God's wild acre

We've had friends staying and been showing them some of the delights of the Chilterns, including one of my favourite villages, The Lee. After a wonderful lunch at the Cock and Rabbit we explored the church yard and found the grave of my great friend and wildlife mentor, the ornithologist and conservationist Susan Cowdy. Susan spent many years persuading the church warden to stop keeping the area so tidy and to give some of the special wild flowers the chance to spread. I had a fear that once she passed away the old regular mowing practice might return. but clearly she is just as persuasive now as she always was. It was so pleasing to find lots of Devil's-bit Scabious in flower, including this plant doing well on her own grave.