Eco Church, October 2026

When we first moved to Reepham, driving to work in Norwich during May, we would wind down the windows as we passed Alderford Common to listen to the Nightingales singing. They are now endangered country-wide. The winter before building started on Crown Meadow, the weedy field hosted a flock of 50 Yellowhammers; we now occasionally see single birds. In 2010, Messy Church decamped to Wood Dalling Village Hall during the refurbishment of St Michael’s. While having our picnic outside we could hear a Turtle Dove ‘purring’ in the adjacent woodland. In 2025, this beautiful summer migrant nested in only four places in Norfolk. All these declines have been the result of industrialisation of farming, removing hedges, ‘waste spaces’ and weeds which produce seeds and insects for birds and other creatures. Now the pendulum has swung back and many farmers are very willing to restore habitats that have been lost. Sadly the plenitude of insects of yesteryear has not yet returned, meaning that birds such as our Swallows, Swifts and House Martins struggle to find enough food to raise their chicks and instead of having two or even three broods, can now only raise one at most, before leaving a full five weeks earlier than previously. With this in mind, the PCC is considering allowing semi -permanent areas of grass in parts of the churchyard to boost insect numbers. Could you do the same in your garden? Although we have lost so many birds from the county, new residents and visitors are moving in. We were astounded to see a Glossy Ibis busily feeding in the sedge bed alongside Kelling Pool last month, a bird which used to be found no nearer than along the Danube in Eastern Europe!