John Lawson’s circus is back on Therfield Heath from Friday 27th Sept to Sunday 29th Sept. They will arrive on Thursday and leave on Monday morning.

The show involves performing humans only, no animals. The organisers state that lasers and flashing lights are used in their performances.

“The Multi Award winning John Lawson’s Circus is currently on tour and the 2019 production introduced by Ringmaster Attila Endresz includes, from Italy Clown Rudi, on the Aerial Straps Dream Together, from The Ukraine Gigolino on the comedy trampoline, from The Moscow State Circus Viktor and Julia plate-spinning and amazing uni-cycling, Miss Claire Marie’s Bubble Fantasy, from Spain Keyla Remaches Fabulous Laser Lights Show, teenage Tennis Racket Juggler Rico Brukson, Miss Elena on the Aerial Silks, knife-throwing with The Marshall’s and lots more. “

Shows are at 4.30pm and 7.30pm on Friday, 2pm and 5pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday. Tickets are all £7 on Friday and are £12 for adults or £10 for children /OAPs on Saturday and Sunday. The booking line for tickets is 07860 498833 or online at www.ticketsource.co.uk. The box office will be open on site too.

Please be aware that there are now 2m height barriers at the main car park on Therfield Heath. We hope this doesn’t cause too much inconvenience and hope users understand why we had to reinstate these barriers.

We intend to run monthly volunteer sessions on a Saturday. The dates for these are 28th Sept, 26th Oct, 23rd Nov.

Also, we are planning to try running some Friday sessions, starting with one a month on 20th Sept, 18th Oct, 15th Nov.

We will be cutting and treating scrub as well as uprooting some of it where possible. We will work in various areas across site.

If you are interested in joining us, or if you would like more information, please get in touch: clerk@therfieldheath.org.uk

August saw some sightings of Adonis Blue butterflies on Therfield Heath. These butterflies haven’t been seen in Hertfordshire since 1959.

It is not clear how they came to be seen on site as they are not a butterfly that travels great distances and their nearest stronghold is some way away. They were not introduced by either the Conservators of Therfield Heath and Greens or by Butterfly Conservation. If introduced, it was done illegally and in breach of the SSSI regulations.

“This is a warmth-loving species, preferring sheltered, south-facing slopes. This species is found where the turf is closely-cropped, possibly because it provides a higher temperature for the immature stages or because this is a requirement for the ant species that attend the Adonis Blue larva and pupa. The loss of grazing by rabbits, for example, causes the sward to become overgrown and can render a site unsuitable for this species. ” from UK Butterflies.

For more detailed information on this species, visit Butterfly Conservation.