Porsham Farm

20/06/2026

19/06/2026

How fantastic seeing our dear friend Rachel showing HRH around her place of work.
Showcasing the amazing work all the team do at The Apricot Centre at Huxhams Cross Farm from food production to teaching and mental health support. Such an invaluable place offering support, information and connection to so many each year.
Well done!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1NY9DdF5L2/?mibextid=wwXIfr

19/06/2026

The size of a bee tells you whether it produces kilograms of honey, pollinates specific crops, or lives alone without a hive — and Britain is home to around 270 species of wild bees. 🐝

The honey bee (Apis mellifera) is the only species that lives in large colonies. A colony of up to 50,000 workers produces honey. It is also the only British bee that does this.

All the others are largely solitary — and they are the real engine of pollination:

Bumblebees (Bombus) are two to three times the size of a honey bee and can pollinate tomatoes in greenhouses using sonic vibration — a technique the honey bee does not possess.

The hairy-footed flower bee (Anthophora plumipes) is a fast-flying solitary bee, often mistaken for a bumblebee, that emerges early in spring to pollinate lungwort, comfrey, and other deep-tubed flowers.

The red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) builds mud cells in hollow stems and cavities and is one of the most efficient orchard pollinators.

The patchwork leafcutter bee (Megachile centuncularis) cuts neat discs from leaves to construct its nest cells.

Mining bees (Andrena) are among the first to emerge in spring, often working flowers before any other species is active.

Sweat bees (Halictus and Lasioglossum) complete the work flower by flower, usually unnoticed.

The honey comes from Apis. The pollination comes from all the others. 🌿

19/06/2026

Brilliantly put, we are all behind you Jeremy.

“I think I speak for a lot of people when I say this.
For years, Sunday nights meant Top Gear. We’d sit down at 8pm and watch Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May do what they did best.
Now, through Clarkson’s Farm, Jeremy has introduced a whole new generation to the realities of British farming and earned the respect of millions all over again.
He’s made us laugh, he’s frustrated us, and he’s entertained us for decades.
Get well soon, Jezza. The country is rooting for you. ❤️🇬🇧🙏” - benonwine via X

19/06/2026

🌊 We're hiring - and if you want to work outdoors restoring rivers, we'd love to hear from you.
Westcountry Rivers Trust has two roles available right now:

🔹 River Restoration Operations Manager - a permanent role leading site-based delivery, contractor management and project development

🔹 River Restoration Team Operative - a 6-9 month fixed-term role getting hands-on with tree planting, NFM, habitat creation and barrier removal

Both roles involve working across the South West on projects that make a genuine difference to our rivers.

Applications close midnight Sunday 19th July. 👇 Both roles linked below -- share with anyone who'd be perfect.

🔗 https://hr.breathehr.com/recruitment/vacancies/47179?identifier=westcountryriverstrust
🔗 https://hr.breathehr.com/recruitment/vacancies/47177?identifier=westcountryriverstrust

18/06/2026

Plant more trees. It seems contrary but we’ve been told it can reverse this.

🏜 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, observed on 17 June, highlights the importance of monitoring heat- and water-related stress on land, ecosystems, and societies.

♨️ Between 16 May and 2 June 2026, a heatwave affected large parts of Europe. Such prolonged warm spells can exacerbate drought conditions by increasing evaporation, reducing soil moisture, and affecting vegetation health.

🛰 This data visualisation shows the heatwave over western Europe on 28 May 2026 through the warm spell intensity index, an indicator provided by the European Drought Observatory of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, implemented by the Joint Research Centre. This index identifies a heatwave as a period of at least three consecutive days with unusually high temperatures, capturing heat stress on people, land, and ecosystems more completely than air or surface temperature alone.

The highest values, shown in dark red, are visible over parts of France, northern Spain, Belgium, southern England, eastern Ireland, and northern Italy, indicating areas where temperatures were significantly above reference conditions.

data support drought monitoring, risk assessment, and early warning activities by providing harmonised drought information, analytical tools, and reports on drought conditions across Europe and beyond.

🔗 https://eu-space.europa.eu/explore-euspace/images

More information on the last Report Drought in Europe May 2026 produced by the EU Science Hub - Joint Research Centre: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC147362

18/06/2026

16/06/2026

🐟 We're hiring -- two brilliant roles for people who love rivers.

Westcountry Rivers Trust is looking for two River & Fisheries professionals to join our team.
These aren't desk jobs. You'll be electric fishing across four counties, monitoring eels, contributing to nationally significant shad research, and working on novel salmon aquaculture trials that could change the way we approach species recovery in the UK.

We're particularly interested in hearing from people based in Somerset or Dorset, but welcome applications from across the South West.

👇 Both roles linked below -- share with anyone who'd be perfect.

🔗 https://hr.breathehr.com/recruitment/vacancies/47172?identifier=westcountryriverstrust
🔗 https://hr.breathehr.com/recruitment/vacancies/47174?identifier=westcountryriverstrust