This is a common occurrence in western parts which are wetter than here, but the last
time I lost tomatoes to Blight was in 1968, a long time ago. The little Cherry tomatoes
fared worst, but the Golden Sunrise yellow ones were less infected and the Potato-
leaved red ones hardly at all. Although August was a bit grey and humid, the Blight did
not appear until much later, and September, as we all know, was unusually warm and
dry. So why they succumbed in October is beyond my understanding.
The next tale is of insects on the Brentwood hills. We went hunting fungi, of course, in
Weald Country Park a mile or two west of Brentwood. Passing a large old Oak, with
heavy branches hanging down all round, my friend said 'what is that?', pointing at what
might have been a large fungus on the side of the tree trunk. Going closer, we saw
Hornets, a great many of them, and the supposed fungus was actually their nest (see
plates 3 and 4). Now Hornets are common in countries further south, so we both
recognised them, but they are not everyday insects in Essex. We both came back the
next day with our respective husbands, who duly photographed them, and found the
large insects quite scary in close-up. I know Hornets are usually fairly docile, but they
have a fierce sting! A week or so later I was talking to the Rangers there and they knew
of another nest in an old Oak by the lake, lower down the same slope, and they suspected
there was another higher up but had not found it. So there were two in one Park, not all
that far apart, about 400m. Peter Harvey, to whom 1 reported this, said that up till about
a decade or so ago, Hornets were indeed quite scarce, but they were now much more
common. Another aspect of global warming, 1 suppose.
A few days after the Hornets adventure, some friends came to visit and brought us half
of a fresh Giant Puffball. It must have been about 30cm diameter, and it was all pure
white, with a beautiful soft suede-like skin. I chopped it into large cubes and we ate it as
our main vegetable for two days in a row (yes, one meal it was cooked with bacon and
onions!), and it was delicious and very filling. This is a fungus you cannot possibly
mistake for anything else, unlike Horse Mushrooms and Yellow Stainers!
Winter began in November. We had some gorgeous bright sunny days but it was chilly,
and frost each night for most of the first week. The spring flowers quickly gave up, and
the fungi went down again. Leaves came off trees by the bushel. The autumn was very
short: about a week in late October.
At the time of writing this last bit in late November, I have just given the lawn its last cut
for the year (or, at least, I hope it is the last cut it will need) and raked up leaves all over
the place. Temperatures are low, afternoons get dark at 4pm, and flie shops are full of
Christmas things. I rather dislike the winter, but we have to have winter to have spring,
summer and autumn. In some parts of the world, Singapore, for example, humid tropics
on the equator, temperatures range only a few degrees either side of 30°C all year round,
day and night. Wonderful orchids are in flower all year round, and fruit trees have long
months of yielding ripe fruit. In some ways I love it like this, but it would be boring if
you never have the variety of the seasons. I think I will stay where I am!
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 52, January 2007 7