June was a relatively good month for weather in the parish, although mainly cloudy and dull at first there was still a good amount of rain for farmers and the Pit. It wasn’t until towards the end of the month when the first of the heatwaves arrived, with temperatures reaching 33C on the 25th. Less than two inches of rain was below normal, but our crops of barley and wheat seemed to be well established. Winds were mainly south and south westerly so coming from the direction of the Mediterranean and north Africa, indicating what was going to come in July. I was invited to visit the Christleton Cricket Club at Little Heath for the Vice Presidents Lunch, and witnessed a century by their overseas player, Chris Cilenanoff from Manley Lawley CC in Western Australia. There has been a regular stream of Australian players at Little Heath in recent years, and they have played an important part in the life of the Club. Chris is the latest, and I was bemused when glancing at the score and seeing he was nearing his century, to see two Christleton batters at the same end, whilst looking down through my telephoto lens. Thinking Chris had missed out on his hundred, I was delighted to find out that he had had a runner (because of injury) to assist him, whilst we had been having lunch. I was so pleased to see that he had indeed scored his century, but sad to see him lose his wicket almost immediately afterwards. Also that Christleton 1st XI had eventually lost in a high scoring match to a Romily XI.

Christleton Cricket Club does have some excellent facilities at Little Heath and runs so many teams.
Men; I st, 2nd, & 3rd teams, & Midweek. Women; 1st XI Children & Youths; Allstars (5-8) Dynamo Girls, U9, U,11, U13, U15 & U19. A really inspiring club within the village, on a magnificent playing field, developed from the one started by village enthusiasts in 1938/9. It is a credit to the Club, that they have maintained and improved their heritage in recent years, giving lots of opportunities to the community to participate in both Cricket & Football. I think Canon Lionel Garnett, who founded the Club in the 1870’s would have been extremely proud of what he started.

The Legion meadow continues to develop thanks to the efforts of Malcolm Pratt, with active support from the Parish Council. Thanks to Malcolm’s efforts in seeding yellow rattle over the last few years, many tall grasses have been supressed, and more opportunities given for flowers to develop. June is a time when we see the growth of the common spotted orchids, and this year I estimate that we had over 250 flowering plants of that orchid variety. There were also more bird’s foot trefoil, cranesbill and other flowering plants, attracting many more butterfly species. Meadow browns and holly blue butterflies were prominent early in the month, and a male broad bodied chaser dragonfly was seen. Birds such as black cap, chiff chaff and song thrush, could be heard, and a small colony of house martins had taken up residence there. The water level at the Pit continues to cause concern after such a dry first half of the year, with only half the expected rainfall of recent years falling.

It was sad to see another great tree falling to disease, as one of the large oaks on the road to the Cricket Club has had to be partially felled. The stump of the old sycamore tree on the Village Green has been removed ready for the planting of a new tree later in the year.