Surviving A Hot Day

What a difference a day makes!  After the sunny but chilly/breezy day yesterday, today (Sunday) was quite hot!  Our camping area had a lot of shade in the morning but nothing in the afternoon so staying cool was a challenge, especially for Dolly who sadly always has to keep on her fur coat!  She seemed to like the little shelter I made for her under the table!  We also found another shady spot a little later by the fishing lake.  

We enjoyed a walk in the cooler evening and did a circular walk, following the Oxfordshire Way for part of it, which was just up the hill above the campsite.  The views from the top over the Thames valley were lovely.  We enjoyed the curious sheep too.  I always wonder what they make of Dolly who looks very much like a little lamb.  

The clump of trees in the top right picture may look like any old clump of trees but don't let them fool you!  If you were able to see them from the air you would see that they are in fact 60 trees planted in the shape of a Victoria Cross.  No one seems to know for sure what their history is but one website  (with an aerial picture) says:

"..Research by project volunteers have concluded that the most probable is that the 60 trees were planted in the shape of a victoria cross to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897 when she celebrated 60 years on the throne."

More information and a photograph from 1945 is given on this website.

Although I had not seen it from the air, one of the other campers told me about it, and I realise I had seen it when I had looked at Google Maps satellite view before I had arrived, so I was eager to go walk there.  If I had not learned about it ahead of time, I would not have realised what I was walking through.  

A few metres away from this mature planting of trees, I saw some younger trees which looked strange to me as some of them were planted very close together with lines going off at angles.  Only when I researched the 'Victoria Cross' did I realise what I had seen - trees planted in the shape of two national flags (Swiss and Australian) to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  These trees are planted on land owned by Swiss multi-millionaire Urs Schwarzenbach and Francesca, his Australian wife.  You can see some of these younger trees in the background of the picture of Dolly posing on the 'woodland furniture'.