Hook Norton Cutting walk with Naturalist and lecturer, Martin Catt.

What a great afternoon we had on Sunday, walking along the Cutting from the Swerford Road side towards Hook Norton. Martin has a vast knowledge of plants and wildlife and clearly enjoys helping others to learn about their surroundings. He pointed out many plants that our ancestors would have used for food and medicinal purposes and also how certain plant stems and branches would have been used to make household implements such as baskets. We learnt how to recognise parasites and fungus that can be seen on the underside of tree leaves, and how the different areas of soil in the Cutting influence the type and health of the plants that grow there. Martin answered our questions as we walked and we all came away with significantly more knowledge than we started with!

Martin will be giving a talk "Nature's wild harvest to 3,000 years BT (Before Tesco!)" on Tuesday 15th November at 7.30pm in the study centre at Hook Norton school. We are looking forward to more fascinating insights!