daytime

Sunday, 1 December 2019

1^st December 2019

Dear All,

It was “Minor Vegetables a” this week at “Just Vegetating” the likes of Scorzonera, Salsify and Hamburg Parsley. I always define them as things you are more likely to find on an allotment than in Tescos but some of them are gradually creeping in. The pool was thankfully back to its normal temperature this week after a couple of chilly sessions.

We have completed two decent walks this week as on Tuesday we were reccying for one we are leading in two weeks time starting from Castle Camps near Haverill. We managed to plot a course avoiding the worst of the muddy fields but some of the paths were very slippery and the grass fields were heavily poached by cattle.

On Thursday we started at Orwell and took in Whaddon and Wimpole Hall where they are spending a deal of money relocating the car park to cater for their 390,000 visitors a year. En route we encountered a field silage clamp and the tractor tyres leading up to the clamp told their own story. We also encountered something that I have never seen before in the form of Slime Mould. It is a primitive saprophytic fungus which uses grass for support and is capable of moving.

Silage Clamp mud

Slime Mould

Wimpole Hall from the Avenue

“Biographies” this week featured “Marco Polo”. The remarkable thing about his travels were that it was so long ago – he travelled the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295 and also that it was recorded in a book. When he returned, he was in the Venetian army fighting their traditional enemy the Genoese. He was captured and imprisoned and passed the time telling stories of his travels. It so happened there was a scribe also incarcerated with him and he wrote the stories down. No one knows how true the stories are!

Banks have been playing up this week. The chapel account at Barclays lost personal details of the signatories and Bob and I had to fill in a sizeable form and actually go to ST Ives with photographic evidence to prove who we were – a couple hours of my life that I won’t get back! Then HSBC the holder of the CEEM account have embarked on a “Safeguard Review” which involved an 8-page document and some probing questions. I haven’t quite finished that yet.

Over’s match at Hemingford was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch so we went to West Wratting to watch a cup semi final v Cambridge University Press. Coming back the road to Bar Hill was closed – a regular feature of the A14 upgrade and we had a 10-mile detour to cover the last mile!

In the evening it was the Christmas market on the Green together with the turning on of the Christmas lights - it is getting close!