Stump landscape

This week is turning into a Langdyke Week. I started the day with a frosty morning walk with my co-artist-in-residence to catch up and start planning workshops and other events for the coming year. The morning frost made everywhere look beautiful. I was particularly impressed by the micro-landscapes on some old tree stumps, but we also admired some old Ash coppice (possibly laid a long time ago) in a long-established hedge, and found a milestone dated 1929.

The afternoon was spent at a Zoom meeting with the Environment Agency to discuss the impacts of a groundwater treatment scheme on one of the Langdyke reserves. I was surprised at how little detail the application contained, particularly on the impacts of diverting excess rainwater that is slightily acidic into a site that it currently fed by lime-rich springs, which support stoneworts and other key species.

In the evening Pete and I went out to a talk on the archaelogy of the Etton-Maxey gravel working at Helpston Village Hall. The speaker was Ian Meadows, whose reputation attracted a very large crowd - lots of extra seats had to be found! He was erudite and witty, making the whole subject very accessible.The only niggle was that the slides were projected onto a rather small screen, which was very difficult to see!

PS Thanks for all the hearts and stars for my Barn Owl :)