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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 5d

Meadowsweet having a new floral flush, after the ditch mower has passed.
#wildflowerhour

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 6d

Yes, it's an ideal place to live!

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 6d

Entertaining game at Deal Town in the gale-force wind. Deal won 2-0 v Sevenoaks - gulls, pigeons and starlings in attendance @stevewg.bsky.social @lowcarbonkev.bsky.social

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 7d

It’s #UKFungusDay apparently.
So a good opportunity to post this.

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 8d

Plenty of gulls fly over, but the incessant drum keeps most birds away. And me.
Good habitat restoration work by DDC behind the stands, and the old terraces of the rugby/cricket ground have orchids, chalk species and adders. But not on the pitch.

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Reposted by Steve

Josiah Mortimer @josiah.writes.news · 10d

Some good news.

London is meeting legal limits for toxic NO2 pollution for the first time – almost 200 years earlier than predicted – following the Mayor’s "world leading air pollution policies," City Hall announces.

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone - and similar policies - really do work.

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 12d

A large ragweed plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia, suspiciously near a bird-feeder.
#wildflowerhour

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 12d

Hereabouts there’s a (small) chance of finding Spiny Restharrow so it becomes a habit to touch any Restharrow plant you see.
Usually you just get an unpleasant smell, but very occasionally you also get a painful spike!
#wildflowerhour

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Reposted by Steve

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 16d

4/ Using evidence gathered from old postcards, maps and the accounts of shepherds and botanists, I want to rebuild a picture of the chalk downland that existed until the 1940s - and in doing so, help efforts to restore it.

Please get involved here:

ghostsofchalkcountry.org/2025/09/14/h...

How old postcards reveal the destruction of chalk downland

This post is by Guy Shrubsole. Rifling through boxes of old postcards in junk shops is, admittedly, not my coolest pastime. But it’s something I’ve started doing of late, because some o…

ghostsofchalkcountry.org

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Reposted by Steve

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · 16d

2/ THE GHOSTS OF CHALK COUNTRY will be a book about the ecology of our chalk downs, but it will also be about ancient fertility rites, shepherds, soldiers, organic fascists, pagan activists & English identity.

It's also a project to resurrect the ghosts:

ghostsofchalkcountry.org/2025/09/14/i...

Introducing… The Ghosts of Chalk Country

Image: Chalk Paths by Eric Ravilious, 1935. This post is by Guy Shrubsole. ‘The Ghosts of Chalk Country’ is a forthcoming book by Guy Shrubsole, to be published by William Collins in 20…

ghostsofchalkcountry.org

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 19d

Good to refind skullcap by the Delf Stream, Sandwich.
#wildflowerhour

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 21d

Find of the day in an East Kent ditch…. a water stick insect Ranatra linearis.

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · 26d

In a summer spent bog-wading along Kentish ditches, two species stand out.
Greater bladderwort, too inaccessible for a photo, and tubular water-dropwort.
#wildflowerhour #favouriteplant

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Sep 10

Greater bladderwort and narrow-leaved water-plantain north of Deal, in the same ditches as recorded in 1982.

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Sep 10

Botanical challenges part II
- livestock in the field

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Sep 9

A young adder close in a municipal park in Dover.

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Sep 9

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Canterbury green space officially made Local Wildlife Site

Old Park and Chequers Wood in Canterbury supports declining species of reptiles, birds and plants.

www.bbc.com

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Sep 8

Impressive reedbeds created as part of housing development by the Great (Kent) Stour. @chequertree.bsky.social

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Sep 7

Teaching the next generation about Himalayan balsam - noli-tangere
#wildflowerhour

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Reposted by Steve

Gavin Esler @gavinesler.bsky.social · Sep 5

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · Sep 5

“Farage claimed last year to have “bought a house” in his constituency but the property is actually owned in the name of his partner, meaning he legally avoided higher-rate stamp duty on the purchase of an additional home – given he already owns other properties”

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Nigel Farage uses private company to pay less tax on GB News earnings

Exclusive: Reform leader’s use of personal services firm is a practice criticised across the political spectrum

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Steve

Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · Sep 5

On the same day in the Telegraph:

The Telegraph

Rayner tax scandal - £40k tax dodge - Statement

Angela Rayner dodges £40,000 stamp duty

Deputy Prime Minister reduces tax bill for Hove flat by declaring it as her main residence

[Photo: Angela Rayner pictured at the weekend in Hove, where she has just bought a flat Credit: Dan Charity/The Sun on Sunday]

Robert Mendick Chief Reporter. Amy Gibbons Political Correspondent

29 August 2025 8:57am BST

The Telegraph

Money > Property > Second homes

How to avoid tax on your second home

From stamp duty to council tax, shield your wealth from Labour's tightening net

[Photo of houses around a bay - Areas such as Cornwall have added a premium to council tax bills for second homes Credit: iStockphoto]

Fran Ivens Senior Money Writer

29 August 2025 1:21pm BST

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Aug 31

One of a host of autumn ladies’-tresses popping up under the cannons of Walmer Castle #wildflowerhour

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Aug 31

Sea aster just starting to flower in front of the White Cliffs of Kingsdown.
#wildflowerhour

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Aug 30

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Steve @kingsdowner.bsky.social · Aug 30

A strange call erupted from a nearby garden and had to be investigated- eventually shows itself to be a Sudan Golden Sparrow - presumably escaped from somewhere. Or, given the racket it makes, shooed out of the house.

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