This is the time between seasons. As the evenings draw in, it gives us the impression of shorter days. This illusion often takes us by surprise and tricks us into summer time expectations. Unusually this autumn, those expectations were reinforced by the UK experiencing one of the warmest and sunniest Septembers on record. We are now in October and despite a noticeable chill in the mornings and evenings, those glorious and benign sunlit days continue, especially where I live in the south of England.

It seems that suddenly the sun slips away to rest leaving a marked nip in the air and sending us reaching for our jackets and warmer clothes.

I always find this an exciting time of year as the trees put on a new and vibrant set of clothes. Reds, oranges, yellows all join in the display. This year, because the heavy rain we had earlier left the soil moist, this splendid spectacle has been delayed. Each year, with my camera at the ready, I wander through woods surrounded by the towering beeches, oaks - all guardians of the wood, looking for the many mushrooms hiding under the fallen leaves or rotten wood, and all the other treasures with which nature provides us. The picture of acers below was taken by my sister Amanda Spence at Winkworth Arboretum, near Godalming, Surrey.

Looking at this image, it is hard to imagine and understand what is happening in the outside world all around us. Thankfully climate change is high on the agenda and I am praying that something concrete may come out of the Cop26 meeting in Glasgow at the end of this month. I have the feeling that we are all getting tired of talk without much action.

I know I am not alone in this dismay. When visiting Cardiff to open the Welsh parliament this week our Queen was overheard to say to her daughter in law, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and the presiding officer Elin Jones: “I’ve been hearing all about COP … I still don’t know who’s coming.”

On the recording, parts of which are inaudible, the queen also appears to say it is “irritating” when “they talk, but they don’t do.”

The Queen, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, along with many world leaders will be attending the conference. This is an opportunity for real and well considered action. This action is needed for future generations and the many young people who are growing up really concerned and actively showing an interest and wanting to do something concrete about the current situation.

Earlier in the week, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, when speaking at the Youth4Climate conference in Milan, mocked the world leaders for their lack of action in doing nothing but ‘blah, blah, blah'.

How difficult it was for many people during the three lockdowns, but I do believe that they may have produced an unexpected and important wake-up call. For the first time, due to the lockdowns, many more people have become aware of the wildlife all around them and suddenly brought to mind the perilous situation in which many species are close to extinction or desperately striving to exist. The destruction of our precious Brazilian rainforests where many species of wild life once existed, in order to grow more and more palm oil for our greedy and ignorant consumption, seems to be ignored. If it continues it will cause the rapid disruption of our planet, accelerating the climate change it brings with it. We all need to start thinking seriously on a macro level. Perhaps just to start by not buying any goods containing palm oil would be a start.
Google tells us “Unbelievably, more than 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day. That is more than 150 acres lost every minute of every day, and 78 million acres lost every year! More than 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest is already gone, and much more is severely threatened as the destruction continues.”

The link below will show you how the world’s rain forests are being destroyed.
https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/palm-oil-deforestation
On a happier note, my sister and I give each other the choice of doing something or visiting somewhere of interest on our respective birthdays.

This time it was my sister’s choice, as her birthday was last month. Fortunately we both have very similar interests and this year she chose Ham House, near Richmond, London (which I had been hoping to visit). It was a balmy September day and we were in no hurry.

As we reached Ham House we drove through the village, passing some really splendidly large Queen Anne and classical Georgian houses. The village of Ham was first recorded around 1150 and the name was taken from the Old English hamm, which in this instance meant ‘land in a river bend’. Henry V acquired the manor of Hamme Upkyngeston in 1415, thus bringing the village into a closer relationship with the royal estate at Richmond upon Thames.

“Built in 1610 for Sir Thomas Vavasour, knight marshal to James VI and I. Said to present more aspects of 17th-century life than any other house in the country, it was the meeting place of the Cabal, Charles II’s leading advisers between 1667 and 1673. “

Situated close to the river Thames in Ham, south of Richmond, it seems to be placed in a rural village and not in the London Borough of Richmond a few miles away.

When originally built, Ham House would have been surrounded by meadows.

“From the 1870s the farms began to convert to market gardening, cultivating fruit, beans and cabbages. Near the end of the 19th century, the Dysarts began to sell their land for development and villas were built for the upper middle classes.

“The council built some ‘homes for heroes’ after the First World War, and gravel and grit extraction created large pits - which have since been filled. In 1922–3 the extraction company constructed a lock and a dock, where the Thames Young Mariners are now based.

Ham polo club was founded in 1926. Polo ceased at Hurlingham and Barn Elms in 1939 and at Roehampton in 1955, so Ham is now the only place in Greater London where the game is played.”

