iron age hill fort

  • Nature Notes

    The Barley Bird and the Comet. Out on the Marlborough Downs, there was a song I’d strained to hear at home. It remained a possibility there, a trace echo in the white noise of grasshoppers or the tinnitus of distant meadow pipits; but here, this funny little key farmland bird was real and singing, and […]

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  • Nature Notes

    Deep Summer The ground hardens like lime mortar and holds the flints fast at whatever angle they were last tumbled into. Some stick up like ancient weapons, stropped edges like axe heads, freshly knapped by the clink of horses hoofs, but never our boots or tractor tyres. It is the time for the slicing of […]

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  • Nature Notes

    Hill forts, islands & leavings. When we booked our recent holiday, reading out the description instigated a family fit of giggles. Our holiday destination nestled below a 298m hill and its Iron Age hill fort. It was the gateway to a National Park under official dark night skies and a historic, bloody battle was fought […]

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  • Nature Notes

    Of Love and Stardust. Later on the hill at night, the children and I make the most of a rare clear night during the Geminid meteor shower. The children stand silhouetted on the edge of the curve, ditch and drop of the old grass hill fort. The stars brighten by the minute as our eyes […]

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