Violets

The first flowers to show themselves on the SSSI land grazed by the ponies are Violets and lots of them.

My Granny loved Violets. She said they had saved her life when, as a little girl, living in Windsor Great Park, where her father was a game keeper, she had been given them because she was desperately ill with a bad chest. She apparently quickly made a complete recovery. I don't know if it was in gratitude but my mother's middle name is Violet.

My granny also used to tell me a tale of King Frost who wanted a wife to warm his heart and was sent Violet whom he adored, but Violet was sad that she could no longer be with her own kind, so as King Frost loved her very much, he allowed her to return home during the months of March and April and that is why all the Violets come out to greet and party with her during those months:-)

She was always telling me little stories which I used to listen to intently but she also had a wicked sense of humour so frequently I believed everything she was saying only to find out it was a big joke.

Another thing that has reminded me of my Granny just lately is the sight of a Starling in the garden. We very rarely get them here anymore for some reason (although they are in other areas of Biggin Hill) but I can remember my Granny, who was crippled with Rheumatoid Arthritis, waving her walking stick at the masses that used to congregate in her garden. She used to hate the way they would stop the other garden birds from eating the bread she put out. I think she would be very surprised now to find I get excited if I see just one in my garden and I think she would also be very sad to know that in some areas birds like Sparrows and Starlings are having a hard time.

Having been brought up in Windsor Great Park she had a lot of wildlife on her door step and loved all aspects of it. She used to tell me that her Father (the game keeper) often said that everything in nature must be balanced for everything to survive and it concerned her in her later years that, because of human activity, things were becoming unbalanced. She would be very pleased to know that areas of special natural interest are now being conserved and of course she would have loved Tavey and Rufus.