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SOME OF THE GORSE bushes on Storrs Hill are still in bloom. I don't think I've seen them entirely devoid of flower this year. In the middle of December, on a cold clear day, it's good to see their brilliant yellow against the pure blue of the sky.The rough slope reminds me of Thomas Hardy's fictional Egdon Heath . I once cut a branch of flowering gorse here for a scene from The Return of the Native for a student, Kathy Still , who was illustrating a series of Hardy postcards.
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By a garden fountain a spiky foliage plant has been converted into a pendulous ice-sculpture. A branch by the stream in the wood bears three perfect T.rex-like teeth, formed from crystal clear ice.
At the hoar-frosted edge of the wood we see a Song Thrush . This species seems to have declined locally compared with the Mistle Thrush .
By the towpath, White Deadnettle, which is still in flower, has been bowed over by the keen frost. I guess that it will recover.