Aliens and Sojourners

This is my alien Echium pininana sp. The silver thing in the front is just a  cut up crisp packet on a stick to frighten pigeons,. My Alien has a sparse midriff caused by winter damage. The cane is 6'high so you can see how far my Triffid has grown , its an alien because its not a native species. Its is not an I.A.S( Invasive Alien Species) because it rarely survives a North Yorkshire winter, and although hundreds of seedlings could  come from the seed of this one plant, they are so easily spotted and removed . 

Impatiens f. By River Hertford

 I have twice been in a group visit to nearby Flixton Carr with Tim Burkinshaw  of the Carrs Wetland Project . Here he explained how Impatiens glandiflera is now an I.A.S and it is being removed from the banks of the River Hertford as part of their Conservation Work , as it taking over from all the native Species.
Impatiens f is my favourite example of Seed Dispersal . I have picked the plant  for years to equip class after class of Children with a great example of ballistic dispersal . (Great maths too).The seeds may explode out across from the plant 23feet . 

Land  management these days is beginning to catch up with Good Practice in the light of mistakes made in generations before.   Hedges were removed across our agricultural land in the 1950s and 60s as fields were merged to increase  the food supply in Post War Britain . 60 years later costly remedial schemes and set aside grants , and hasty schemes and   long term schemes of enthusiastic professionals and Nature Conservancy groups  try to repair the biosystems.

R Hertford 

 . I remember my father talking about it when I was a child, as we drove frequently from Sutton village across Holderness to  friends in Skeffling.
 We'll rue the day ' He used to say ,
 and he was right.  My sisters and I recall passing through the villages of Preston, Keyingham  and Patrington being told each time the changes that were observed. '
So what about aliens ? Who decides what is a good alien or an IAS? Obvious species like Japanese Knotweed can grow through Concrete and damage foundations, and yet was introduced as an Ornamental by our passionate Victorian Plant hunters . I can call it  an undesirable alien .

Ive just been down Queen Street and checked to see if the removal of the Japanese Knotweed has been successful . Judge for yourself! ..>>>>>>>>>>>>



Gardeners all over Britain are growing  or trying to grow to an inflorescence of the Giant Vipers Bugloss Echium pininana.  Bees love it and one flower spike can last throughout the summer . I want to conserve bees, who I understand are also a threatened species. Echiums are great for this. Am I worried that my alien species will take over Filey ? Am I worried that in 100 years time they will be serious problem because Global warming has meant that all seedlings are likely to survive a Filey Winter? I am thinking about it responsibly. 

Here is a little sojourner for you . This Aquilegia is growing in a crack in Sandhill lane by the iron  bridge to St Oswalds and the Country Park . I give it 2 weeks before the SBC team are out with their weedkiller.

A trip to town

At long last there is semblance of order as one enters the Capital from the comfort of the Flying Scotsman. It certainly looks better now the hoardings have been removed ,and all the misleading signs telling one to go this way .

I love walking into the Euston Road, re-acclimatizing myself with its sense of the Tower of Babel and Hull Fair mixed with a football crowd.

The new Concourse at Kings Cross

I walked to Gower Street to get the 14 bus direct to Putney and the familiar  home ground from my barefoot and beads days, when Laura Ashley and Biba were fresh and new and just a tube ride from home. I rarely take the tube these days, when my Old Lady Bus pass lets me ride around London enjoying all the latest fashions and trends from the top of the bus. The latest trend is SCOOTERS, Toddlers , infants, schoolchildren and their parents travel on the bus with them , get off and ride them.

Tribes of Israel encamped at Mount Sinai by Alan Sorrell 

I have long treasured my RSV with Alan Sorrell illustrations. It's dropping to bits now , but I love the reconstructions of Biblical Places. I have other books illustrated by him too, from my days of teaching Prehistory. The exhibition of Sorrell's Art at the quirky Sir John Soane Museum  was a real didactic pleasure. Those who love woodcuts, Eric Ravilous and the work of Mark Heald would have loved the draughtsman's skill in the work of Alan Sorrell. I've got the book now so can make my lovely visit last and last.

I had forgotten too just how interesting was Rumpole of the Bailey land. 

I enjoyed brunch with the boys at the Fleet River Bakery  then walked with them to be shown Persephone Books in Lamb's Conduit Street, yet another feast , and subject of a blog post  penned by my son in law . I don't know whether I dare tell him that Persephone books features too in the Middle Class Handbook. 

Before tripping back to Putney with the Bus Pass I said farewell to the boys and went in the back door of the British Museum to have a quick look at the Starr Carr exhibits, then exit through the glorious front door. (NB Vikings Exhibition coming up v soon). 

Oh there's nothing so good as a bit of Bloomsbury for me .

Starr Carr and Miss Witherington (Ripon 1966) and Ivy Drayton (Wandsworth 1969)

Thanks to the Guardian10 08 2010and Lorne Campbell for this picture of the Starr Carr House

Disc Barrow Winterbourne Stoke Group 1971

Colin shouted at me to come and watch the BBC news this morning , but it was the words Starr Carr which made me dash to watch. Within 5 minutes I had texted my  prehistory loving sister in Cheshire, planned a  trip to the site, planned a a revisit to the finds of the 1949 dig in the BM and recalled in a flash Miss Witherington.

When I decided to do Prehistory at College as a  second subject diversion from the lab , where I spent hours looking down Microscopes and staining things with Delafields Haematoxylin, Miss Witherington , our lecturer on Prehistory was in love with her subject. She passed on to me a yearning to know all I could about the  round barrows , long barrows, enclosures, and cup and ring marks in any area where I set my feet for more than a day. Thanks to her, I did courses on the sites of Anatolia- and all sites within reach of Wandsworth with  Ivy Drayton , another wonderful  teacher and an inspirational encourager. With Miss Witherington I did every Prehistoric site near Ripon, went to Thornbury aligned Circles and Devils Arrows at Boroughbridge. With Miss Drayton to Coldharbour Iron Age Fort near Dorking and Abinger pit dwelling. 

 I have thought for years about how a teacher sparks off in a learner something which becomes a lifelong JOY. Both these enthusiasts taught me to appreciate lumps in the ground, aerial Photographs, topography and a desire  to make sense of few clues.  It is because of them that I traipsed around  Amesbury and Winterbourne Stoke  alone with a camera in 1971. It is because of them that the trip to Beverley past Argham and Maidens Grave is a fascinating thought starter.

Ditch at Stonehenge 1971

You could walk right up to the monument in 1971

My sister Susan told me about local sites, Duggleby Howe, and the Chariot Burials.My children always call out' Long Barrow' Mum every time we pass a Covered water reservoir. They have not forgotten a childhood of being dragged to Belas Knap or Waylands Smithy. Colin has been known to put his foot down, literally when I call out that looks like a round barrow as we drive past a mound with a ring of trees atop.

I am supposed to be gardening this afternoon , and then tidying and cleaning before Housegroup comes tonight. I think Ill go and find my 35ml slides I last used when I taught 4orange History in Wimbledon Chase Middle School in 1973. I'll scan them in for us all.

My sister Susan is coming on Saturday , I know she will be in the car with me to the Carrs before I can call out Lake Pickering.

Bowl Barrow Winterbourne Stoke Group 1971