THE OCTOBER meeting was well attended and as is customary started with a round up of observations made by those present. The Chairman, David Boddington, commented on the number of robins he had seen on the Downs. These had probably been brought in by the east winds. Apparently while native robins are noted for being friendly to humans this does not apply to migrants. So if you see a robin in your garden it is probably native. If you can only hear it, it is a migrant. Others reported sightings of redwings and fieldfares. A dipper was seen in the brook at Broad Bridge. Groups of 8 or 9 magpies had been noted in the vicinity. Humming Bird Hawk Moths had been active well into October.

Dr Boddington then introduced the speaker, Peter Garner who was to talk on the "Plants of the Malvern Hills". Peter told us he was the Head of a Redditch School and that his deputy was Paul Essenhigh - the grandson of Mr Essenhigh who was for many years Headmaster at Brockhampton School. Some of those present remembered Mr Essenhigh as a very much respected and well-liked teacher of the old school. A bit of a martinet perhaps by today's standards!

Peter had over 100 slides. The photography was of a very high standard and included views of the Malverns rarely seen by even those who regularly walk the hills. The plants included some specific to the Malverns found nowhere else but in a small area where they had been recorded as present for a century or more.

The speaker answered questions and was warmly thanked by David Boddington on behalf of everyone inn the hall. Marianne Boddington and Pauline Perkins were thanked for providing the refreshments

Baseless Criticism

In the interval David Boddington said he saw many parallels between the sympathetic management of the Malvern Hills and Bromyard Downs. He spoke of the "ill informed criticism" of the way the Downs was managed by those "who would like to see it cut three times a year" The patches of gorse which had been deliberately allowed to extend now constituted one of the three biggest patches of gorse in Herefordshire. This gorse was important habitat for many birds and up to six pairs of linnets nested there. (Linnets are now quite rare) Several types of orchids now flourished on the Downs. Since some orchids take nine years to flower they could not survive the sort of parkland management regime some advocate. Rare mosses were present. The Downs were an important habitat for many insects and invertebrates not found elsewhere in the area. To destroy this carefully managed landscape for cosmetic purposes would, in Dr Boddingtons view, be environmentally harmful in the extreme.