Saturday 25th August 2018

My 53rd birthday

1st day of a 3 day weekend.

I t has seemed through the late spring and into the summer of this year, that the endless warm and hot sunny days would never end. Of course, they would, and it is an entirely British thing that the first cold morning should be on the first morning on a bank holiday.

In fact, Friday wasn't warm at first, but got warmer, quickly, but there was no doubt about how chilly Saturday morning was.

I came down the stairs, and jools launched into a quick chorus of "happy birthday", it is the law, after all.

As it was, nothing helps better than a fresh pot of coffee, and then up and attem to Tesco for some modern hunter-gathering. It seemed that many people had the same idea, with their minds on things to get, which probably explains why they were so crap dring; no signals, wrong lanes and just plain being gits.

I zip round filling up the trolley, including two litres of gin, as we had sloe harvesting in mind for Sunday.

Back home for breakfast of toasted saffron buns left from the previous week, each slice coated with melted fresh butter, and all the better for it.

Now, the question was what to do with the day.

It might not come as much of a surprise to find it was orchid related. Thing is, by now there is just one orchid species out in the South East, but on Friday, a contact of mine stumbled on a few flowering spikes of Frog Orchid in neighbouring Sussex, and thinking that in which case, maybe they could be flowering here, within ten minutes we were on our way to Wye.

Since the beginning of the 19th century, many species of orchids have become extinct in the county, but the Frog was one of the more recent ones to become extinct, last having been recorded in 1998. I thought the last sighting had been in Dover in 1984, but someone I bumped into revealed a site on Wye Down where they were seen some 15 years later.

Well, not that I want to be the one to find them again, although that would be nice, but a walk on the downs, or in the woods is never wasted, and there would be butterflies to seeks out. Or so I hoped.

Frogs are found all over the country, but less so in the south and east. I see them at the only site in Suffolk where they are left, and there are fewer than a dozen plants there. So, this would be a coup, but then again, it was also a wind goose chase, but one which involved a walk on the downs.

My contact told me where the spikes had been last seen, and as we had been here in June also hunting for the Frogs, we knew where to go.

It was breezy up there, and cows and their calves scattered before us, as we walked down to the area of scrubby land where I was told the spikes were last seen. All that is there now is lots and lots of thistles, and inbetween, lots of coarse grass. We walk slowly and look, but already my high hopes had been dashed.

We reach the fence line, search room some more, but find no orchid, and as before no sign of any orchid.

But we do see a few butterflies, which I snap. I also see a large flying insect, I heard it first; the clicking of wings hitting each other making it seem obvious it was a dragonfly, but I saw the wee beastie land, and could see that it wasn't the right shape. So, I creep closer, and take a few shots. Turns out it was a fly. But not just any fly, it is Britain's largest fly species; a Hornet Robber Fly.

Disappointed, we walk back up the down to the car, then drive back to Stone Street, and up that to the garden centre before Chartham. We call in to buy a couple of plants for the garden, and while Jools is inside, I look at the map and decide we would go to Waltham after, as there was a church we had not visited in four years or so.

Waltham is a picturesque village, huddled along narrow lanes, but good for us there was a large clear sign pointing the way to the church, so we follow directions.

We arrive at the church, and I get the cameras out of the boot, but on the way to the church, I meet to wardens who had spent the morning strimming the churchyard. They tell me there had been huge changes inside, though I don't see any to be honest. But then my memory of the church is of another one completely.

I take shots, not many as the church's only point of interest is the tower between the chancel and nave. Ropes for ringing the bells hung down to just above head height.

We leave again, and now drive home, to get back in time for dinner. At least, even for a bank holiday, the roads were quiet. So we arrive home just after one, time to make lunch and listen to the football again.

Later, Norwich play Dirty Leeds, and after an even first 20 minutes, Leeds take the lead, quickly add a second, and really, that was that. I try to stay awake on the sofa

I have a conversation with a friend on FB; why had I gone to Wye to look for the Frogs when they were last seen in Dover? Turns out he had better info to me, so after seeing where he said they were last seen matches where we normally go above the football ground.

I'm going out, I tell Jools, and drive to Crabble, just down the road from our old flat. Outside the ground, Eastleigh Borough were boarding their coach after beating Dover Athletic 2-1, which explained why they looked pleased.

I park the car, get the camera, sigh to myself as I walk into the old Athletic Ground, checking the two areas of grass banking either side of the pavilion, but other than finding dried spikes of CSos from two months ago, no sign of a frog.

I follow the path up onto the down, then through the trees to a track leading further up, and finally, a partially hidden winding path steeply up to where the treeline ended, and I was confronted by the area of open grassland I know so well, but the grass was at least two feet high. Useless for orchids, but I look anyway, and find zero orchids

But I knew, I guess.

I walk back down as a light rain shower felt, and away in the west the sun came out, casting a bright rainbow against the dark clouds.

I reach the car and drive home.

We have cheese and crackers for lunch, and wine. Lots of wine.

Jools watches Breaking bad while I write and edit, and the day fades into darkness.