<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="/resources/xsl/"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
  <channel>
    <title>The Oxford Times | Out &amp; About</title>
    <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/</link>
    <description>The Oxford Times /leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/</description>
    <language>en-gb</language>
    <pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 10:49:36 +0100</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 10:49:36 +0100</lastBuildDate>
    <docs>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/rssterms/</docs>
    <generator>M6</generator>
    <managingEditor>nvincent@newsquest.co.uk (Nigel Vincent)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>webmaster@digitalmedia.newsquest.co.uk (Tim Joy)</webMaster>
    <image>
        <url>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/resources/images/999282/?type=rsslogo</url>
        <title>The Oxford Times | Out &amp; About</title>
        <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/</link>
    </image>
    <atom:link href="http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/rss/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<item>
           <title>Wetland site like no other is real haven</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10391128.Wetland_site_like_no_other_is_real_haven/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Skylarks fly high over the colourful wild flowers at Chimney Meadows nature reserve, filling the air with their bubbling, joyful song; across the wetland comes the plaintive call of the curlew.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 10:02:54 +0100</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">7010b3d582eb3703f5da464330023314</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Stick with rhubarb or risk missing out</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10375324.Stick_with_rhubarb_or_risk_missing_out/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I have just enjoyed a bowl of forced, home-grown, champagne-pink rhubarb, rushed from plot to plate in an hour, and it was sensational. If your garden doesn’t contain a clump you are missing out on an easy, culinary staple of spring and early summer. Put it right now by planting a crown in an open, sunny position. Within three years you’ll be picking. Your plant will live for years and, if it slows down and becomes huge but unproductive, you will need to divide it as it sleeps between November and March, although it does take muscle. Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, although designated as a fruit in America in 1947 for taxation purposes. Its ancestors originally grew on the shores of the River Volga or Rha. Chinese herbalists were grinding up the dried roots as early as 2700 BC. Anyone who has ever eaten a large bowl of fresh rhubarb will probably be able to guess the reason why. It was used it as a purgative. By the 16th century large amounts of money were being spent importing the powder into Britain from China, Siberia and the Himalayas.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:50:02 +0100</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">d94aa8a65e2146e4dac0cca8c30c8b23</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Have faith in bold, lively wallflowers</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10360550.Have_faith_in_bold__lively_wallflowers/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  As I write I’m still penned in by cold weather and, when I held a gardening lunch last week, I had the embarrassing experience of showing John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries and Hugh Nunn of Harvington Nurseries, both luminaries of the plant world, my wilting hellebores which looked as though they had been blow-torched. To compensate I’ve been idling away a few hours in the garden centres. Many of them are selling wallflowers. These spring-flowering plants used to be divided between Erysimum and Cheiranthus. Recently they were both shuffled into Erysimum and rightly so, for there are new modern wallflowers that offer the best of both. ‘Walberton’s Fragrant Star’ is a compact wallflower with variegated leaves and bright-yellow flowers. Like most perennial wallflowers it is sterile (ie, it can’t set seed) and this allows it to flower on for months on end. Wallflowers are commonly called Gilly Flowers, along with other scented plants that include pinks, sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis), sweet William and stocks. These were the flowers our ancestors adored, because of their spicy fragrance. The name Gilly comes from the French word Giroflier which is the common name of the clove tree. Cloves were so expensive that most people couldn’t afford them so flower petals were used instead. One dianthus is even called ‘Sops in Wine’. Fragrant wallflowers have been grown in gardens for centuries and they are associated with faithful undying love following a tragic accident that occurred at Neidpath Castle on the banks of the River Tweed in Scotland in the 14th century. The Earl of March’s daughter, Elizabeth, had fallen in love with a young nobleman from a rival clan, Scott of Tushielaw. However her father wanted her to marry the future king of Scotland instead. The strong-willed Elizabeth refused and her father locked her up in the tower as a punishment. The handsome Scott disguised himself as a minstrel and serenaded her whilst they made plans to elope. When the time came to go Elizabeth fell to her death, landing close to a sprig of wallflower growing along the tower’s wall. The broken-hearted Scott set off to wander through the land wearing a sprig of wallflower. This tragedy was commemorated in a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674).
