Fighting Chalara Fraxinea.

Chalara fraxinea is the fungus which causes ash dieback disease.  In order to stop the spread of the fungal spores, people visiting National trust properties and other woodlands have been advised to wash their boots, their dogs' paws and the wheels of pushchairs and cars.  But the person giving this advice doesn't seem to have thought things through properly.  Just when are we supposed to wash these various bits and bobs?  There are no facilities for doing so when entering or leaving woods, and if we wait until we get home it seems to me we would be too late, the damage having already been done.  And what about deer, foxes and other animals who walk through the woods and, presumably, pick up the spores?

It rather puts me in mind of an Easter some years ago.  There is a long-standing tradition (well, traditions by definition are always long-standing, aren't they?) that we visit my cousin and her husband on their farm at Easter.  On one occasion there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease and we suggested skipping our visit that year but were persuaded that we were most unlikely to cause any harm.  Like all farmers, Julian had spread old carpets at every entrance to the farm and liberally doused them with disinfectant.  There were also bowls of disinfectant for people to tread in to ensure boots were clean.  It did seem a rather Harry Tate affair and I wondered what farmers did if they had no old carpets lying around.  I don't think I ever got an answer to that one.

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I had me a little rant yesterday evening when I shouted at Sophie.  Now, before you get too anxious for her, I should explain that Sophie Raworth is a television newsreader so she would not have been in the least upset by my action.  She committed a crime of which fellow newsreader Huw Edwards is also guilty in my book.  Introducing a piece about the Congo, Sophie said, "So-and-so's report contains some graphic images".

"You stupid woman," I shouted, "all images are graphic!"

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Let's take a trip to Somerset and my cousin's farm.  Cross the lane into the Pond Field, then over the stile into Roger's field.  Out of that field into another lane and just a few yards along is Brockley church.