Page 52 - br-june-2021

June 2021

LOCKDOWN STORIES

Over the Hill June 2021

As I write this, spring is at last
with us. It is the 10 th of May
and we haven’t had a frost for
three days and last week on
the 7 th of May I heard the
cuckoo for the first time,
calling from the Throop
direction You probably all
know the old saying:-
The cuckoo comes in April
It sings its song in May,
In the middle of June it
changes its tune and
In July it flies away and in August go it must.
As well as the cuckoo numerous birds are singing and the bird feeders are being
emptied far faster than before, which suggests that there are many more mouths
to feed.
Also there are more wild flowers in bloom and we have gone from yellow to blue
from the primroses, celandines, daffodils and dandelion to a massive show of
blue, from the bluebells and violets. Snow drops, snow flakes together with the
kingcups at the riverside are also over for this year. Trees are also showing leaves
beginning to open, particularly birch and oak but not the ash yet.
This of course tells us we are to have a dry summer:-

The ash before the oak we will surely get a soak
The oak before the ash we will only get a splash. .
As a youngster I would have been out picking bluebells and looking for the very
rare white bells growing amongst them to take home for my mother and grand
mother. At that time, just after the second ,world war, I lived with my
grandmother, mother and grandfather in the village of Buriton, just north of the
South Downs in Hampshire. Where the soils were very chalky and ideal for all sorts
of wild flowers, including primroses, bluebells and numerous varieties of orchids.
We as a group of young boys spent hours looking for all sorts of flowers and in
season blackberries, wild strawberries, hazelnuts, chestnuts and of course

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