Beauty in common countryside features

I want to demonstrate that a landscape need not have extraordinary features to be beautiful; the most commonplace of plants can lighten up a dreary day. The sight of a lone kestrel soaring above you while walking through an agricultural field is just  as valid as an experience of nature as viewing a rare orchid.

A single buttercup  flowering in a sea of greenery.

 

 

Patches of escaped oilseed rape plants provide splashes of colour in unexpected corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The delicate white flowers of the common garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) growing under the trees along the edges of the cultivated land. If you accidentally walk on them, you will note a delicate garlic smell.

 

 

Cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) along the fence line attracts many insects. This plant has become much commoner in recent years especially along road verges, and can be accused of smothering the smaller and more delicate plants, but in its place it is still attractive and quintessentially part of the English landscape.

 

A pretty clump of red campion (Silene dioica) makes a contrast from the predominantly white flowers under the trees.

And now the storm clouds are gathering. Time to go home.

 

Environmental assessment

What evidence can be seen that there has been an environmental assessment?

Walking through the fields and observing the trees, it is apparent that many of the larger specimen trees have been numbered as you can see from the photograph below.

 

This gives me hope that there may be some process by which some of these trees may be saved in the event of the development progressing.

Here is a close up view of one of the flowering clusters from a lovely specimen horse chestnut tree.

 

 

 

Throughout the fields there are many pieces of black roofing felt and metal corrugated tiles which I assume have been placed in order to assess amphibian and insect life. I have seen no amphibians or snakes, only a myriad of ants, beetles, wood lice and  centipedes lurking in the warm dry environment underneath the felting.

 

In the surrounding hedgerows, there are some nesting boxes which I believe may have been provided to assess the presence or absence of dormice.

 

Reference to the Ashford Borough Planning application still states that the planning is subject to further environmental assessment. Comments, objections and reports are available to anyone with an interest to view.

 ( Application reference 14/00906/AS)

 

 

 

St Mary's Church

The beautiful church  of  St. Mary's which currently sits in idyllic countryside will be forever changed by this project. If you examine the proposals, you will see that the developers want to create a car park for the church and encourage better access by attracting people to a cafe and convenience store nearby. The lovely distant views that I have recorded in previous posts will be compromised, or destroyed.

This Grade 1 listed building has been serving the community of Sevington since the 12th Century.  I t was listed in 1957 and for the architectural student exhibits many interesting historical features. It last underwent a major restoration in 1936. It was built of ragstone, with a timber framed porch and shingled spire. Apparently, one window has remnants of 14th Century stained glass.

Blosslyn for her blog has attached some lovely photographs and has given me permission to share it with you.
https://blosslynspage.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/st-marys-church-sevington-kent/

The Southern Orbital Road, built in the early 1990's cut off the church from the rest of Church road . A footbridge was later added after the unfortunate death of a parishioner trying to cross the road.


There is a beautifully produced short compilation of photographs and narrated history of the church by Steve Sidders to be found on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIf88w77SuI

Two prominent local families the Barrys and the Boys have historical connections to the church. Boys Hall, a very lovely 17th Century Jacobean Manor house lies not far from the church and is currently being run as a hotel and wedding venue.

Wild flowers of April

Throughout the hedgerows in the land destined for redevelopment, little islands of colour are appearing.

The Lesser Celandine ( Ranunculus ficaria) from the buttercup family, sometimes called the spring messenger because it flowers so early, brings brilliant yellow happy faces to the clumps of green leaves. Wordsworth wrote several poems about this humble flower. Note the spider who found his way into my photograph!

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea),has small pretty purple flowers. Also known as creeping jenny. The leaves can be used in salad and it  has many medicinal uses. Wild bees are attracted to it.

The White Deadnettle ( Lamium album) looks very much like the stinging nettle but does not sting. The flowers are brilliant white and the leaves are edible.

and this is the commonly found Spotted Deadnettle (Lamium Maculatum)

I showed the pretty cuckoo flowers , or Lady's Smock (Cardamine Pretensis) on a previous page, but let us look at them again as they definitely draw attention to themselves. It is a food plant for the orange tip butterfly.

Early morning mist

Some beautiful views this morning from the fields by St Mary's Church Sevington.

 

 

And next looking back from the stream towards the church.

 

Another view, this time from the ploughed field

 through the hazy mist.

Footpath AU53

Footpath AU53 starts at the roundabout at junction 10 of the M20. It is well signposted as you can see.

The footpath winds down the slope towards the open fields in the direction of St Mary's Church Sevington. Unfortunately, due to the proximity to the very busy road, the slope is littered with rubbish. But don't let that detract from the open aspect in front of you. Climb the stile and cross the field towards a line of trees.

 

A small stream runs through these trees, but it is not visible until you are standing over it. The footpath crosses the stream over what appears to be a stone built bridge which has been reinforced to take the weight of the farmer's tractor. Further along the stream is another crossing, this one a brick built structure.

 

Some more views of the stream.

 

 

 

 

I noted a clump of  cuckooflowers ( Cardamine pratensis), visited by bumble bees.

 

This footpath crosses directly over the land which is due to be developed and will undoubtedly be revoked if planning is approved. The land is currently planted with crops, and the path is not clearly visible, but it is easy enough to follow the directional arrows on the stile.

 



In my next post I will take you along another of the footpaths that cross the proposed development.

 

Parkland?

Here is a link to the digitally mastered, pristinely tidy parkland that the developers are proposing.

http://www.sevington.net/docs/PRESENTATION-TO-ABC-18.10.13.pdf

They plan to provide a unique sense of place. I am not sure what you feel about this phrase, but it means very little to me.

The relatively empty streets depicted will surely look different when filled with foreign lorries and the neat and tidy bushes lining the street will be littered with bottles of urine and human faeces. That is not an alarmist statement in any way, but simply a reflection on what has happened to all the surrounding roads in the retail parks.

Nearby is a medieval moat owned by the Sevington family in the 1200s.The original house was demolished and all that remains is the moat surrounded by a bank and listed as an ancient monument. Visitors are welcome to walk around it but you will need to watch where you put your feet as the area is badly contaminated with human faeces as it serves as a convenient toilet area for overnighting lorry drivers in the adjacent retail park.

 

What could be a useful and interesting community resource is neglected, with the information signs overgrown and damaged. Sandwiched between industrial units perhaps this is an indication of how future 'parkland' will appear.

Good luck reading these signs.