The Parish Magazine June 2023

More documents

Recommendations

Info

20 The Parish Magazine - June 2023 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to advertisements We offer a range of exclusive medical and rejuvenating treatments for both women and men AESTHETIC . MEDICAL . WOMEN’S & MEN’S HEALTH . MASSAGE BEAUTY AND RELAXATION . LYMPHEDEMA . COVID TESTING Book today MAKE YOURSELF A PRIORITY & JOIN THE HEALTHIUM EMPORIUM REVOLUTION www.healthiumclinics.com Reading’s local charity caring for older “putting care before profits” Call 01252 979111 today, to discuss your care needs and availability at our newly refurbished Maitland House care home care | compassion | companionship “The place is always fresh, clean, cheerful and vibrant. The staff are friendly, helpful,caring and always available for a chat. There is a lot of laughter and silliness which is greatly appreciated” Rosemary (89), resident Maitland House | 11 Maitland Road | Reading | RG1 6NL Email | admin@abbeyfieldweyvalley.co.uk www.abbeyfieldweyvalley.co.uk
feature — 2 Where have all the butterflies gone? The Parish Magazine - June 2023 21 3 June Butterfly Education and Awareness Day 2023 Peacock Rudmer Zwerver, dreamstime.com Swallowtail Noah-Boyer, unsplash.com I have been interested in butterflies since my father gave me a small patch of ground at the bottom of our garden about 70 years ago, writes Bob Peters. I could grow anything I liked, so the first thing was to plant some runners from a strawberry patch in the family vegetable garden. We lived near Tiptree in Essex where there were acres and acres of strawberries. It was while tending my tiny strawberry patch that I became interested in the visiting butterflies that would always seem to be there. Also, I can't remember where they came from, but in a cupboard we had a collection of dead butterflies and moths. They were displayed in several boxes with glass fronts. Each specimen had been carefully pinned and labelled with their Latin names which I spent hours unsuccessfully trying to decipher. REMOTE CHANCE My favourite butterfly was a splendid Swallowtail and I always hoped that one day I would see one flying in my garden — there was a remote chance because at that time migrant Swallowtails were said to frequent East Anglia and my garden was only about 100 miles further south. Today, native UK populations are rare but stable and restricted to the Norfolk Broads where milk parsley thrives. I never saw one flying wild until I travelled to the Mediterranean in my adult life. I'm by no means an expert on butterflies, I simply enjoy seeing them when spending time in the garden — and I am no expert in gardening either, my approach has always been 'trial and error', as it has always been with everything in life! A bout of Covid a couple of years ago left me without the energy to do much gardening until recently — this lack of energy may have also been age related! However, this year I have been able to get out in the garden a little more and apart from the abundances of thistles, nettles and a variety of weeds, normality is slowly returning. Orange Tip Helen Davies, dreamstime.com The most striking thing that I have noticed is the lack of the butterflies that I usually like to stop and watch. As I write this it is still early in the season, but by now there should a good number flying around. I have spotted one lonely Brimstone, which is always the first to be seen every year, one Orange Tip, and one splendid Peacock. Where I wonder, have all the butterflies gone? The best source of information I have found is the latest 28 page report published by the UK charity, Butterfly Conservation, it is called The State of UK's Butterflies 2022. The previous report was 7 years ago. Brimstone Leif Algotsson, dreamstime.com The latest one summarises the key findings as being a massive 80% decline. The key finding is: In the UK, long-term trends show that 80% of butterfly species have decreased in abundance or distribution, or both since the 1970s. The report can be downloaded free at: https://butterflyconservation.org/state-of-uk-butterflies-2022 AWARENESS This month, 3 June has been declared a Butterfly Education and Awareness Day 2023 or BEAD for short. It is an annual event organised by the Association for Butterflies (AFB) to raise awareness about the importance of butterfly conservation. BEAD is designed to help educate us, the public, about the importance of butterflies in the pollination process and why it's important to create and protect butterfly habitats. This event is also a great opportunity to teach children about metamorphosis. There are over 200,000 species of butterflies in the world and scientists tell us that they are a vital part of the environment. They are essential as pollinators for many crops, flowers and plants and they provide a good indication of the health of the world's ecosystem and climate change. Scientific studies of butterflies different life cycles will, it is believed, lead to important medical developments in the future. And, of course, they are fascinating insects to sit and watch when you need a break from digging the garden!
Page 1 and 2: The Parish Magazine - June 2023 1 T
Page 3 and 4: Serving the communities of Charvil,
Page 5 and 6: The Parish Magazine - June 2023 5 T
Page 7 and 8: the parish noticeboard — 1 The Pa
Page 9 and 10: The Parish Magazine - June 2023 9 S
Page 11 and 12: the parish noticeboard — 3 What m
Page 13 and 14: PARISH NOTICEBOARD — 4 Christians
Page 15 and 16: From page 13 PARISH NOTICEBOARD —
Page 17 and 18: PARISH NOTICEBOARD — 6 Standing f
Page 19: feature — 1 An independent report
Page 23 and 24: The Parish Magazine - June 2023 23
Page 25 and 26: around the villages — 1 Open for
Page 27 and 28: around the villages — 2 Sonning S
Page 29 and 30: around the villages — 3 A Crest f
Page 31 and 32: HOME AND GARDEN — 1 Recipe of the
Page 33 and 34: HOME AND GARDEN — 2 In the garden
Page 35 and 36: THE ARTS — 2 Will your anchor hol
Page 37 and 38: HEALTH Help nearly-well become whol
Page 39 and 40: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 15 13 16
Page 41 and 42: CHILDREN'S PAGE The Parish Magazine
Page 43 and 44: Please mention The Parish Magazine

The Parish Magazine June 2023

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?