Newchurch and Christ Church

  Unusually, there are no photographs in these notes, for reasons that will become clear.

  One of the main motivations to keep putting on wellies and coat, and heading out, even when the body protests and the weather is unwelcoming, is nature’s capacity to spring a surprise. Five visits to Newchurch churchyard will be predictable, but the sixth will bring an unexpected thrill that leaves you smiling.

  One autumn afternoon, for example, with a warm wind ushering in showers and scattering leaves onto the path. I wandered along the southern edge searching for fungus among the tree stumps and dead leaves.

  Seeing me, long before I saw it, a mature hare got up from one of the graves where it had been resting, and wandered off to the hedge. A few moments later, armed with a loaded camera, I failed to capture it ambling off to the field margin. At this point, I could have flushed it out and snatched a photograph of its rear loping across the green shoots towards Bent Lane. But deciding its need for rest and privacy was greater than mine was for a photograph, I turned away; and you will have to take my word for it.

  Hares are mysterious creatures, preferring to graze on newly sprouted crops during the night and rest during the day in field margins or woodland. An early morning walk near arable farmland and a sharp eye can be rewarded by a sighting, though, and they do lose their inhibitions during the mad breeding months.

  They are not the only animal to exploit the relative peace of the churchyard. Leaving church one night, we glimpsed a shadowy figure inching between the headstones. Turning on the torch, we saw a hedgehog, an increasingly rare sight, these days.

  Once a frequent road casualty, hedgehog numbers have dropped alarmingly. Culcheth, with large gardens, offers excellent opportunities for them to forage for the beetles, caterpillars and worms which make up three-quarters of their diet. However, gardens can also be hazardous for these continuously inquisitive pest-controllers. They can drown in ponds, swimming pools and uncovered drains; get trapped in plastic netting and rubbish bags; find it easier to get into, than out of tins, plastic pots, four-pack holders; and die from encounters with slug pellets, unfriendly dogs and even the postman’s discarded rubber bands!

  Situated at the edge of farmland and gardens, our churchyards have a varied pool of wildlife to write in the visitors’ books. Apart from hares, other animals include grey squirrels, which can be seen in the mature trees or on the ground, where they tease local cats. Christchurch, I am informed has a population of rabbits with a taste for floral tributes. Moles make their presence felt in their own way, and pipistrelle bats enjoy the feast of insects under the trees.

  There may be other animals I have not yet been lucky enough to see. So I must keep watching, listening and waiting for other encounters.