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">03239948572fa54c4b910a40b0cd84e7</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Underwater delights are really close</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10316205.Underwater_delights_are_really_close/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  The Great Barrier Reef, the Red Sea and the Bahamas have a new and unexpected rival for the hallowed title of best snorkelling spot — the UK.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:16:51 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">fd44b3fb28a1a38c57cc1fd9107a4e5c</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Value your foliage by avoiding blight</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10305054.Value_your_foliage_by_avoiding_blight/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  I grew up in London somewhat oblivious to the seasons, because so much of suburbia is covered in asphalt, tarmac or paving stones. Admittedly leaves fell in autumn and there were daffodils in spring, but the whole year seem to fuse together. It came as something of a shock when, aged 16, I found myself in the regency town of Leamington Spa. The parks in Leamington were glorious (and probably still are) and I can remember my first true spring when I became fully aware of new foliage, bird song and warmth. Cherry blossom, all heavy skirted and pink, seemed to line every road.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:58:10 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">9fb0eea1119e56a38762b7620c0bc24b</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Cormorants move could be a disaster</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10305040.Cormorants_move_could_be_a_disaster/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  The cormorant, alongside the grey heron and the kestrel, is one of a handful of birds that is universally recognised, even by people with little or no knowledge of birdwatching. Striking, noticeably large and with a penchant for prominent perches, this is a bird with which Britons have developed a subconscious familiarity. But it seems familiarity has bred contempt, for in some quarters the species is described as “black plague” and “black death”. Such emotive language shouldn’t come as a surprise. The cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo, is an extraordinary bird whose very appearance prompts strong reactions. In some ways it seems a throwback species; not duck, not gull, not auk, but something much, much older. With an intense, grey-eyed stare, a reptilian, sinuous neck, and an alarming habit of standing motionless — wings drying outstretched in the manner of a demonic crucifix — cormorants tend to grab your attention. In older times, their presence was seen as an omen of doom, but this perception has grown rather than diminished to many modern-day anglers. The reason for this animosity is because anglers and cormorants have a common interest — fish. Webbed feet and that snake-like neck make cormorants supreme fishers. So effective are their skills that anglers believe the birds are seriously depleting fish stocks, damaging coarse fisheries and in turn, ruining their sport. Cormorants have never been the fisherman’s friend, but their relationship took a decidedly downward direction when the birds were afforded official protection more than 30 years ago. About 9,000 pairs breed annually in the UK. But recently the cormorant’s slightly smaller European cousin, the subspecies Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis, began overwintering in the UK, with more than 35,000 now descending on our waterways during the colder months. This additional number is putting unbearable strain upon our coarse fishing stocks, in particular roach and dace, claim the anglers. A licence can be sought to kill the birds if there is proof of overfishing. But anglers, led by the Angling Trust, want the Government to place the birds on General Licence, a status for pest species, meaning cormorants could be shot without limitation or record. Martin Salter, national campaigns co-ordinator at the Angling Trust, said: “Our fisheries used to have a sustainable balance between predator and prey. Since they received protection, cormorant numbers have exploded from a couple of thousand overwintering birds to between 25,000 and 30,000. “There has been massive damage to fish stocks. In some rivers, indigenous species which have existed happily since the Ice Age are now facing extinction. “We believe that placing the birds on General Licence will make life easier for fishery managers and angling clubs to protect vulnerable fish stocks from unsustainable levels of predation without endangering the conservation status of the cormorants.” Environmentalists disagree. The UK holds internationally important wintering numbers of cormorant and the RSPB believes placing the birds on General Licence could prove disastrous. The RSPB’s Grahame Madge said: “It is likely to have an adverse impact on their conservation status by sending the cormorant population into decline. “There are already a wide range of options available to fisheries to limit the natural predation of fish by birds. This includes non-lethal scaring, habitat management and the use of fish refuges. “There is no evidence that cormorants cause serious damage to fisheries on a national scale; therefore, adding cormorants to the General Licence is unjustified.”
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:56:37 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">e242de87da4112d59a7ad1d39bc4720d</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Peas sweet choice for hedonistic gardeners</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10286263.Peas_sweet_choice_for_hedonistic_gardeners/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Last week I had an email celebrating the late Christopher Lloyd of Great Dixter, written by his great-nephew, also a Christopher. This wonderful gardener and bon viveur died seven years ago aged 84, but his equally wonderful garden in East Sussex lives on, overseen by Fergus Garret, another inspirational gardener.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">d007581d14b4baf8fb8f571fc1432173</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Exercise and effort gives fun in a fen</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10286254.Exercise_and_effort_gives_fun_in_a_fen/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Together with fellow volunteer James, I arrive at the entrance to Parsonage Moor, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), on a bright, frosty February morning. Spring is definitely in the air and a long broad fen lies before us.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:23:04 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">723d64211dad1ded0dd19c9724cc7111</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Tree planting delivers a rich wild harvest</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10270408.Tree_planting_delivers_a_rich_wild_harvest/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Here’s to thee, old apple tree that blooms well. Hats full, caps full, three bushel bags full and all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!”
