We’ve been having a series of heatwaves in Britain since May and Shropshire is no different. Even in high summer the water table at Century Wood is only a metre or two below the surface as it sits on drained marshland. I’ve not seen signs of drought and things seems to be growing very well.
This first photo shows a Red Admiral butterfly in the doorway of the Barn. A species that relies on the stands of nettles we have in summer and is thriving on the heat as it accelerates their cold-blooded metabolism. Apparently their chrysalis stage can go down from weeks when termperatures are in the teens down to less than a week when it’s over 32C.
Next the fire circle in the Glade. I’ve been keeping the vegetation down with the tractor, just “crimping” the nettles and common hogweed with its wheels and brush bar. The Glade is a sun trap compared to the shade of the rides and paths, and as soon as you get under the canopy the temperature drops even on cloudy hot days.
The weather has been contributing to the regrowth of the coppice stools like this that I cut in the winter of 2024-25. Now well over 2m high. Brambles are doing very well too, including in all the places where they are unwanted. Here’s one of their shoots invading the Barn