Tufa barrage

Chris and I made an early start  - aiming to arrive at our Oxfordshire site before nine so that we could undertake all our planned monitoring before it became too hot. This week was Chris's turn to do a long journey, so I had the unusual opportunity to relax on the drive - something I could definitely get used to!

 It was already getting uncomfortably hot by mid-morning, but by then we'd completed the damp grassland monitoring and were able to retreat to the wet woodland, where we found this wonderfully ornate tufa barrage in the stream which runs through it.

By early afternoon we had to emerge into the sunshine again to survey some arable margins, but at least there was a moderate breeze which took the edge off the heat. We were particularly hunting for Wild Pansy which had been recorded once from the site back in 2014 - certainly no sign of it now. But we did find several other rare and local species including Corn Marigold, Corn Mint and Rye-brome.

We'd finished by mid-afternoon and enjoyed glasses of iced water in the quarry office, as well as the use of their very luxurious toilet, before our very smooth and mostly uneventful journey home, Definitely the most upmarket and friendly quarry we get to visit!