Crowthorne-on-Sea

 

*Crowthorne-on-Sea

The latest post box topper depicts the beauties of the briny. From purple-haired sirens of the sea, to daring deep-sea divers, all ocean life is there. Sinuous seaweed, scuttling crabs, perfect prawns and more, much more, to tantalise the senses and fire the imagination.

The (school) summer holidays are nearly upon us (for some they have already commenced) and this cheerful little tableau sets the scene for rest, relaxation and rehabilitation.

*For the avoidance of doubt, Crowthorne is nowhere near the sea. 

Hampshire Hogs

 

Hampshire Hogs

Collier's 1921 drawing of a Hampshire Hog

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

People born and bred in Hampshire, UK, have been referred to as Hampshire Hogs since the late 18^th century. For hundreds of years, wild boar roamed the acres of forest that crossed the county and were the focus of royal hunting parties in the New Forest.

Eventually, some of the boar were domesticated and became recognised as the Hampshire Hog and the Wessex Saddleback. Both breeds were black with a white band round their shoulders and forequarters. The only difference was in the ears – the Hampshire’s ears were erect and the Wessex breed had floppy ears. The Wessex saddleback was bred with the Essex saddleback, which differed from the Wessex only in having white hind feet and tail tip, to form the British saddleback. The Wessex is extinct as a separate breed in UK but survives as a rare breed in Australia and New Zealand.

Hampshire hogs were exported to the USA in the early 1800s and now constitute the fourth most recorded pig breed in that vast country. Some sources suggest it may be the oldest American breed.

                        Hampshire Hog outside Hampshire C.C. offices in Winchester

                                            Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Hampshire County Council commissioned a bronze statue of a Hampshire hog to mark its centenary in 1989. It is situated outside its offices in Winchester. A wild boar is the emblem of the Ringwood Brewery, a small brewery producing cask ales and some bottled beers. 

Wild boar outside the Ringwood Brewery in the New Forest

                                    Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons         

Dormice

 

Dormice

                                               Hazel  dormouse, Ukraine

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

At the end of June the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) released 38 hazel dormice in Derbyshire and Cambridgeshire, to increase the population. The Common Dormouse Captive Breeders Group breeds and cares for dormice. Before they are released they are quarantined for six weeks, at zoos in Paignton and London, and given a thorough health check before being taken to woodland to be set free. Some of the recently liberated dormice are now pregnant.

Hazel or Common dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) are a protected species and the only dormouse native to the UK. They are increasingly rare small rodents, with golden-brown fur and large black eyes. At 6 to 9 cms, with a furry tail of similar length, they spend most of their time high in the tree canopy and are very difficult to spot in the wild. They live mostly in deciduous woodland in the south of England with a few isolated populations in the Midlands, Wales and the Lake District.

                                                    Image copyright PTES

They are active between April and October and when ready to hibernate they abandon the trees to create a nest on the ground, often in the shelter of a well-established hedgerow. The nest is constructed from closely woven grasses, leaves and finely-shredded bark and is about the size of a tennis ball. The dormouse curls up in the nest, tail wrapped around body and nose, to sleep for around six months.

                                                Hazel dormouse in bird box, Germany
                                            Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The hazel dormouse is in serious decline, its numbers having fallen by 52% since 1995. The decrease is attributed to the loss of ancient woodland and hedgerows across the UK. Dormice will not leave the security of trees to cross large open spaces, thus populations become isolated, inbred and more liable to extinction. In spring, dormice eat oak and hawthorn flowers and emerging insects but milder winters mean that they awaken earlier from hibernation, before adequate food is available for them.

One derivation of the name dormouse is the Anglo-Norman ‘dormius’, which means ‘sleepy one’.

Edible dormice are not native to the UK. We have Lord Rothschild to thank for their introduction. I wrote about them, in passing, here.

St Swithin’s Day

  

St Swithin’s Day

Statue of St Swithin, Stavanger Cathedral, Norway’

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

15^th July is St Swithin’s Day. Folk lore holds that if it rains on this day, it will rain for 40 more. If the sun should shine, and sometimes it does, the following 40 days will be fine.

St Swithin’s day if thou dost rain

For forty days it will remain

St Swithin’s day if thou be fair

For forty days will rain na mair.

There is an alternative version in Buckinghamshire which says

If on St Swithun’s day it really pours

You’re better off to stay indoors.

Other saints in other countries are associated with similar beliefs, for example, St Médard on 8^th June in France and St Godelieve in Flanders on 6^th July.

St Swithin (or Swithun) was the bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. He is believed to have been the spiritual adviser to Æthelwulf, King of Wessex and tutor to his son Alfred, later Alfred the Great, but little has been recorded of his life to suggest that he was exceptional. His fame came after his death. He seemed a humble man, asking that his mortal remains should be buried outside, where the people might see his grave and the rain fall upon it.

His wish was granted and for a hundred years he lay undisturbed.  In 971, when Winchester Cathedral had been restored, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Winchester declared that St Swithin was to be the patron saint of Winchester and should be interred in a shrine in the cathedral. Accordingly, his body was disinterred and reburied in the new cathedral on 15^th July, 971.

The choir, Winchester Cathedral
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Legend has it that after the disturbance of his remains there was a great storm and rain fell for many weeks. If there is a drought, all prayers for rain should be addressed to St Swithin.

