Staff Nature Walk around the Estate
Words by David, Vineyard Team Member
Last week, I took an evening stroll around the Rathfinny Estate.
It was a rather special, memorable evening, shared with a group of fellow Rathfinny people. Our guide, Rathfinny’s Brand Ambassador, Richard James, led us on an educational walk and talk about the biodiversity in the Cradle Valley. I’ve worked at the Vineyard for a few years and live next to the South Downs National Park so I really didn’t expect so many surprises. How wrong I was!
Let’s set the scene
Richard, like so many of us at Rathfinny, wears more than one hat. He has a background in ecology, with an intimate knowledge of the local natural environment. We climbed the wooded ridge that faces the south side of the Estate, bathed in the amber colours of a perfect, chilly, autumn sunset. From this elevated position, the entire scope of Rathfinny is breath-taking. It’s not just the sight of the wide expanse of row after row of vines- green symmetrical pencil lines drawn along the valley floor- that catches the eye. It’s the accompanying stillness and serenity that is so uplifting. The stillness is interrupted by birdsong; green woodpecker, wren, buzzard, kestrel, great tit, wheatear announcing early autumn. A huge flock of Brent Geese, in perfect ‘V’ formation, flies low overhead on their evening journey to Cuckmere Haven, the cacophony of the avian equivalent to a Vulcan bomber.