Ham House

We had all day to wander and this we did, starting with the garden as rain was forecast for later. The garden had fallen into disrepair until the National Trust took over the estate in 1948 and gradually set about bringing the garden back to its original glorious formal state. Long avenues down which one would parade with small paths leading off, allows one to capture glimpses of wonderfully enticing vistas.

Part of the garden has been laid out as the Union Jack but this would only be visible if seen from above. However the layout is clearly visible from this ground plan.

Resting house

The Cherry Garden, presided over by the statue of Bacchus

There were also enticing gaps cut out at regular places in the yew hedge surrounding the garden, though which one could catch a glimpse of the garden beyond.

A glimpse through the yew hedge.

The Hornbeam Tunnel

This is a garden of such peaceful excitement and inspiration that if I lived closer it would become a place to visit regularly; a place of magic, as excitement after excitement unfolds before one’s eyes as first one wanders down one path and then the next and the next; a place where dreams drift in and out and all woes and troubles disappear for just a precious moment.

The interior of Ham House was no less inspiring. It was created by William Murray. As a child he was educated with Charles 1. His daughter Elizabeth married the Earl of Lauderdale and they set about filling the house with treasures from around the world. Each generation added to its splendour.
As we walked round we both felt the sense of a family house. Despite its grandeur, it seemed more a used family home than a stately house. Ham House is known for its fine collection of cabinets - one of the most important in the country. Cabinets despite having been used in Roman times, in the 17th century they became more important and were an indication of wealth. They were brought to Ham House from all over the world, from countries such as China, Japan and Holland. The craftsmanship is of the very finest order. They are mainly kept closed in order to preserve the magnificent colours of the carved interiors and protect the original hinges.
I felt a sense of happiness and permanence as we wandered around, surrounded by family portraits by famous artists such as Peter Lely. Indeed on chatting to one of the guides, this was confirmed as the Tollemach and Dysart families, and descendants of the Murrays, often come and visit.

Tired and very happy, we drove home, comparing notes of our visit.

My calendar has arrived!!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is not so far away. This has been drawn to my attention by the arrival of my 2022 calendar. A great friend helped me deal with almost 100 back orders. A great sense of relief as the last was safely tucked into its envelope. Taking them all to the Post Office the next day is always a bit of a worry, as laden with bags full of calendars to go all over the world means that the queue of people standing behind me grows longer and longer! Great apologies!

Having posted the backlog, I try to do the orders every day and then take them down to the Post Office on the same day if I possibly can. I have had some really lovely reports. I do so hope you will enjoy yours.

I know that Pam Gregory`s latest forecast is appreciated by many people:

I have seen this before but it remains unbelievably beautiful xxxx

With my love and best wishes

Lucy.

After a quiet patch, the circles seem to have taken on a new lease of life and are galloping along, springing into action with renewed vigour and energy. Tra la, tra la.

With the dreadful fires threatening homes, lives, animals, flora and fauna, I realise how fortunate we are here in the UK. We may moan about the amount of rain we get, and for which we are notoriously famous - and indeed we are getting more and more - but there is no doubt about it, we are extremely lucky on the whole. However, there is much to do if we are to play our part in saving the planet.

As we live our daily lives we notice how different certain things have become over the years. For example, as I walk down the tramlines in the fields, it is a job to find any wildlife, whereas when I first started researching the crop circles, I used to find lots of little beetles and all manner of bugs and other wildlife. Nowadays the ground in the fields is bare. No secondary life, and it feels like concrete. I can only think that this situation is due to excessive agricultural spraying - fungicides, herbicides and pesticides - wildlife doesn’t stand a chance. I remember once a lark flew up just ahead of me as I was walking down a tramline. Clearly she must have been sitting on her nest tantalisingly close by. Sadly I did not have my camera with me. I seldom see a lark or hear their wonderfully melodious song in the fields any more.

The countryside is so wonderful. This has been brought home to us during the Covid pandemic when so many of us looked anew at the abundance of natural wonder around us. We need to concentrate the mind and body to embrace and nurture it with open arms. Talking about it is not enough.

After an unnaturally quiet period, the circles have sprung to life after their siesta. Flying is such a thrill, seeing the circles in all their wondrous glory and the surrounding countryside from above.

This year we had a spate of weather when Wellington boots and umbrellas were the order of the day, but quite miraculously I managed to take two tours. Both days were perfect and the sun shone throughout. The first tour ended with an optional extra of a private entry visit to Stonehenge. There is a special mysterious and spiritual quality of being so close to the stones. Witnessing the joy of those accompanying me lifted my spirits also.

