With three banks and fields to sample today and a lengthy drive home I got up at 6 a.m. to make sure I was at Sennowe Park prompt at 7 a.m. This entailed a cold breakfast of toast which didn't put me in the best of moods. I got to Sennowe Park for about 7.15 am but then was unable to get started until after 8. Whilst I waited it started to rain. So not a great start but the clouds had a silver lining because by the time I was able to start the rain had stopped and it turned into a sunny day. Two of the three banks turned out to be the same age so I only sampled one of those which also meant an early finish enabling me to get home at a reasonable hour though in truth three banks of different ages would have been good.
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| A rather diffuse bank, c. 20 years old |
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| The final bank of the tour, c. 26 years old |
The first bank was rather diffuse and it was tricky to work out where the bank began and ended - it sort of merged into the uncultivated strip next to it. The second was a bit better though had lots of brambles on it which was a nuisance.
The soil was far sandier than the previous days but still had a little flint in it. It was also deeper and ended in a clay rich layer rather than the previous three days chalk - nice for a change.
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Flinty not chalky surface
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| A good auger's worth of soil without hitting parent material |
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Orange tinted, clayey stuff from the bottom of a core
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And that was it - a drive back to York with more Radio 4. In total over 700 miles of driving and a grand total of 216 samples which now I just have to process....
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