I ALWAYS take a walk around corn fields a week or so after the crop has been cut to see what wild flowers have blossomed after being exposed to the sunlight.

A field that has a right-of-way across it had recently been harvested, so I walked on the diagonal path across the field that had been corn-free and now had patches of green vegetation.

Some of these plants were Common fumitory which, as I mentioned in a previous column, don’t sport many blooms, and those that are there are a bit sparae. I think this is due to the lack of summer rain.

However, there were lots of tiny, white Field pansies with yellow patches on the lower petal. I think these beautiful flowers should be called Corn pansies because the only place I have seen them is in corn fields. They are lovely and beat garden pansies hands down – well, in my opinion anyway.

There were several Cat’s-ear flowers in bloom beside the hedgerow.

These are yellow, around 30mm wide on tall stems and have a resemblance to Dandelion flowers.

As with a lot of other wild flowers that grow on arable land, its root system makes it almost impossible to eradicate.

I turned right towards Venn Hill and was amazed at the number of Black bryony plants that were adorned with long strings of red berries on the hedges. I think these berries are a bit smaller this year, once again, due to the very dry summer months.

I was also delighted to see a Primrose with four blooms on it hidden among some brambles, although one of the flowers was a victim of slugs or snails.

When I got to Parsons Pool, I saw that the Horse chestnut tree had started to drop its conkers.

These shiny brown fruits of the chestnut tree were threaded onto a piece of string or boot lace by children and used to batter another child’s conker in the game that was literally called conkers, or conquerors as the game was first known.

Back in my early days at Landrake School the game was played by girls as well as boys and there were at least three Horse chestnut trees in and around the village.

I can remember that the school playground was absolutely littered with bits of smashed conkers. I don’t think the game is played nowadays, though, since mobile phones became so popular.

Its Apple time of the year and my neighbour asked me to come in and look at his well- loaded apple tree.

It was a crab apple covered with tiny red fruits. I suggested he made jam with them, but I know that he will leave them on the tree for much-needed winter food for the birds.

Years ago in Menheniot, a housewife asked if I would like a jar of crab apple jelly – I did – and it was delicious, but when I took the jar back hoping for a refill, the lady told me that the cupboard was bare!