And so it is the end of another week down here in Devon, and a very tiring week at that!
We have had schools in most days this week for one type of session or another, and next week looks to be even busier as it is the final week of the school term.
Along with the school visits there has been plenty of work that needed to be done around the farm, as well as some special events such as an extreme beach clean that we took part in on Thursday evening.
A group of volunteers including Vicky and myself took part in the extreme beach clean
This involved donning wet suits, helmets and buoyancy aids and clambering around the cliffs and boulders to retrieve all of the rubbish that had washed up there. We would then hop back in the sea and swim over to the next area that required cleaning.
The session finished with some adrenaline fuelled jumps off of the higher cliffs into the water, before we swam back to the beach to record all of the rubbish that we had collected.
The week finished with the Cockington Caper race that we had spent the last 3 months training for. The race is a 10.6km run through the picturesque countryside around the village of Cockington, and is regarded by many of the runners taking part to be one of the most punishing routes in the area. Having already run the official route in training several times we both knew what times we were aiming for come race day, and I am please to say that we were both able to achieve our goals.
Emily, myself and Vicky back at the flat post-race with our commemorative mugs
I was aiming for a time of 1:10:00 and completed the course in 1:07:48, over 7 minutes faster than my best training time! Vicky was aiming for 1:30:00 and came across the line at 1:29:36, also her personal best and over 11 minutes faster than her final training run the week before!
In the week's less energetic matters we broke out the Trust's moth trap for the first time in a while for National Moth Night. We recorded over 25 different species, including some pretty cool ones.
3 of these impressive Elephant Hawk Moths were included in the results
The Elephant Hawk Moth's underside is even brighter than it's top side! In terms of scale one of these is about the size of my thumb.
We also this week headed out for a walk along the South West Coast Path, this time tackling the stage between Goodrington and Elberry. Along the way we found another moth, albeit a slightly beaten up one, which we rescued from the path and returned to the bushes at the side. This Scarlett Tiger Moth flies during the day, and has a bright red underwing. Who said moths had to be boring?
There's a lot more to moths than people think. This Scarlett Tiger proves that they aren't all just grey/brown balls of fluff that bang against the light bulb in your sitting room at night!
This week's news story comes from Canada, and shows an act of generosity from an airline pilot. I hope this guy is flying the plane when we head to Iceland in September!
See you next time :)
