Tuesday 10th November 2026 - Farewell, Visitor and Continuing Work

It was BBC’s Gardener’s World’s, prime presenter, Monty Don’s last programme on Friday evening.  Although, in the past, I never rated him, in recent years I’ve come to appreciate and value his extensive horticultural knowledge along with his honest and relaxed presentations.  I always watch the programmes on ‘catch up’ and on occasions, I’ve been able to say to Peter, regarding a particular vegetable – ‘Monty Don’s (whichever vegetable it was) aren’t as good as yours.’  During the latter part of his last programme, I recall Monty stating, ‘Gardening is not just a recreation, it’s a source of life’.   There are so many ways I can use the word ‘life’ in relation to our garden.  There is, watching plant life regenerating in spring, the sadness when the life of a plant comes to an end, the wildlife I enjoy watching when sat in the garden with a coffee or tea, the joy of life being out in our little piece of land on this planet etc.  Viewers of Gardener’s World are now left with the question; who will take over the role of prime presenter?  There has been a fair bit of speculation, with most favouring either Adam Frost or Frances Tophill.  I think, we won’t know the answer to until next Spring when the weekly topical programmes resume.

Sunday morning, we had a visitor in our garden; a hungry juvenile gull.  It was surprisingly tame, following us into the workshop and taking bread from my fingers.  Yes, I know I shouldn’t have encouraged it by feeding from my hand.  Still hungry, I emptied a sachet of fish flavoured cat food on the patio which it ate, had a drink from the wildlife water bowl, after which we decided it was time for it to leave.  Chasing it up the garden, it just ran ahead.  Later it tried to fly down the garden but couldn’t get enough height and plunged, rather than crashed, into the conservatory glass.  Without much speed, it was unharmed, just a little shocked.  It spent time perched on the top of one of the composters and then settled at the end of the garden, in the sun down the side of the greenhouse.  Head tucked under a wing it went to sleep.  Peter checked out on the internet and it’s quite normal for young gulls to stay on the ground until they can get the hang of flying.  Why it came into our garden, I don’t know.  It must have flown in as we are surrounded by fencing and trees.  Checking the garden, early afternoon, it was nowhere to be seen.  Maybe it remembered how it came into our garden and took the same route out.  We quite expected the gull to return for more food but we haven’t seen it since.  It’s gone, which is exactly how we wanted it to be; wild and free.  I took the photo, below, when the gull was strolling across our lawn.

Work is continuing, this week, on the repairs to the sea wall.  There is a far more powerful machine now, for removing by suction the sand, gravel and flints between the sheet piling and sea wall.  Talking with one of the workers, this afternoon, he told us they are pumping cement under the ramp via the void between the piling and the sea wall.  Cement mixers have been seen coming through village with their loads for pumping down the pipe, which is following the zigzag path to the beach.  The photo below was taken yesterday and shows the suction machine on the beach along with contactor’s other equipment and vehicles.