaminants of vehicle exhaust. Here is a recipe for blackberry and apple jam.
Continue reading “Blackberry and apple jam”Feedback
During lockdown, we noticed more families walking in the park: excited children and their parents, and sometimes grandparents, all eager to get out of the house and take their permitted exercise in our springtime park. As lockdown has eased, the families have stayed; all summer, there have been socially distanced picnickers under the trees and home-schooled children racing wildly through the fields and woods, sometimes with our downloadable activity sheets in their hands.
Continue reading “Feedback”
Q&A
Question from Tom Martin:
Found this on the pavement near my house. Do you know what it is?
Litter Pickers Inc.
Newspapers, online and off, have been bombarding us with headlines like this one from the Guardian:
Littering epidemic in England
We would just like to say: Not in our park, there isn’t; our park is pristine. Our park goers pick up their litter (and often other people’s litter as well) and put it in the bins.
Thank you.
Pictures by DKG
Wasp woodwork
Wasps have stripped wood from the fence in the picnic area, leaving light-coloured lines on the weathered grey boards. All British social wasps make their nests out of paper and they make the paper out of wood fibres and saliva.
Continue readingResurfacing the car park
You may have noticed the enormous heap of road-planings that spent a while in the far corner of the car park taking up several parking spaces.
Last week they were used to resurface the main car park, to establish a paved track through the bottom of the Arboretum where the rubbish lorry turns, and to fill some of our muddiest patches.
The car park had to be closed for a few days because the weather was too hot for the planings to harden properly. Thank you for your patience.
Hopefully, the new surface will see us safely through the coming winter.
Pictures taken in the park by Simon Knight.
Exhibition
A message from Tessa Slack, the Bookings Coordinator at Trowbridge Town Hall, to all the park’s many photographers, artists, poets and musicians.
Continue reading “Exhibition”New bins!
A dozen new rubbish bins have been installed in the park.
Continue reading “New bins!”Lost!
Message from Becky Lou: Someone’s little Piglet found at the park today, he hung on but no one returned so he’s being looked after… Get in touch if he’s yours.
The Big Butterfly Count
The Big Butterfly Count began yesterday and will run until Sunday August 9th. Join in and help Butterfly Conservation monitor the health of Britain’s Lepidoptera. Spend just 15 minutes in the park, your garden, a field or wood, counting the common butterflies you see.
Continue reading “The Big Butterfly Count”Metal detectors
Wiltshire Council policy on metal detecting
Wiltshire Council does not allow metal detecting by the public on land it owns for the following reasons:
- Much of the countryside owned by Wiltshire Council is let to third parties, usually for agriculture
- Were metal detecting/digging by permit allowed in public open spaces it may encourage non-permit holders to detect or dig
- The council could be left with diggings and unfilled hollows making it unsafe for livestock, farm machinery and, if on public open space, the public
- There could be damage to sites and features of interest, including archaeology, vegetation and wildlife habitats.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 