About our front cover picture.

supplied by Micky Thompson

Saturday 10th of January was a truly magical day, if you braved the cold, and ventured into the country. That day I was making a photographic record of a project Bill Acworth of Little Hidden Farm is organising. Our modern world has limited use for woodland coppice, which is the habitat of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly. Because of this, butterfly numbers have severely declined. Bill is organising the creation of some new habitat for the butterfly by running coppicing courses in aid of FARM Africa.

Coppicing is the periodic cutting back of woodland to stimulate the growth of new shoots which will in turn be harvested for use in making hurdles etc. This process lets daylight into the wood which then allows primroses and other woodland flowers to flourish. This in turn supplies the food plants for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly. For those interested, the next two coppicing course days are on February 14th and March 14th.

As I said, the day was very cold, but this allowed the haw frost, which had transformed the trees and hedges into a winter wonderland, to remain all day.

It was during lunch that Rachel, Izzy and Minty walked towards us as they returned Frazer and Minnie to their paddock after their regular Saturday morning ride, and it is this image which is on the cover of this issue.Click photo to see it again

Sue Acworth's riding school attracts many local adults and children, for whom the care and preparation of the horses is considered to be an important and enjoyable part of the ride. Either Bill or Sue can be contacted on 01488 683 253

My contact phone number is 01488 686946