King's Dyke brickworks

A day of contrasts. The morning was spent catching up with administration, data entry and washing, which accumulates far too quickly in summer!

Then it was off to Grimsthorpe Castle near Bourne for an afternoon of botanising with the local group. We had special permission to drive into this very large site, which has extensive areas of parkland with ancient oaks, as well as areas of species-rich limestone grassland with a small population of the endemic Early Gentian Gentianella anglica. However, the highlight for me was discovering a good population of Round-fruited Rush Juncus compressus, a very local species that had not been recorded there before. The weather became surprisingly warm and we were all fairly exhausted by the time we left just before 6pm.

Then it was time to eat and identify a few specimens before heading out to King's Dyke NR to hunt for a rare moth that eats Wood Small-reed. The reserve is a disused brick-pit and this is an i-phone view of the adjacent brickworks at dusk. The quality is pretty poor but it gives you an impression of the scale of the operation. Peterborough used to have many brickworks, but now there are just two left, both near Whittlesey. It was quite exciting walking around in the dark - smells and sounds are intensified. I think I could find my way round the reserve by smell now - especially where there are Purple Willows (very salicylic) and Sweet-briars (crushed apple)! I think the trip will be repeated, and next time I may even take my camera, if there's someone to carry the tripod for me!