Our new room, the Bebbington Room, has been in use since April now and we still think that it’s one of the nicest classrooms at Juniper Hall. It was created by clearing out some unused offices at the top of the Coachhouse building. With its wooden beams, the room retains a hint of its origins as part of a historical building.
Spring hasn’t been kind this year, but the flowers are finally starting to come out, and for the last few weeks my favourite spring plant has been showing up at some of our field sites: wild garlic, or Ramson’s (Allium ursinum). Down by the Stepping Stones in particular, the waves of wild garlic bombard you with a smell that is almost overwhelming. The leaves and stem can be eaten and are very strong, so if you see some that looks clean (and is not near any paths where people might be dog-walking) then have a chomp.
Lastly, here’s a picture of some extremely large starfish we encountered down at the Birling gap during a Geography trip. The largest was about 18cm across; the kids we were with were impressed.