Several people come with me year after year for their Stonehenge boost!

In the morning we visited the wondrous Avebury Circle. If ever you could have wished for a special circle, this was it. Despite being several weeks old, the energy was still palpable. It welcomed us with outstretched arms and, like Stonehenge, had a certain ineffable and compelling quality. On the first visit we stayed in it for one and half hours and for the second tour for two hours. The report I had from several people was ‘It only seemed like 10 minutes.’ To get bottoms off the ground and get going required a great deal of persuasion, such was their reluctance to leave!

I have only been in a very few circles with that special ineffable ‘je ne sais quoi.’ For a circle to remain relatively undamaged, even after four weeks, tells me that there is something very unusual and unique about it. It is almost as though visitors instinctively sense an unknown and distinctive quality. To have been lucky enough to experience this is indeed fortunate. You might think that having visited so many crop circles over the years, that my senses might have become dulled or blunted. Not at all! Ones like the Avebury circle leave me with a ‘feeling’ that stays upon and in me for some considerable time.

It is interesting to note that two people, separately and not in either of my groups, were both turned away by the circle. They never managed to get in!

We then had a delicious and relaxing lunch at the Honey Street Mill Café served by young and very happy, helpful staff.

Copyright © 2021 Stonehenge Dronescapes Photography

As we were going to run out of time, we popped in and out of the marvellous and most illuminating and instructive crop Circle exhibition - well worth spending more time there - and on to our next circle at Hackpen.

Hackpen is one of my very favourite locations and the panoramic views are breathtaking. The circle we visited paled into insignificance compared to the Avebury event. However, it is good to have a comparison, and certainly I had no difficulty persuading people to leave! Some wanted to visit the Henge Shop, a most excellent place full of the most exciting and unusual things to buy. It is owned and run by a charming Belgian couple Phillipe and Dominique Ullens, under whose auspices it has flourished.

I took the rest of the group round part of Avebury Stone Complex, the most notable and exceptional location of its type in the world. All this area is part of UNESCO. Avebury is the only inhabited stone complex anywhere in the world. Six thousand years old and as you wander round the stones, you can feel part of history rubbing off on you.

And then to Stonehenge for our special private entry visit. English Heritage had slipped in an earlier tour, delaying ours, but once inside and within touching distance of the giant stones - though touching is not allowed - the majesty of the place overwhelms you, and if you are lucky and the light is good, to watch the shapes of the towering megaliths, standing proud like cathedral columns, fade majestically against the setting sun, is an experience not easily forgotten.

Copyright © Juliet Geddes

As the tours were only a few days apart, we followed the same crop circle visits as the first. The only difference, later in the evening, being the optional extra of the flight over the circles we had visited during the day, including other sacred places of interest such as Silbury Hill and the very ancient West Kennett Long Barrow which in itself is worth a visit. All these places are linked by earth energies in the sacred landscape. They are not placed randomly but by using precise megalithic yard measurements and knowledge of the heavens - wisdom inherent in our ancient forebears whose lives were governed by their astrological and astronomical knowledge.

This has been such a very strange year, I don’t quite know what to make of it - things seem all out of joint and not where they used to be. I know many people feel the same - all topsy turvy - and it is a struggle to get back to any sort of normal rhythm. Even the circles seem to be out of flow due to a very cold spring and then an up and down summer. As a result, they were abnormally slow to start, and then in the middle, they seemed to run out of breath and went for a siesta before waking up again.

We have had some lovely ones recently, but certain unhappy farmers, rather than cutting them out, have flattened them instead.

One unflattened event appeared the other day about 20 minutes from where I live. It has a complex inner hexagram consisting of interlocking and overlapping equilateral triangles. It has excited various explanations from the biblical, astronomical and geometric related comments. As usual the crop circles are there for everyone, giving us the chance to enjoy them in any way we see them or as they speak to us individually.

On the same day a pleasingly simple circle arrived at Marten, Wiltshire.

We conducted our scientific research tests in the Avebury circle, led by advanced clinical physiologist Paul Gerry. I will write up the results in my annual report early next spring.

This summer the tests were conducted using a new and exciting programme.

“I would very much like to concentrate on one person of your choice, and with their permission use a brainwave assessment called the CAM - Client Assessment Module which measures the ratios of the various brainwave frequencies and produces a table highlighting such emotions as anxiety, panic levels, brain fog, clarity of thought and more. This is similar to the clinicalQ testing used in Neurofeedback. In summary it detects dysregulation of the EEG. It would be absolutely wonderful if the crop circle energy has an effect on these and can be scientifically documented. I hopefully will also have a prototype pair of glasses that have an array of LEDs that flash evoking a brain response. I aim to use 40 flashes per second and measure what is called the flash following response. It has been shown that 40 Hz brain activity is diminished in people with memory problems and by stimulating the brain at this frequency it improves memory. So by measuring the brainwaves at 40 Hz we can see if there are more within the circle.”.

