We’re on the cusp of May and the green is calling. It’s time to get outside, rain or not. The days are lengthening and becoming (slightly) warmer so pull on your walking boots, pack a mac and explore somewhere.
If you’re in the South of England at any time, why not adventure to the tiny village of Bosham in Sussex. There’s a pub, a few shops, an ancient run of cottages overlooking a small creekside harbour and a walkway that arches you into the bay, swans accompanying either side.
For a small place, it packs an historical punch. The Romans were in Bosham first; legend has it that Emperor Vespasian had a palace here. In the early Middle Ages it was named in the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation’ by the Venerable Bede and appears in the Bayeux Tapestry as the meeting place between Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson before he became Harold, last of the Anglo Saxon kings. Bosham shows up some years later in the Domesday Book as one of the wealthiest manors in the country.
(Created after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.)
There’s a beautiful medieval church too, its pale tower a witness to all of this history. Some say that the old church bell, stolen by Viking raiders, can still be heard ringing under the harbour depths. Some say that Harold himself was buried here after his death at the Battle of Hastings.
Below the church runs the Bosham Stream and by its side stands a new sign commissioned by the National Trust. It shows visitors something of the wildlife that relies on the water. Along the banks find the burrows of water voles amongst the spears of water speedwell and lacy water parsnip. Look for marsh marigold and blunt-fruited water-starwort here too. The waters themselves provide homes for white-clawed crayfish, lanky water boatmen and cheerful frogs amongst other creatures. Common blue damselflies and dragonflies zip and hover above.
The stream is small but, like Bosham itself, is more significant than it looks. Chalk streams, as I’ve mentioned here many times before, are an incredibly rare and endangered habitat. The UK has 80% of the few that are still left in the world.
And yes, this sign with its simple illustration looks fairly innocuous too but perhaps, like Bosham, has an equally big story. It does some heavy lifting by spreading the word about this amazing environment and reminds us how we can take care of it in small but ultimately meaningful ways.
So on this May Eve, get out, find some green. Learn about where you live. Perhaps there’s more to value and more to protect than you realise.
Give your home the love it deserves…
Happy May Day to you all.
Helen Cann News 