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.
The Skynet Drive/Bradford Road verge on 13th July 2018. This triangle of flora is scheduled to be removed along with the trees on the south side of the Bradford Road when the unnecessary, Bellway, 88-home, greenfield development starts in October (apparently). Unnecessary? Certainly as the 100-home, Bellway, brownfield, Copenacre development is nearing completion, the 170-home, Redcliffe, greenfield, Park Place development is well underway, the 180-home, Framptons, brownfield, ex-RAF Rudloe No. 2 Site development received planning permission in 2016 and is just awaiting a builder to come on board, the 150-home Gladman/Redrow, greenfield proposal awaits a resolution on the problems around the working stone mine below and there is now a proposal from Summix for a 110-home, greenfield/brownfield development at the Donkey Field at Westwells. So with more than 700 homes either already under construction, approved or proposed in west Corsham, why give over an important meadow to an 88-home, tarmac and reconstituted block development here at Rudloe?
But not only that, this verge contains a significant variety of flora such as field scabious, vetches, yellow rattle, lady's bedstraw and convolvulus arvensis to name but a few. And on my 13th July 2018 visit, the verge was teeming with grasshoppers; there were hundreds of them. Yet this will all be ripped up for an unnecessary development.
The Skynet Drive/Bradford Road verge, with a few field scabious, and the meadow beyond due to be swallowed up by the 88-home development
Lady's bedstraw is much in evidence in the verge. It dries to give the scent of new-mown hay and its name derives from the practice of using it in the mattresses of women about to give birth
The flower of lady's bedstraw smells strongly of honey. One of the plant's properties is a coagulant or styptic.
More lady's bedstraw along with yellow-rattle whose seeds, when ripe, rattle inside little pods
Lady's bedstraw now with the white/pink convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed)
A fine English meadow and hedgerow soon to be lost to Bellway's Dickens Gate development
Convolvulus arvensis much in evidence, along with hundreds of grasshoppers, on the Skynet Drive/Bradford Road verge
The verge and meadow sold for development by mercenary farmer Payne of Colerne who also has a view to the potential development of his fields in Boxfields Road. An individual raking in millions to the detriment of the local community.
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