Lost and found

Val is saddened by wildlife habitat loss due to HS2, but is cheered by the discovery of rare wild honey bees

- Val Bourne

GLASGOW’S COP26 Climate Change Conference involved 118 private jets that emitted an estimated 1,400 tons of CO2. On the upside, one thing became clear – the younger generation are extremely concerned about the threat of climate change on the human race.

One of my granddaughters, Ellie, is butterfly mad and very eco-conscious, and I like to think we’ve encouraged her. I’m a member of Butterfly Conservation and, when you go onto its website, there is a course entitled Create your own Red Admiral Butterfly from Felt. It sent a shudder through me. First, I’m not good at embroidery, or cross-stitch. I’m not neat enough, or careful enough, and I can’t sit still for long enough because I’d rather be outside gardening.

My mind strayed: I went into an imaginary world where there were no red admirals left on the planet. We were reduced to looking at pictures instead, or trying to make our own clumsy replicas!