We need to create more rural footpaths

WALKING with my partner Ann down to Penponds Woods near Camborne recently, we were astounded by the high level of wood anemones in flower this year, enchantingly nodding their beautiful white flushed pink heads in the slight breeze. There is a large bank of wood anemones in Pendarves Woods but this has slightly declined.

The lifecycle of wood anemones is biologically somewhat elusive, they are in flower and leaf for such a short time they are difficult to study. Like bluebells they are synchronised to flower before the tree canopy has put them in shadow.

It was thought that they spread mostly by rhizomes and that the seeds are mostly infertile. However, recent studies have put that in some doubt as new research explores the wood anemone’s relationship with other species, including ants, the hoverfly and a fungi called the anemone cup. It has been a bit of a mystery why the wood anemones are not more widely dispersed rather than the odd clusters. Another reason may be their sensitivity to herbicides and other chemicals used in agriculture penetrating water courses of woodlands.

Because anemones spread only about six feet every hundred years they are seen as a very good indicator of ancient woodlands and forests. The yearly active underground life cycle of the anemone is from March to August.

After walking through these woods for nearly 50 years, you can see why we were so delighted to find so many have spread over a whole hillside through the woods descending down to the pretty and delightful stream below.

But there is bad news. South

West Water want to drive a surface water overflow pipeline involving a wide trench, from a new housing development right down the middle of these beautiful and special plants that are such a true indicator of a healthy environment.

May I just say this is one of the reasons why the new proposed Countryside Trespass laws must be stopped in their tracks in Parliament.

Malpractice in the countryside must be transparent to the general public, and walkers are in the ideal position to observe the state of wildlife, the environment and the prevention of cruelty to animals in a way that official bodies could never do. We need to open up the countryside and create far more footpaths, not less. And hopefully future generations will be able to walk and observe the annual dawning of spring laced with the delicacy and wonder of the beautiful wood anemone.

Please report any species observations to the Biological Records Centre at www.brc.ac.uk

Philip C Hills Camborne, Cornwall