After a quick lunch it was out to the Court Field to do some systematic sampling clad in full wet weather gear looking at the distribution of plant species along a slope. Thankfully we got to sample at the bottom of the hill, whilst students from Luckley House who were accompanying us got the steep climb. After this the day followed a normal pattern of cake, work, supper, work and finally free time. Saturday saw us get onto the minibus and head off to the Quantocks moorland to study the effects of succession on the plant species. Sightings of moorland ponies and dogs being walked often proved a more eye catching option than calculating the percentage cover of gorse and heather! In the evening to have a break from the classroom we went outside to try and listen for bats and catch an elusive badger on camera. On Sunday despite grey cloud cover and a chilly wind we headed off to Embercombe stream on Exmoor. After a trek of less than a mile down a valley we reached our first site. This time it was the turn of animals to be sampled, in this case freshwater invertebrates. Our greatest find was at the second site where we caught a large flattened stonefly nymph. At lunchtime windproof shelters were on offer, but Heathfield girls are made of sterner stuff, so we opted to endure the elements. After 3 days of cold, windy artic-like conditions the thought of returning to Heathfield had never felt so good!