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:03:07 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">8b70cf794610df250cf54e5557cf9faf</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Report shines light on the value of our moths</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10255346.Report_shines_light_on_the_value_of_our_moths/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Have you seen a True Lover’s Knot or Merveille du Jour in your garden recently? These, and hundreds of moths like them, many with poetic names, are essential elements of our natural ecosystem.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:57:50 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">16ce5357c15c8f4330a914487032d3f1</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Childrern fire up their imagination</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10225592.Childrern_fire_up_their_imagination/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Mud squelches under our feet and leaves tickle our faces as we search deep into the woods. Birds are singing in the branches overhead, but we’re looking for dragons!
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:52:34 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">731e51e790db2de65b45662badcd9188</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>It's time to winter prune trees</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10216785.It_s_time_to_winter_prune_trees/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Hopefully the worst of the winter has passed so it’s safe to winter prune your fruit trees. Apple and pear trees can be tackled now, although pruning should only be done in clement weather. Stone fruits, such as cherry, apricot, plum and peach, are pruned very lightly in summer instead, once the sap is running and capable of sealing any open wounds. Prune now and fungal diseases like Silver leaf (Chondrostereum purpureum) could enter the tree via the wounds. The theory behind pruning is to promote fruit buds rather than lots of straight-up, leafy growth. In winter, the leading shoots which are growing upwards or outwards, depending on the shape of the variety, generally have a third of the new growth reduced. Once the leaders are shortened, the buds further down will shoot and produce small side branches. These side branches are summer-pruned back to one or two leaves, usually in July or August when the new wood has begun to harden up. This two-stage pruning system promotes fruiting spurs which look like nobbly growths on older trees. These contain fruit buds and these are plumper and rounder than the smaller leaf buds, often with downier scales.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:20:30 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">d7973d400ea9ba74f0b073e31c5efbc3</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Taking a walk on the wild side of the city</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10216770.Taking_a_walk_on_the_wild_side_of_the_city/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  &nbsp;
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:15:57 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">cde0b32d83845e651f9095f50c4d1c61</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>A wizard weekend at The Grove with Harry Potter in Hertfordshire</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10189091.A_wizard_weekend_at_The_Grove_with_Harry_Potter_in_Hertfordshire/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  So, the Christmas decorations have been stashed away for another year, along with all those good intentions. But if you have children to entertain, you no doubt have a house full of plastic and a desperation to sprinkle some Magic® on this bleakest of months.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:02:04 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">dc38694d949b29251f0b2d0dc46599c1</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Seed-sowing season has me full of beans</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10180466.Seed_sowing_season_has_me_full_of_beans/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  If you haven’t acquired your seeds for next year, do it as soon as you can. I have mine tucked away in the shed in a mouse-proof wooden box. I tend to stick to tried-and-tested favourites when it comes to vegetables, but every now and then a new goody pops up and performs so well that it displaces something else in my top ten. The hybrid Runner bean x French bean cross, ‘Moonlight’, came out three or four years ago and it has done well for me in dry and wet summers. Developed by British breeding by Tozer Seeds (and a difficult cross) it has self-fertile cream flowers able to set in a range of temperatures. This is a definite advantage as the traditional red-flowered forms have a habit of dropping their flowers if night-time temperatures get above 16C (62F ). Moonlight’s tasty beans are runner-bean sized in length, but have the plump profile of the French bean. Being a hybrid, the plants are vigorous and robust. I still grow ordinary grow runner beans including the red-flowered ‘Polestar’, the white-flowered ‘White Lady’ and the early ‘Red Rum’. I also find room for some climbing French beans too. They include the purple ‘Blauhilde’ and the green ‘Cobra’. Climbing French beans are less prone to slug damage than dwarf varieties, although I do plant a few ‘Stanley’ in the gaps left by lifted early potatoes.