Reality check

My journal of the Hampshire countryside couldn’t be complete without this. I’ve had such fun this summer blipping butterflies and wildflowers in the ‘set-aside’ land at the edge of fields and woods and on footpaths and long-distance trails. But round here agri-business and land for housing is really what it’s about!

So this is one of the huge harvesters out today – very much making my point! It’s clearing barley from a piece of agri land that is designated for housing and those enormous wheels have smashed tracks through the seeding wildflowers. Not that I blame the drivers – they have a hard, hot, long job to do, working from around 7am until after dark, getting in the harvest. We should be grateful to them.

Just let’s hope our tiny fragile wilderness areas can survive xx

PS a box of Weetibix to the first person to spot the pigeon