Country diary: an old quarry is now a mine of natural treasure

Ketton, Rutland: Time has enabled this abandoned cement works to regreen, making it a site of special scientific interestHere is a local landmark few would want: above a beautiful stone village, a cement works, visible for miles. Like a turret, but with pipes and chimneys climbing the walls, this compact but discordant punctuation in otherwise lovely countryside calls to mind a castle. That we might describe as cherishable, but because this is modern, we don't.To make cement you need a quarry, and here is a big one - most of it working. But through a snicket at the end of truck-rumbled roads is a pocket wood: a place where there are hills where there shouldn't be, with life - and death - in abundance. Continue reading...