22nd November 2020

 

Dear All,

First the wildlife news. On Wednesday our not very sociable neighbour phoned to say there was a large heap of soil on her path which appeared to have come from under our bike shed. On investigation there was a large hollowed out hole which could have been dug by a badger – we had already spotted a typical badger toilet in the garden. We blocked the entrance with brick and so far, no more action. The mouse count reached six this week and the beans seem to be winning! On our Thursday walk we saw the largest flock of Lapwings I have ever seen – several hundred and they are supposed to be coming rarer. And I had a photo of a Muntjac Deer published in the Cambridge News this week.

 

 

Muntjac Deer

 

We had a trip to Hinchingbrooke Hospital on Tuesday to fetch the personal effects of Lorna, the lady who recently had her spleen removed and was in no condition to collect everything when transported home. The security system was impressive but Kate did manage to get in and out!

 I had my third lockdown visit to the dentist on Wednesday having chipped a tooth, I had waited five days for an appointment, the dentist examined the tooth and agreed that it needed to be refilled “but I cannot do it now” – why the surgery was empty? I have to return in 12 days – good job it isn’t hurting. Oh, and the price has gone up 30% since last month!

We decided to travel to Ramsey for our Thursday walk which was interesting because we do not know it very well. We began by walking through Bury Fen which is typical flat, fertile black soil with excellent rape, beet and wheat crops but not scenically fascinating and there was drizzle in the air. The route we planned had sections between paths on farm tracks which were unfortunately labelled “Private No Entry” but we decided to risk it as retracing our steps would not have helped much, anyway if stopped we could always have given false names e.g. “Graham & Mary Brown!”. The path back was prettier and the sun was shining. We came across “Ramsey Rural Museum” on the outskirts of the town and although it was closed, we could wander round the outdoor exhibits which were mostly old farm machinery. We then spotted a sign “To the Walled Garden” which we followed not expecting to get in but the gate was opened as there was a course taking place and a kindly lady volunteer showed us round. The garden was attached to Ramsey Abbey which was once in the top three most important in the UK and was restored in 2010. It is not currently in peak condition due to lockdown restricting the work of volunteers but still interesting to see. We completed our walk via the old Abbey gates and the deserted golf course.

 

 

Bury Fen

 

 

Potato Harvesting

 

 

Rural Museum

 

 

Horse drawn Fen Press

 

 

 

Abbey Walled Garden

 

Walled Garden Glasshouse

 

 

Ramsey Abbey Pond

 

 

Period House

 

 

Abbey Inner gateway

The “Biographies” topic this week was “Perkin Warbeck” He was a pretender to the English throne. Warbeck claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". He was championed by various groups who wanted to replace the unpopular Henry VII but was eventually captured and hung.

 

 

Perkin Warbeck

 

With love

Mike & Kate