Air Fair Trauma

The Red Arrows have just flown over and landed at the airport ready for the Biggin Hill Air Fair which takes place tomorrow and Sunday. Living near the main runway and in the valley over which the displays take place, some, including the rest of my family, would say we are really fortunate to have such a good view but after 33 years of having t0 calm traumatised pets I don't agree. Lizzy the old cat has to take tranquilisers for it and will spend the two days hiding under a bed. I give the guinea pigs extra hiding places and lots of hay and then close all the doors, windows and curtains around them to try to deaden the noise. Thankfully (as far as the air fair is concerned) we no longer have the dogs as they used to bark all the time and strangely the hens that we used to have never minded and our Guinea Fowl (also deceased) only ever squawked at the very noisiest of the planes. So at least I know the wild birds are unlikely to be affected too much.

For the other wild animals it will be a different matter though. The first time I saw a deer here was during an air fair and it was charging around the field in desperate panic. Unfortunately, on our walk in the valley yesterday we came across some deer. The place where they are standing in the picture below is approx 200metres from the end of the runway and the wood in which they shelter during the day is even closer and runs up the side of the valley to the road at the end of the runway. Poor things they will really suffer especially this year as the Vulcan Bomber is due to fly over and that is about the noisiest plane ever:-((((

I wonder if the underground animals like the badgers are affected by the noise and vibration.

To cheer myself up I will end with another lovely poppy picture from yesterday morning's walk:-)

Fossils in the Chalk

I was watching yet another TV program about global warming and rising sea levels. It made me wonder if Biggin Hill would ever be covered with sea again.

Biggin Hill is on the edge of the North Downs and as its name suggests it is fairly big hill at about 500ft above sea level. However at one time it must have been at the bottom of the sea as when the field behind us used to be ploughed up it often exposed fossils of shells.

My children loved to go fossil hunting after the field had been ploughed and especially after a hard frost which would make the chunks of chalk crack open to reveal its treasure.

This picture is of a shell fossil my younger son found in the field when he was eight.

When I look down the valley today with its masses of wildflowers, trees and different habitats it is hard to imagine that it was ever covered with sea or ever could be again but if it was I wonder what creatures would be fossilised and when the sea reseeded again what would the humans (if any) be like who discover the new fossils?

Distant View of London

We have just returned from a trip to Bath and Bristol where we went for my niece's wedding. While we were driving around looking out at the beautiful countryside of wide deep valleys it made me think about what it is that makes Biggin Hill a special place for me, after all there are so many more spectacular places around Britain. I came to the conclusion that it is because it is so close to London and yet is so prolific in wildlife. On a clear day I can stand on the hill opposite our bungalow and see the Canada Tower at Canary Warf (about 12 miles as the crow flies) and yet be surrounded by sheep and watching roe deer on the edge of the woods. I took this pic last year. The tower is only just about visible on the horizon so in the next pic I zoomed in to show it more clearly but it is taken from the same place. It is so amazing to have such an abundance of wildlife but be so close to our capital city.

It was a lovely wedding and well worth the long journey to Bristol. My niece looked beautiful and it brought a lump to my throat when she first walked in looking so elegant and demure as it only seems yesterday that she was a cheeky 2 year old that could throw an Oscar winning temper tantrum. How fast time goes.

We stayed the night before the wedding at One Three Nine in Bath (a great boutique B&B that I thoroughly recommend) but we drove back to Biggin Hill after the evening reception, arriving back, very tired, in the early hours of the morning and longing for our bed and sleep. Unfortunately a lamb on the hill opposite had other ideas. It had obviously gone for a night time play and lost its mum as it kept up a continuous bleating for at least an hour after our heads had hit the pillow. I was on the point of suggesting to hubby (who by this time was fast asleep) that he might like to get up and see if the lamb had managed to trap itself the wrong side of the sheep netting, when blissfully it stopped. Good, I thought, now I can sleep but then my son arrived home having nearly run out of petrol on the return journey from the wedding. He thumped around for a while then, bliss, all was quiet but by this time the first tweets of the dawn chorus had started and that is the indicator for Lizzy (the cat) to wake up and stomp in to me to demand some food. I still feel I am recovering so it is just as well it is pouring with rain as I don't have to feel guilty at not working in the garden when there is so much to do out there.