Because it's mostly too wet, and, actually it's not really hay but brambles , bracken and stuff like that.

I see that two years ago at roughly the same date, I was reporting to you that the weather was sunny and warm for mowing. This year the work has been progressing in fits and starts. No sooner than we got the mower out than it rained. And if we put it back again the sun shone! As it happened I was working there today before I wrote this, and we actually managed to cut and remove a lot of brash. Then the mower broke down! Our engineer lost a nut, probably driving too fast. The mower is a small cutter-bar machine like some farm mowers, but they all need careful handling and maintenance.

Not for the first time I was glad to be working with brambles in the wood rather than on a farm trying to cope with sodden acres of flattened, sprouting wheat.

So, with the perennial problems of heather weeding plus wet, sloppy, slippery rides and a breakdown, life was frustrating It was then I realised with real pleasure that it was coffee-time, when I wanted to show the volunteers a book about recognising wild flowers. It is not new, but it was written by a former Sussex Wildlife Trust reserves officer, Neil Fletcher, who was our immediate boss a few years ago and who lived in Heathfield at the time.

It is most informative, but its best feature for many people is that the flower photos are divided into sections into according to their colour. The book is published by Dorling Kindersley for less than £10.

The title? "Wild Flowers." How did you guess...

John Hall © 2008