COUNTRYSIDE CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Britain’s largest National Park; venue of our Winterwatch 2019 (10) 7 High-flying songbird’s bit of fun (4) 9 Small woodland – good to wander (5) 10 A track for walkers (7) 11 Wooded valley ... in Howden Edge (4) 12 Excursions – and stumbles (5) 14 Lazy river flowing through Nottinghamshire! (4) 15 The common hawthorn (3,4) 17 Devon city at end of Fosse Way (6) 18 Pensioner? Might be associated with Mow or Coniston (3,3) 20 Circular trail of the heart of Scotland – some picnic at, er, Angus (7) 22 Nimble (4) 23 Move effortlessly along ... the seashore (5) 25 Heathland area (4) 27 Type of stile you might get through at a pinch! (7) 29 Fly ___, red-capped fungus – produces a cigar! (6) 30 Briefly, habitats designated as needing protection – from choppy seas (4) 31 Bat on dunes confused for bat with big feet! (10)

DOWN

2 A blooming nuisance on lakes etc. in summer (5) 3 Colony of crow relatives (7) 4/28 A Lake District summit – terrific finish (5,3) 5 Petrel I misrepresented as e.g. an adder (7) 6 See 26 Down 7 State of the sea required to walk to Cornwall’s St Michael’s Mount (3,4) 8 Majestic, spore-producing plant, Britain’s tallest (5,4) 13 A sign of exertion? Jumper, er, removed (5) 15 Significant events in life ... of a hiker? (9) 16 Like the inscriptions on Maeshowe – badly ruin top of cairn (5) 19 Nickname for cockchafers that appear in spring (7) 20 French architectural style of e.g. Waddesdon Manor in Bucks. (7) 21 E.g. hill fort’s defensive mound ... sheep on a section (7) 24 Bucks/Oxon river sounds rather uninspiring! (5) 26/6 Edible bulb plantlet put into the soil – one is not affected (5,3) 28 See 4 Down