ST201903

SPRING THINGS

Possibilities for a daffodil nodding,

lamb gambolling, duck bobbing,

egg rolling corker of a season!

HATCH A PLAN

Fancy an egg roll? We’re talking centuries-

old tradition, not the cress and mayo kind.

Simply hard boil an egg, decorate, and roll

it down a hill with others to see which go

furthest and which survive at the end.

(Protip:it’sallinaloosewrist.)

InPreston,Lancashire,eggrollshave

happened for centuries and are going

strongtoday.Takeyourstothetopofthe

hill at Avenham and Miller Parks to ‘roll

yourown’,orjointhecommunalrace.

Events take place everywhere from

Arthur’s Seat to Devil’s Dyke.

Ifyoupreferyoureggsalittlemore

Pooh sticks

with science

According to Dr Rhys Morgan

of the Royal Academy of

Engineering, get this formula

right and you’ll have an

unbeatable Pooh stick:

A x I x Cd

A = Cross sectional area. The

bigger the area, the more drag.

You want quite a solid-looking,

stout stick.

I = Density. You want a stick

heavy enough to sink just under

the surface of the water, where it

will be unaffected by wind and

other external variables.

Cd = Drag coefficient. This is the

shape of stick and roughness of

its surface. Ideally you want a

rough stick, almost like bark,

which creates more drag

than a smooth one.

hatched, try a duckling hunt at your local

pond or river. Newborn ducklings spend 10

hours or so in the nest, before being led to

water. Poor weather inhibits this, but their

survival depends on getting out on the

water, so a good time to spot them is often

a fine day following rain.

HELLO, PETAL

On a damp March afternoon, the sight of a

clump of daffodils is enough to remind you

that sunshine is never far away in spring.

Question is, what sort of daffodil hunt

ticklesyourstamen?Ifit’sthethrillofthe

chase, wild daffs are your beast. These

aren’tthesortyouseeonroundabouts.

Awildnarcissus(fortheyareoneandthe

same)isusuallyfoundinclumpsin

woodlands. They have paler yellow petals

and a darker trumpet than their garden

counterparts. If you want carpets of them,

(^1) Lamb-loving. You can
hold the small sheep at
many a lambing event.
(^2) I’ll be there for ewe: a mother
and her fleecey charge.
(^3) Come out of your shell at
adownhilleggroll.
(^4) Posingford Bridge in
Ashdown Forest is the
original Pooh Sticks Bridge
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; STOCKSY
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