A big big thank you to the staff of the Devon Wildlife Trust and Natural England who turned out to help us reclaim a bit of the nature reserve from invading willow and bramble this week. After what seemed like endless rain, we had sunshine on the day and they turned this...

....into this. It may not look like much in mid winter, but it has rescued shaded tussocks of purple moor grass and will let us get the cows in to graze, and so sustain, the habitat.

We've even managed to get a bit more light back into the 'magic disappearing pond', which was once so overgrown we sometimes had trouble locating it!

The ground was sodden, and parts now look like the battlefield on the Somme, but it should green up soon - I can't wait to see what comes up with a little light and a bit of a stir up of the seedbank.