History

Mature woodland consigned to history because someone planted it on land overlaying a Neolithic causewayed settlement.

This local 'beauty spot' (heaven knows we have few enough of them) is the Gog Magog Downs. It has been the centre of a local furore. Not only was a section of mature woodland felled, but a whole swathe of new woodland that had been funded by local donations - without telling the donors.

The trip out to the Gog's was a bit of an excuse to get the bike out as a precursor to restarting the occasional commute to work (22 miles there and back). I was also interested to see what all the fuss was about.

I can see that if I'd paid for one of the numbered trees I'd be seriously narked, but, in the overall scheme of things it's not that big an area that's gone. In which case, was it going to cause such a huge amount of damage to the overall Neolithic site?

E was out scaring people in Cambridge, dancing with the Gog Magog Molly. Everyone's back now from their various jaunts.

Definitely recommend the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which we saw last night. Highly entertaining, though the humour may be lost on the young (for a change!).