Saturday morning

at work.

Not at the beach, but in the car park up on the common on what was supposed to be a sunny morning.  As you can see, it was a little overcast.  Never mind.

I wasn’t alone.

Actually, as well as the cows, there were a few people gathering for a class I was going to observe: “The flowers and grasses of Rodborough Common”.  As we got our things together, a bird was twittering overhead – immediately identified by almost everyone (except me, of course) as a skylark.  What a great start!  I’d learned something already

It’s a beautiful spot, popular with dog walkers and somewhere I drive regularly, though I’ll be the first to admit that I take it for granted.  Getting out there this morning was a real joy.

The common is an SSSI – a Site of Special Scientific Interest – owned and managed by the National Trust, one of whose staff came with us this morning.  It is uncultivated and there’s a rich variety of plantlife underfoot, so we didn’t have to walk very far at all before the botanist accompanying the class had knowledge and expertise to share. 

Because though I had thought we were walking over grass with a few buttercups, when we looked a little closer, there were actually many different varieties of grasses, not to mention wild flowers a-plenty.  Great to have people who could recognise them all and share their expertise!

Someone else was as interested as we were in what was growing up there, edging a little nearer whilst quietly munching away.

Before long, we had a new member of the group!

The hiatus was the perfect cue for me to offer my thanks and leave them to it.  Much as I’d have loved to stay and learn more, it was time to let the tutor get on with her work, without me looking over her shoulder.

It also meant I was ahead of the queue at Winstones!