Storm Doris is blowing a gale today, but in between the showers and racing ragged clouds was a fine half-hour of warm sunshine, the daffodils glowing yellow. A cut twig caught my eye in the brilliant light, speckled with tiny spheres, the pinkish fruiting bodies of the Ascomycete Nectria cinnabarina, a small saprophytic fungus, also called Coral Spot.
Distributor bits, wing mirror, electrical leads, yes, there used to be a garage over the fence. What with old rusty pipes, cigarette lighters, glass milk bottles (remember them?) and remains of workers’ lunches, it was quite a haul. We dug out some champion brambles and quite a few enormous nettles, too.
I also found some bits of Asbestos roofing, but we left them in situ as there was a Smooth Newt sheltering beneath them. All in all, it’s amazing what people will sling over a fence. We were happy to leave the North bank in a better state than it’s been in for many years.