Tremor tests were also conducted on people suffering from Essential Tremor.

Pam Gregory's latest video

This poem, Meg Merrilees, has long been one of my favourites. I was introduced to it when my younger son was given it to learn when he was very young.

Meg Merrilies
by John Keats

Old Meg she was a Gipsy,
And liv'd upon the Moors:
Her bed it was the brown heath turf,
And her house was out of doors.

Her apples were swart blackberries,
Her currants pods o' broom;
Her wine was dew of the wild white rose,
Her book a churchyard tomb.

Her Brothers were the craggy hills,
Her Sisters larchen trees—
Alone with her great family
She liv'd as she did please.

No breakfast had she many a morn,
No dinner many a noon,
And 'stead of supper she would stare
Full hard against the Moon.

But every morn of woodbine fresh
She made her garlanding,
And every night the dark glen Yew
She wove, and she would sing.

And with her fingers old and brown
She plaited Mats o' Rushes,
And gave them to the Cottagers
She met among the Bushes.

Old Meg was brave as Margaret Queen
And tall as Amazon:
An old red blanket cloak she wore;
A chip hat had she on.
God rest her aged bones somewhere—
She died full long agone!

I am greatly indebted to all those who have kindly made a donation in order to keep me up in the air. Thank you so much.

I send you my love and best wishes,

Lucy.

This is going to be another very short letter as there is little to report. This is one of the years when the circles have seemed most reluctant to appear. However, there is an easy explanation - the very cold weather we had in May was responsible for delaying the crops by almost a month.
Notwithstanding, the barley is now in full and wonderful growth, whereas the wheat, as usual, dawdles behind before coming into its glory.
As I write we have had two circles to date. The first to grace our fields appeared in my home county of Hampshire. This aerial picture shows a wonderfully clean impression in the crop, precise and sharply chiselled into the field like the work of some giant pastry cutter.

Barton Stacey, near Crawley Down, Hampshire. 8th June 2021
© Stonehenge Dronescapes Photography

A friend took some ground shots

Many are the times when the phenomenon appears linked to celestial events, and on the 10th June 2021 an annular solar eclipse occurred. This happens when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby partly obscuring the Sun for a viewer on Earth. It seems that during the eclipse, the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, so it causes the Sun to look like an annulus. Indeed a formation resembling this event was reported to have appeared at Wooton Rivers on the 11th June.

Wooton Rivers, Wiltshire. 9^th June 2021
© Stonehenge Dronescapes Photography

It is my belief that when the number of circles gracing our fields at the end of the summer is totalled, they will be on a par with other years, and so we must try and be patient.

On a worldwide scale, our world leaders met at Carbis Bay in Cornwall to discuss problems facing the world – including economic issues, health emergencies and the climate crisis. They deliberated on how best to move forwards jointly to find solutions on many fronts. One of the foremost demands of their attention was how to distribute the Covid vaccine globally in order to attempt to achieve world-wide immunity. Equally pressing is climate change and what must happen to bring our planet back into balance.

How do crop circles play out on a global stage? Though they are summarily dismissed by many, little do people realise what they bring to mankind, and how they affect our thinking and bring about a general feeling of well-being and clarity of thought, often lasting for several weeks, as is frequently reported by those who have spent time in a crop circle .

They have enlisted some of the very finest minds in all areas of learning. Crop circles can calm and still the mind; bring clarity of thought and inner wisdom; a deeper understanding and greater knowledge; and a unity of mind and action. They open hearts and minds in ways we never expected. They bring down barriers of class, colour and creed and initiate discussion on a broad front.

Whether you like them or hate them, as many farmers do - with good reason when their fields are damaged - they present themselves to the world innocently, leaving it up to us as individuals to awaken - or not - to new ways of understanding the world in which we live. They are a clarion call to our changing world.

With my love and best wishes,
Lucy.

PS. As I go to post I have news of another circle.

Shaw Hill, near Ludgershall, Wiltshire. 14th June 2021
(Barley. 180 feet (54.5m) diameter.)

© Stonehenge Dronescapes Photography

The clocks went forward last night so we are officially in summer time. As my sons both live in different far away countries, Australia and Thailand, we have to recalculate the best times to talk. I am sure I am not alone in having our families in distant lands or families tantalisingly closer but still inaccessibly beyond our shores. The long separation will be all the more joyous we are all together again.

