This week marks the 30th anniversary of Christian environmental charity A Rocha. Our church, St Clement’s, has a link through some friends of ours who are part of the congregation and so we marked this with a picnic and a nature walk.

The walk took us through Headington Hill Park and then on round to the top of William Street. Some of the party then headed back the church and onto home but a good number kept going for part two, down Edgeway Road then onto paths leading round to part of the University Parks and, via the banks of the Cherwell, back to Kingsmill and thence onto Marston Road and back to the church.

With the help of some experts in the group we were able to spot a variety of fascinating things (I learned the difference between hybrid and native forms of hawthorn and discovered how to identify white bryony in hedgerows). We also had a “bio-bingo” card to complete for spotting various things, for which Jane won one of the prizes.

It was a glorious afternoon and hopefully another step forward in helping our church contribute positively to local (and wider) environmental issues.