IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Windmill Lane, COWBRIDGE, CF71 7HX

Celandines on grass verge of main road between Llanblethian and Cowbridge. Note the wall-mounted red postbox

Steps leading down to Cowbridge from Llanblethian.

If I am not mistaken these houses will be contemporary with, and perhaps part of, the Garden City developments of the early Twentieth Century.

This OS cut mark can be found on Porth Y Green. It marks a point 46.177m above mean sea level.

Conker tree in park in Cowbridge

This OS Flush Bracket can be found on the south face of the school. It marks a point 39.867m above mean sea level.

In what might be considered an idyllic landscape rapidly growing invaders of the hedgerows have sprung into life. I believe this to be Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera), an introduced horticultural specimen, related to the Busy Lizzie, that came to Britain in 1839 and has since escaped to become a major nuisance in the wild. It is the tallest annual in the UK growing up to 3 metres tall in a season before dying back in autumn. An attractive plant with a distinctive purple pink flower that belies its destructive nature. Its flower has led to its slang name of 'Policeman's Helmet'- not that I have seen any poicemen wearing pink helmets as yet! Each plant can produce up to 800 seeds and these are explosively released when their pods are mature. The 'explosion' can project the seeds up to 7 metres from the parent plant. This highly effective dispersal method enables the plant to rapidly colonise the damp and riparian habitats that it usually favours. The seeds may be further spread by water, explaining its favoured environment, and can remain viable for 2 years

Summer 2008. River Thaw as high as sometimes in February.

The bridge across the river takes walkers through a children's play area, past a school and into the old part of town that is rarely visited by those who use the town primarily for shopping.