Last autumn female gall wasps laid their eggs in a rosebush by a footpath on Northycote Farm. The insect larvae secrete chemicals which cause the wood to grow around them in a tangle of filaments which form a protective cushion. The galls have now done their work. The remains now hang on the bush, looking like small balls of rotting fabric. Look closely, and the surface of each gall has several small round holes where the insect has escaped from the plant’s protection.