We shall see. We have been forecast strong winds today, always exciting as there are many, many trees in this locality. Thus far, it has been a case of fleeting sun, scudding clouds, and furious brief gusts of wind, but nothing untoward.

Steady the Buffs

 

Steady the Buffs

Monument to the Buffs in Canterbury

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 ‘Steady the Buffs’ means calm down, don’t fret. It originates from the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) formerly the Third Regiment of Foot. The regiment was amalgamated severally with other regiments after the Second World War, finally becoming known with them as the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, the Tigers.

The Buffs was a regiment raised in the county of Kent and garrisoned in Canterbury and has a history dating from 1572. Before khaki uniforms were introduced in 1868, British regiments wore red jackets. In order to identify different regiments, the jackets had different coloured facings.

 The facings were the linings of the coats, which were exposed when lapels or cuffs were turned back. At that time regiments were still being named after their colonels. There were two Colonel Howard’s Regiments, and the only way to distinguish them was by the colour of their facings. The Hon. Sir Charles Howard was the colonel of the 19^th, and his regiment was known as the Green Howards, because of their green facings. Thomas Howard was the colonel of the Third Regiment of Foot, which had buff facings and became known as the Buff Howards.

‘Steady the Buffs’ was a phrase first heard in 1858. The 2^nd Battalion was stationed in Malta when the adjutant, Lt. John Cotter, was commanding a parade while being observed by the 21^st Fusiliers. In his determination not to be embarrassed by ill-disciplined troops, he ordered, ‘Steady the Buffs’ and the phrase passed into common military parlance.

Rudyard Kipling used the phrase in his collection of short stories, under the title of ‘Soldiers Three’.

It is a phrase frequently heard in our house and always reminds me of my late mother-in-law. Born and brought up in Kent, and a Maid of Kent (that is, born to the east of the River Medway) it was one of her favourite expressions. 

Can’t do right for doing wrong

Can't do right for doing wrong 

😕

Some days it’s impossible to say or do the right thing. Every action, every comment seems destined to cause offence. Any attempt to rectify matters only makes them worse so it’s better to bite one’s tongue and hope for better times.

😔

Such moments often coincide with ill-temper or just plain being ‘out of sorts’. It’s worse being on the receiving end, of course, and it’s infinitely more injurious if it’s in a form which does not easily allow discussion, an email, for example, or a comment on a blog post. How much more damaging it must be if the receiver is in a public forum, like journalism or politics, for example, where hurtful, perhaps scurrilous remarks are made. The libel laws offer some protection but opening a court case can be costly and time-consuming, with no guarantee of a desirable outcome.

🥺

 Words are powerful and when the opportunity to read someone’s expression is unavailable, writers go to great lengths to ensure that their words cannot be misconstrued. Emoticons and emojis are employed to offset any misunderstanding, along with exclamation marks. It’s not uncommon to see a paragraph littered with them. One is used for emphasis, so what do two, three, four or more indicate??????? Likewise with question marks!!!!!!!

😇

Sometimes comments are perceived as offensive simply by their construction. At other times a simple comment can be dismissed as ‘unhelpful’ or ‘unwarranted advice’ when it was just a reaction. Sometimes it's just misapprehension.

😩

I suppose the answer, if there is a question here, is to remain true to oneself rather than trying to be all things to all people. Be truthful, be genuine, be courteous and if someone is still offended, or offensive, leave them alone to find company that better suits them.

😍

Shakespeare, as ever, expresses it perfectly.

‘This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.’

 😃 

Deterrents

 

Deterrents

Preventing birds resting, or, worse, roosting where they’re not wanted – which for many people, is anywhere at all – has spawned a thriving industry. Look up bird deterrent spikes and there’s a plethora of unpleasant looking items in a variety of materials, from plastic to stainless steel. They are available at many outlets for the enthusiastic d-i-yer, or there are specialist outfits which will fit them for a fee, sometimes on an emergency call-out! They are claimed to be ‘safe’ and will not harm the birds, but just indicate that there’ll be no comfort, no peace in their vicinity.  

Followers of this blog will know that I greatly admire magpies, those cunning, inventive members of the crow family. Until the middle of the 19^th century, magpies were exceedingly common in Britain. Farmers welcomed them for their effectiveness in depleting harmful rodent and insect populations.

However, from 1850 until the First World War, gamekeepers waged relentless war on them. They held them responsible for killing the game chicks they so carefully raised in order to be shot down in their hundreds by enthusiastic well-heeled ‘sporting’ men in country tweeds. (I have no problem with killing for food or population control, but killing for pleasure I find hard to understand.)

Magpie numbers dropped dramatically and didn’t recover until the 20^th century. The population has remained stable since.

 This morning I heard an interesting item on the radio about magpies. They are opportunistic, using a variety of materials for building their nests. The inner nest is bowl-shaped and made of mud and lined with roots, hair, grasses and other plant materials. A dome of twigs covers the nest with an opening at one side to allow access. Some magpies have incorporated barbed wire in the construction but the most surprising component is bird deterrent spikes. How ironic, that the spikes used to deter birds from roosting are the very things being removed and used by magpies to deter other birds from attacking their chicks.