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:12:20 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">b7ad3f928f8b0b4d30fb1a1a5cb1c7ab</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Shy summer visitor faces extinction</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10180458.Shy_summer_visitor_faces_extinction/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  The New Year’s resolutions of birdwatchers tend to differ significantly from those of the general public. Pledges of extra hours spent slaving away in the gym or enduring the hardships of forgoing alcohol and cigarettes are unlikely to be at the top of the list. For birders, a zealous bunch, vow to ‘do more’, with resolutions ranging from seeing more species in their local patch, catching up with those birds that have always eluded them, or seeing a new list of exotics on a trip abroad. But for many, 2013 will also feature a far more poignant pledge – to see one of our most beautiful and iconic species before it becomes extinct in the UK. For as the new year dawns, the unwanted spectre of extinction is hovering over one of our best-loved farmland birds. The turtle dove, one of the stars of the Yuletide carol The Twelve Days Of Christmas, has shuffled forward to take its place on the precipice as the most likely candidate to disappear from our list of breeding UK birds.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">e09d6724adc40d8d1a2d6a8a2d1c39ba</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Gardens can hold key to saving lives</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10165712.Gardens_can_hold_key_to_saving_lives/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  The fabulous sound of a thrush pouring out its song from the top of a tree in my neighbour’s garden heralded the warm sun on New Year’s Day, and reminded me that when the sun shines even wildlife feel better.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:24:19 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">d573478eb8ca6703cba50b4a5bc1b92a</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Spectacular sights cure winter blues</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10150324.Spectacular_sights_cure_winter_blues/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  Winter is my favourite time of year to get and about in search of extraordinary wildlife. Huge flocks of birds create impressive spectacles as they wheel and swoop across the fields, and fresh frosts or snow can reveal the presence of otherwise secretive animals.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:44:14 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">b3957a2aff621799f214b2609e7be426</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Don't be put off by the TV</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10139624.Don_t_be_put_off_by_the_TV/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  A couple of weeks ago, I was late for work. Just one day. But it is a rare happening in my household.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:56:47 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">b1b11e4a6cce7ba7e7fddb0f28e4fae3</guid>
    </item>


    <item>
           <title>Winter visit from the butcher bird</title>
           
           <link>http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/leisure/outdoor/out_and_about/10139593.Winter_visit_from_the_butcher_bird/?ref=rss</link>
           
           
           <description><![CDATA[
  As trees are left brittle and naked in the hardening cold, a ghoulish presence silently takes up watch amid the frozen landscape. Folklore and old country tales pay grudging homage to this assassin’s art – ‘butcher bird’ and ‘murdering pie’ vie with a long litany of ominous nicknames. Geoffrey Chaucer labelled this dispatcher as ‘wariangle’, a mouthful of a word derived from the Germanic ‘wurchangel’, meaning destroying angel. To build up a century-spanning reputation for malice takes some doing, especially when the bird in question is only slightly stockier than a song thrush. But the great grey shrike is no ordinary bird, for it is a practitioner of dismemberment and torture – habits that lend credence to the claim that the butcher bird is the most sinister of all the visitors that descend upon our green and pleasant land. Those lucky enough to gain a fleeting audience with the shrike could little guess at its barbarous habits as this is a strikingly beautiful bird. Ash-grey upper parts contrast with a belly of clotted cream; the unforgiving, hooked beak gives way exquisitely to a bandit’s mask of smeared charcoal. The shrike, always upright, always alert, asserts itself on the frozen landscape, keeping watch from an exposed vantage point. Despite its diminutive size, this is a bird possessing star quality. Each year the UK is peppered with about 200 overwintering great grey shrikes, birds fleeing the punishing Scandinavian cold to seek out richer pickings in the comparatively mild UK. They arrive, on the east coast at first, in autumn and many stay throughout winter and into spring (sometimes as late as April or May), when they migrate back to their breeding grounds in Scandinavia. Shrikes are generally encountered as individuals – highly territorial, as befitting their feisty character, they do not tolerate rivals. Heathland, farmland, scrub, clear-felled areas of forestry and coastal dunes are promising places to seek out a murdering pie. Look for exposed perches in these landscapes such as fences and high branches as they provide key spots from which the bird can hunt, for it is the shrike’s hunting habits that are responsible for its X-rated reputation. Shrikes will devour most small creatures, from beetles, mice, tits and frogs to occasionally tackling bigger prey such as stoats and fieldfare. The bird swoops on its prey, disabling it with a series of heavy cracks to the head from its heavy, gun-metal grey bill. The victim is then carried to the shrike’s dismembering chamber, usually a thorn-bush, or barbed wire fence. Here, the prey is impaled on a suitable spike and once secured, torn into bite-sized shreds. The butcher bird has also mastered the art of skinning; the warty noxious hide of a toad deters most predators – not the shrike, though. The bird rips open the toad’s back skin and pulls it over the amphibian’s head, cleverly avoiding the poisons. The macabre collection of tiny bodies impaled on a thorn bush, like demonic Christmas tree decorations, are a telltale sign that a shrike has taken up a winter residency.
]]></description>
           <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:49:18 +0000</pubDate>
           <guid isPermaLink="false">9f7f87c76991126dd2a241935864f13a</guid>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>