A part of the reason for giving up writing these articles was mentioned by the Vicar in the October magazine. In his appreciative comments he noted that I was finding it difficult to avoid repeating myself about the work.

I rest my case, as the legal-eagles would say.

I have also given up the management of the reserve. Trevor Hince, who lives at Blackboys, and who is well-known to the county wildlife trust of which our reserve is part, has been understudying me for a year, and has now assumed responsibility. So I can now take a back seat and sincerely hope I will not become back seat driver! Age and those dreadful "senior moments" also had something to do with this decision.

I will still be writing three times a year for the trust's "Wildlife" magazine and "Heathfield First", which both give me much more scope for extracting the more exciting or thought-provoking wildlife activities in the wood.

Now after ten years working at Selwyn's and writing about it through nearly 70 monthly articles I am now able to relax more -- and let you into a secret... When I was about to retire I had to choose either volunteering for wildlife work, or plate-laying on a "heritage" railway (a long-term ambition)! I chose wildlife not just because railway work usually has plenty of volunteers, but because I was born in the country - on the North Downs in Kent.

So it was natural in my later years to work with wildlife and I have thoroughly enjoyed helping others to understand country things. Especially because so many people today, especially children, have never had the opportunity to hug a tree, get pricked by gorse, or watch miner bees. Very sad.

But on a lighter note I will in some small measure be enjoying the best of both worlds of wildlife and trains. I plan to model a small country railway, where one can always ensure that the sun always shines and the grass is always green!

John Hall © 2005