Quantock Hills. An Area of Outstanding Beauty

With the Easter Holidays upon us it’s a good opportunity to highlight a couple of important seasonal issues.

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The Quantocks are really coming alive with this recent spell of good weather. It is glorious on the hills right now, and it is a great opportunity to see the birds getting ready for the breeding season and the frogs and newts heading back to the ponds and streams.

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As the weather turns colder (about time) it’s a great time to appreciate our woods with a walk or ride through them as they offer protection against the wintery weather for us and our wildlife.

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This time last year we were just entering a period of hard frost which lasted well into the New Year.  We even had a period of snow cover and I remember one day recording a wind chill of -21oc.
The climate is certainly different at the moment as day time temperatures have been hitting 18oc.

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Last Friday was Armistice Day and the AONB Service was very pleased to assist 40 Commando Royal Marines to put on a Remembrance Service on Cothelstone Hill.

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Sunday’s fungus foray at Durborough Farm was yet again a great success.  The day involved a morning and afternoon walk in the fields and woods on Janet White’s farm above Aisholt.

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When the autumn afternoons turn dimpsy, treasure arrives in the Quantocks.  Does anyone know the collective noun for a flock of goldfinches?

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Last Sunday I led a guided walk along the Quantock Hills section of The Coleridge Way.  The route we took was circular so that we ended up in the same car park where we left our vehicles.  We started at Holford Village Green car park and followed the old coach drive into Alfoxton Park.  This is where the Wordsworths resided at the same time that Coleridge lived in Nether Stowey.  We were lucky enough to see a large herd of red deer on the fields below the drive.

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FC Wildlife Ranger Boyd Hay and I led a walk to view the Red Deer Rut on Sunday. We met at 6am and although it was overcast we had good views across the hills as it became light.

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There are always issues to deal with on such potentially busy days and August Bank Holiday Monday is usually a good one!  What was it going to be today … hill fires, motorbikes, lost people or sheep worrying?

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Sunshine in August?!  Seems a bit unusual … but last Sunday’s patrol was blessed with blue skies.  People were out taking advantage of wonderful conditions, and Kilve Beach seemed to be the place to be!

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Yesterday’s guided walk described in the events programme as a ‘Quantock classic’ lived up to its title.

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Last Sunday I spent the morning with PCSO Louise Fyne patrolling the main hilltop car parks and putting up warning signs for the public about leaving valuables in their cars.  It has been noticed that a couple of vehicles had recently been targeted at Lydeard Hill car park.  As always the joint presence of Police and Ranger helps to highlight the issues of rural crime and hopefully get important messages across.

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The AONB Service attended its first village fete of the summer on Saturday at Nether Stowey and were able to try out their new gazebo.  Being in Nether Stowey was a bit like ‘coming home’ and we were able to catch up with old friends.

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A few weeks ago volunteer Chris Tilley helped me put up a bench on Cothelstone Hill, something we’ve wanted to do for some time!  The bench is at the top of the easy-access trail and is positioned to have wonderful views down the Merridge valley and beyond to the Somerset coast.

It was great to see people making use of it during this wonderful Easter weather!

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I hooked up with National Trust Ranger Paul Camp for a joint patrol.  He is more used to the windswept wilds of Exmoor and was rather ‘blown away’ by the number of visitors making use of the Ramscombe site!  We managed to speak to a number of people about sensible use of their BBQs in such dry conditions … Ramscombe is the perfect location for this and indeed, our only official BBQ site in the hills.

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A fantastic weekend was enjoyed by over 200 young people who came to Fyne Court to spend time doing conservation work.

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Fun Guys:
It’s been a busy few days … filming with the BBC, out on weekend patrol with Volunteer and Foraging for Fungi!

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People may have seen the pretty comprehensive report of the deer rut from Andy … he’s currently in Scotland on leave, probably watching the deer rut!

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On Saturday Tim and I took 14 photographers out over the northern end of the hills as the sun came up.  It was surprisingly mild and the views were fantastic but sadly there was little evidence of rutting deer. 

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I’ve been going out early for the last few mornings to see whether or not one of autumns wildlife spectacles has begun and this morning I was rewarded with a sight to rival anything you may see on the plains of Africa.

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