3 April 2007
A warm Spring day attracted an enthusiastic group of 17 adults and 32 children to explore the magical seashore exposed as the tide fell at Helford Passage. Colourful sea anemones, scuttling crabs, wonderfully sculptured shells, delicate worms and skulking shore fish were all discovered to the delight of the young explorers under the guidance of marine biologist, Ruth Williams.
Saturday, 20th February 2010
Starting with a global perspective, Dominic Boothroyd told us that the world’s population of some 6 billion people is expected to rise to over 9 billion over the next 40 years, with the largest increases being in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Such growth will not only require the production of more food but could also increase the demand for protein, including a higher demand for sea food.
Saturday, 11th December 2010
Is that a pin-tailed duck? No, it’s a long-tailed duck. Isn’t that a gannet? No, it’s a black-tailed godwit. We were trying to identify birds on David Chapman’s jumper, knitted by his mother who had produced separate jerseys for different talks. His outdoor gear depended on conditions, one photograph showing military-style camouflaged top and trousers, plus a back-pack to carry a tripod, camera and lenses and a chest-pack containing a portable hide. When erected, the last looked like a camouflaged igloo, just large enough to accommodate David and Adrian Langdon for several hours bird watching at the Walmsley Reserve. His account of that outing was returned by Adrian with the comment that the phrase “the mud came nearly to the top of our wellies” had a typographical error in the final word!
Sunday, 16th May 2010
Despite the unpromising weather – overcast and drizzly, 35 enthusiastic members and friends, including 5 children, gathered in Helford Car Park to meet Caroline Davey, the ‘Fat Hen’ food forager from St Buryan, and Ruth Williams from CWT, to learn about what natural foods can be gleaned from the vicinity of the Helford.
Sunday 20th April 2008
At 6am, in the half light of a slightly misty hut dry morning. 15 persons converged on Goongillings Farm near Constantine to ioin Martin Rule and listen to the dawn chorus. Some of the birds were already in full voice. A wren interrupted its song to tick annoyance at the group and a chaffinch, likewise, gave vent to “spink-spink”. A wood pigeon cooed in the distance, more melodious than the pheasant’s harsh welcome to the new day.
Sunday, 18th April 2010
What a pleasure to be in the open air, ambling gently along the Calamansack road with the blackthorn bushes in full flower and listening to bird song. The sun shone warmly from a cloudless blue sky and a goldfinch popped on to a nearby hedge to greet the 21-strong party with a cheerful tune. Chaffinch and blue tits added to the chorus, a couple of linnets flew over, twittering, and an unseen dunnock gave forth a beautiful melody. As if in contrast, a green woodpecker ‘yaffled’ in the distance. Turning off the road and across pastured fields we had an uncommon view along Polwheveral Creek, with white houses at its head and above them the village of Constantine, dominated by the church, whose bells were ringing out clearly across the valley.
Sunday, 20th June 2010
Gear Farm, the home of the Hosking family since 1933, is the site of a large hillfort, dating back to perhaps 3000 BC, which was the subject of excavations and a TV programme by the BBC’s Time Team in 2001. For this event we had the benefit of two experts, James Gossip from the Cornwall Archaeological Unit (Cornwall Council) and Mary Combe from the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, each assisted by a member of the Hosking family. The group of 43 was divided into two parties, one going with James and the other with Mary and then, after a swap, our experts kindly repeated their tours for the other party.