Welcome to the Rudloe and environs website.
Here you will find news, articles and photos of an area that straddles the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in north-west Wiltshire.
Contributions in the form of articles or photos are welcome. Even those with completely contrary views to mine!
Thanks to the website builder 1&1 and Rob Brown for the original idea.
Rudloescene now, in January 2014, has a sister, academic rather than anarchic, website about Box history here: http://www.boxpeopleandplaces.co.uk/
It contains thoroughly professional, well-researched articles about Box and its people.
Contact rudloescene through the 'Contact' page.
20th December 2020 - a day away from the winter solstice and a bright day sandwiched between two grim, rainy ones. In the coming days, we will see, cloud permitting, the closest conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn for 400 years. We have gone through numbers and upper-case letters in recounting thirty-four Covid walks so we will now start (but hopefully this Covid series will not last too long!) on lower-case letters. This walk took in Hudswell, Spring Lane, Westwells, Thorneypits and Boxfields - the title picture shows one of the streams adjacent to Spring Lane.
Poplars in Hudswell Lane, Hudswell 'Common' beyond
A wasted resource by the hedgerow which borders the small lake close to bridleway CORM133 at Hudswell
Coppiced willows at Hudswell by the course of the series of streams and ponds which eventually lead to the Ladbrook
Formerly coppiced hazels beside bridleway CORM133 near Spring Lane
Not really noticed this before but it looks like alder leaves (which I believe these are) do not lose their chlorophyll pigment before being shed
Pond adjacent to Spring Lane - one of the ponds/lakes in the stream that eventually leads to the Ladbrook
Birch and willow in the important scrubland by right of way CORM60 twixt Spring Lane and Westwells
Willow close to right of way CORM60; Basil Hill beyond
Afternoon sun catches trees and undergrowth beside right of way CORM60 near Westwells; giant clown in the distance
The Donkey Field at Westwells showing the effects of repeated spraying of weedkiller by owners Summix
Thankfully, it seems that moss, an ancient plant, is either not affected by the spraying or quickly recovers from it
Another ancient plant, a lichen, possibly Evernia prunastri, in the hedge twixt the Cinder Path (CORM136/140) and the Donkey Field
More moss on a fallen willow branch in what remains of the Donkey Field woodland
Tim Barton's Miscanthus with Thorneypits woodland beyond from right of way BOX51
Doohan's Wood from right of way BOX51
A 'sheaf' of Miscanthus and the view east from right of way BOX51
The late-afternoon sun picks out the Rudloe comms tower across Thornetpits woodland
The last hoorah for the setting sun on the Thorneypits elephant grass
Vehicles passing on the B3109 by Thorneypits woodland; Miscanthus and the Rudloe comms tower complete the picture
The Thorneypits substation with one of Ark Data's server centres beyond
Pollarded trees (not sure which species) in the garden of one of the Boxfields cottages
No activity in Leafy Lane Playing Fields at this time of day
Print 