Some quick thinking by a party of visitors out walking near the edge of the woods saw them intervene and stop Vernie the Rottweiler from chasing sheep. They managed to catch Vernie, and attach some string to her collar before bringing her down to the visitors centre at Poole's Cavern. Thirsty after all her running around she proceeded to drink vast quantities of water, and eat handfuls of treats. In the meantime Paula Pickering, who manages the Cafe at the Cavern, thought that she recognised Vernie, so she was taken to Overdale vets where a quick scan revealed that she was chipped. In the meantime Vernie's owners dropped in to the visitor centre looking for her. So they were able to rush down to Overdale vets to be reunited. A happy ending for all concerned.

It was a perfect sunny summers Sunday afternoon, ideal for the guided walk through the wild flower glades of Grin Low, led by June Noble and ably supported by husband Lyn for members of the Buxton Civic Association.

The woodland glade areas in Grin Low, are associated with the 17th & 18th century lime burning industry that used to dominate the hillside. Below each kiln is a wide area where waste limestone ash was tipped. Slowly the lime tips were colonised by Lime loving species of herbaceous plants and grasses such as Northern Marsh Orchid, Burnet Saxifrage, Globe flower, Mountain Everlasting, Creeping willow and Juniper creating a unique habitat which unlike the neighbouring farm land is not grazed or fertilized by animal livestock.

As well as being able to see a wide range of species, June gave members tips on wild flower identification and spoke about the importance of the glades, explaining how the management of the glades by giving them an annual cut using power brush cutters and the cuttings raked and removed from the glade, is vital in preventing the thin soil layer from becoming too enriched and therefore able to support invasive species.

Lyn and June have produced an excellent introductory guide to "The Wild Flowers of Grin Low Country Park" which is available from Poole's Cavern Visitor Centre.

We have developed a simple members questionnaire to help us understand what you think about the Buxton Civic Association, and to give you a chance to tell us how you would like to be more involved with what we do. Completing the Questionnaire will really help us understand what you want from your membership. It will only take five minutes.

The Questionnaire is available by clicking on this link.

In younger days I walked the woods,
That spoke the language of birds and earth
And searched for him whose name I did not know.
Yet even then, in childhood games
I knew he watched from among the foliage,
His leaf mask smiling through
The scented blossom
Of those joyous infant years.

In the brook I paddled
Near my grandma’s cottage,
Forging up-stream in search of its source.
A waterfall I found
That tumbled into a pool,
Where trout flashed
Like silver stars
In the depths of its dark mystery.

This he showed me,
Him whose name I did not know.
This fountain of knowledge;
This secret fount of childhood dream
That seems strangely blurred now,
With the passage of two score years.

Yet still I glimpse him
In woodland glades
Or in lonely copses
That crown our hollow hills.
Now we smile in recognition:
Yet through the ferny gloom
I witness in his wise eyes
A sense of loss,
Deeper than
The void of space
And the passage of dying stars.