Spring is truly here in all its majesty and I am thrilled to welcome nesting blue tits. They live in the tiny crack where the boards are rotten going into my garage. It is hard to believe that they can get into such a tiny hole, but squeeze in they do. The birds were earlier bringing material for their nest but now all is quiet again so I presume the female is laying her clutch of eggs. Sadly there is no way of seeing inside, so I will just have to wait patiently and in about three weeks I hope to see the parent birds bringing food.

We have had a mixture of weather - a few quite heavy frosts amid several warm and balmy days with the result that the crops are still not ready for the crop circle Intelligence to visit us yet. In the past we have occasionally had a few oil seed rape (canola) circles resting gloriously among the vivid yellow flowers. Looking back on previous years there was the beautiful large ring with seven arcs spanning its centre on 23^rd April 2007 at Oliver’s Castle, near Devises, Wiltshire.

The sixteen pointed 'sunburst' formation at Avebury, Wiltshire on 23^rd April 2009.

And finally, in 2010, we had perhaps the most important and amazing Wilton Windmill formation that was discovered on 23^rd May.

It could only be seen from the top of the windmill or from the air and the weekend during which it arrived, the windmill was closed. It was a complex circular formation of twelve segments, with eight concentric lines of differing length and number in each segment. It is a close approximation of Leonhard Euler's profound and beautiful equation - e^(hi)pi)1=0.

Oil seed rape (canola) is one of the easiest in which to determine whether it is man-made or not. It is a well-known fact that due to the crop having a hollow based stem, it snaps when bent at an angle of more than 40 degrees. As a result, it would not be possible to make the circle without breaking, snapping, crushing or bruising the crop as the images show.

A few days ago I took one of my special cameras out to make certain all was well and took a few pictures of the latest spring flowers.

Celandine                                                          Spring Squill - I think?

I also read that by tradition, St Tiburtius’ Day (15^th April) is the day when you might first hear the cuckoo. I have a love/hate relationship with the cuckoo. I hate the way it takes over the nests of smaller birds forcing the parents to work themselves into the ground trying to feed the rapidly growing greedy interloper fledgling as it sits squawking, growing bigger and still yet bigger, endlessly demanding food and yet more food. On the other hand, it is the sound of summer, warm long days and the sound of the bright new green leaves swaying gently on the trees. I did not hear one last year but to my surprise and joy, I heard one just a short while ago when sitting on a bench basking in the sun in my village! Like so many birds they travel long distances from Africa where they have been wintering. Many don’t survive the journey. There is no doubt that its numbers are diminishing and I am told that those who come from the south west via Spain to the UK often do not survive the journey due to the increasing droughts, which make it difficult for them to gain sufficient weight to survive. However, those that travel to Scotland and Wales take a different path via Italy where the food is more plentiful and so they arrive safely at their destinations.

But what of St Tiburtius? I cannot find much that is reliable, I regret.

The little we do know much about him is that he was one of three Saints Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus who “...as Christian martyrs who were buried on 14^th April of some unspecified year in the Catacombs of Praetextatus on the Via Appia near Rome.

According to the legendary Acts of Saint Cecilia, a mid-fifth-century Acts of the Martyrs composition that has no historical value Valerian was the husband of Saint Cecilia, Tiburtius his brother, and Maximus, a soldier or official who was martyred with these two. The story was retold by Chaucer. Devotional publications make the story more credible by simplifying it”

Spring Equinox
The Spring Equinox arrived on the 21^st / 22^nd of March. Normally it heralds disturbed weather patterns over a period of a few days but this year, meteorologically, all was unusually quiet. However, the planets seemed to affect us as humans, bringing forth some temporary disharmony and unrest in the form of unruly demonstrations.
The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). For our ancestors, whose timekeeping was less precise than ours, day and night likely did seem equal but in fact it is not strictly true as I am told that “There is more daylight than night time on the day of the equinox, an additional 8 or so minutes of daylight at mid-temperate latitudes.”

Equinox was also a time of celebration for our ancestors as the rhythm of the earth changed bringing renewed energy to the land as it warmed; their crops showed new growth and the world around them seemed to breath with joyous expectation.

As always I am including Pam Gregory’s latest video for all those interested in astrology.

Please remember to book your places on my tours before they both fill up.

I have reduced the price of my 2021 calendar to £8.00, and my Nine-fold Circuitous Crop Circle Montage jigsaw puzzle is back in stock.

Poem
What a wonderful world!

"May God grant you always…
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering Angel, so nothing can harm you,
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you,
and whenever you pray, Heaven to hear you."

With my love and best wishes

Lucy.