October sees the grazing season drawing to a close and by the end of the month the process of removing the final cattle to their winter farmstead quarters will be underway. The grass has been well eaten-off through the summer…

All fishermen know that success comes with patience. Catching fish is a waiting game. And there is one creature regularly seen on the Sudbury riverside who has more staying power that any other: the grey heron. Most days on the…

The Sudbury Common Lands are now well and truly grazed off; the cattle having carried out their task to maintain these famous pastures as open grasslands. Steeped in fascinating history, the grazing records for these lands stretch back into the…

I rarely need an excuse to go out in search of butterflies but this month my eyes have been peeled more than usual for lepidoptera. For the past few weeks an active and friendly charity called Butterfly Conservation has held…

At this time of high summer, out on the riverside pastures the cattle are fattening well as they eat down the acres of herbage. The visual impact of the spring flora has long since passed and apart from some wonderful…

A summer’s evening and once again Sudbury’s water meadows reveal some of their magic. While we sit on the riverbank on Kings Marsh, a dozen or so house martins fill the space around us, putting on a breath-taking aerial display…

At this time of high summer, out on the riverside pastures the cattle are fattening well as they eat down the acres of herbage. The visual impact of the spring flora has long since passed and apart from some wonderful…

High summer is the time of damsels and dragons. However, far from being in distress, the damsels positively cavort around the riverside in all their colourful finery. The dragons on the other hand are less interested in eating the damsels,…

Whilst both farming and conservation work is carried out year round on the riverside to ensure that the aims of the management plans are met, it is really at this time of year that the fruits of many years of…

The Sudbury Common Lands pastures have a long-recorded history of grazing stretching back to the twelfth century. Over eight hundred years later this historical connection continues. Without cattle, the incredibly long cultural tradition would be broken and with it much…