Chase Hill, Ross on Wye

The distinctive profile of the wooded Chase Hill is visible from all of the major roads as you approach Ross on Wye. The summit is the site of an Iron Age hill fort, so the defensible location must always have attracted attention. It is likely that the hill was less wooded in the distant past, but from medieval times it probably looked much as it does today, though the coastal redwoods were added by the Victorians. The wood is owned by the Forestry Commission, and is a popular place for walkers, joggers and those interested in natural history.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

A May landscape

On one of a recent series of unseasonally hot days we visited a number of places in and near the Forest of Dean. A bright blue sky, the absence of cloud and a significant haze encouraged me to point my camera down. A location at the top of one of the ruinous walls of Goodrich Castle near Ross on Wye provided this photograph of an oak tree in a field of wheat, the carefully tended crop contrasting with the pasture, trees and woodland beyond.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100

Interloper barley

Nature is tenacious. The drive to grow, thrive and multiply is central to all living things. In an area of intensive agriculture such as the Fens it is harder than elsewhere for plants and animals to achieve this biological imperative.Where farmers grow wheat a regime of pesticides and herbicides aims to ensure that only the wanted crop grows. Consequently the much-liked poppies that traditionally accompany wheat are few and far between. However, the other day I came across three ears of barley in a green field of wheat. How did they get there? Were they a survival from a previous crop? Is it wild barley? Would they continue to grow and be harvested with the surrounding crop? I'll probably never know, but it was good to see these three stems marring the perfection of the pampered wheat.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10