Not Playing Golf

I decided I needed yet more watercolour paper for a new project, so a visit to a arts and crafts store was required. The nearest one has just closed (sadly after only a year or so, but it was never busy) so I headed to the next nearest in Farnborough.  That urge satisfied, I then sought out another new  to me nature reserve, Southwood Country Park. This one had the added benefit of a cafe!  

When I worked in Farnborough many years ago, we used to come to the pub nearby for lunchtime get-togethers. The site was then a busy golf course, opened in 1976 with 9 holes. It was In extended to an 18-hole course in 1988 and opened with a celebrity match between comedy actors James Bolam and Terry Scott.  The club closed in 2018 and is now a SANG, a protected nature area for the ever growing local population.

Little of the course can now be seen, though I did spot one board warning golfers about to tee off to be aware of "... golfers approaching the 15th green"!

As I made my way back to the car through the grassland meadow, presumably once roughs and fairways, I noticed six-spot burnet moths enjoying the thistles, so one just had to be my shot of the day.

Full disclosure: This specimen had a notch missing from its wing. I used the AI Remove tool in Lightroom to replace it ... it's scary how good these tools are becoming.  However, this image, were it even good enough, would not be accepted in most photo competitions, and apparently organisers now have access to tools that can detect its use whether or not one chooses to add the new "AI Content" metadata.