Wednesday 13 March 2024

Obsidian pools

The sky touches an obsidian pool.

Monday 11 March 2024

Magic circle

Finding things like this make my day, I absolutely love them. Well off any track, deep within a mosaic block, an oval of small branches built around a conifer tree. The feature has some age to it, with mosses having become established and colonizing the oval. This is a favourite block of mine, and one that I've wandered through frequently, reminding me that no matter how well you think you know a piece of woodland there's always more find. Clearly built with purpose, it's a purpose I'll never know; another mystery, another fragmentary context-less glimpse into someone elses' world.

Sunday 10 March 2024

Ogden's Purlieu

 
This mornings' long walk was spent mainly roaming some of the forests' plains. The plains are exposed and windswept, an open landscape of heather, bracken and gorse heathland, and of waterlogged hollows and wetter valleys. An environment that can become difficult to negotiate, though affords the determined walker superb views. It's a funny thing that in our imaginations the forest is just that a 'forest' all trees, whereas in reality at least 50% of the forest is wild open heath and bog. Above is the view across Dockens Water and over Ibsley Common and Ogden's Purlieu, with Hasley Enclosure on the horizon.

Saturday 9 March 2024

Red-Belted Bracket fungus

I'm fairly certain this is Red-Belted Bracket fungus (Fomitopsis pinicol); it'd be mad if it wasn't, what with it having a distinctive red belt and all.  Sources conflict as to whether this fungus is common or rare in the UK, all say common across all of Europe, some though say rare in Britain and Ireland. Either way I think this is one.

Friday 8 March 2024

Ramson buds

I spotted the first Ramson (Allium ursinum) flower buds this morning, the wheel of the really is turning with speed, alarming speed in my opinion. Still, I'd better get my wild food head on, the season of the spring greens is upon us. 

Thursday 7 March 2024

What are the odds.

 
Lost keys hung on a branch. It's not uncommon to see dropped items visibly displayed on the sides of tracks by good folk in the hope that they and their owners might be reunited. Though these keys are not on a well worn path or track these are hung on a very random low branch in a block of anonymous mixed woodland of varying density, with no paths to speak of beyond ephemeral wildlife  tracks. Losing things is easy, too easy, and losing your keys, well, that almost a cliché. What are the odds though of someone finding them, the floor and understory of this block are wild and unkempt, an environment that stacks the odds in losses favour. Then. What are the chances of me whilst wandering in the same pathless woodland finding them hanging there. The good Samaritan must be a true believer. The ring is rusting well, so I'm going to suggest they've hung here a while. Un-retrieved. Made me think. Because I never see others when wandering off piste, I imagine, or assume, no one else walks where I walk. Taking into account that evidence suggests people must, what are the odds of us all passing that apparently very random anonymous spot.

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Tuesday 5 March 2024

Larch Blossom

 
Larch (Larix decidua) blossom, an enchanting flower that as it happens in folklore protects you from enchantment. 

Sunday 3 March 2024

Misty morning

A beautiful misty morning in Mark Ash Wood.

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Shut that gate

Clearly it's not just me that's noticed a marked increase in gates being left open about the forest. I've seen these going up all over. It's quite telling of a people that they require reminding to do the bleedin' obvious, the proper thing. 

Tuesday 27 February 2024

Monday 26 February 2024

Gnawed beech

Back in 2016 this mature Mark Ash beech only narrowly escaped a complete ring stripping by dint of two narrow crevices into which the ponies teeth couldn't reach. You'd imagine this level of bark damage would be catastrophic, though remarkably the tree survives today thanks to those narrow crevices. Isn't nature amazing.

Sunday 25 February 2024

Encrusted fronds

Encrusted fronds in a forest ditch.

Friday 23 February 2024

Bubbles

Bubbles emerging from beneath a stone on the bed of Bratley Water; the bubbles appearing near continually. I sat watching for quite a while, most peculiar. I wondered by what mechanism this was happening. I pretty quickly ruled out something hiding under the rock, just upstream there's a shallow waterfall and all I came up with was air being forced via the waterfall through root casts or similar. 

Tuesday 20 February 2024

British Soldiers

British Soldiers (Caldonia cristatella)

Monday 19 February 2024

Nibblers

You can see that this isn't the first time that this Holly has been nibbled by ponies. It's quite amazing that you'll see trees nibbled to what looks like within an inch of their lives thriving after years abuse.

Sunday 18 February 2024

Saturday 17 February 2024

Endor

 
I'm sure I could hear Ewoks chattering.

Thursday 15 February 2024

Phospurous by Custard Flux

 
A 4th serving of Custard Flux, Phosphorus, was dished up in the Autumn of 2022, with the vinyl release in August 2023. I recently availed myself of a copy and wasn't disappointed. Best known for being the driving force behind The Luck Of Eden Hall and his countless contributions on other musical projects Gregory Curvey is an accomplished multi instrumentalist, composer, artist and artisan, Detroits' very own renaissance man. Custard Flux is his evolving project based around a harmonium he restored, and with 3 albums already under his belt the distinctive sound of Custard Flux is developing nicely.
 
There's been little change to the line up in the band since 2020's 'Oxygen', beyond the departure of Walt Prettymans' violin and the addition of the flute and backing vocals of progressive space rocker Jay Tausing the band remains the same. The fantastic talent of Vito Greco on guitars, including some particularly nice Portuguese guitar; the return of Timothy Prettymans' excellent double bass; legendary saxophonist Mars Williams brings a proggy jazz atheistic, with echoes of Gong-est atmospheres at moments; and drums, percussion, piano, harmonium, harpsichord, auto-harp, and of course dazzling guitar and distinct vocals delivered by Curvey himself. 
 
Always setting the bar high Curvey consistently surpasses it, and he's done it again with 'Phosphorus'. As you'd imagine Phosphorous shares core DNA with it's predecessors, though again further evolved and augmented. As with previous Custard Flux releases there's plenty to enjoy. Laden with inventive genre spanning compositions where progressive rock dances with cerebral psyche along to pop beats, arrangements with a classical air which give them a certain gravitas, and always tracks that you feel could surprise you at any moment, and often do, Phosphorous is an aural feast. Curvey has a unique style and sound, lover of complex melodies and wonderful riffs, always lyrically interesting, his distinctive and inimitable creative style runs through his work like Brighton through rock, and Phosphorous is no different.  This is another fabulous album from Custard Flux, you'd be mental not to avail yourself of a copy. Absolute quality elegantly performed to perfection by a top flight ensemble. Cap doffed.

Get your double 150g blue or black vinyl, housed in a quality card stock gate fold sleeve adorned inside and out by some fine art by Gregory Chamberlain, plus lyric sheet and postcards, from Custard Flux. Bloody Lovely.

Wednesday 14 February 2024

Drainage

 
Without drainage much of the 'forest' would be wholly unsuitable for growing timber, too wet you see, hence the extensive drainage networks and the Victorians straightening of lengths of forest stream. Times change though, as do priorities. Today many sections of the streams have been returned to their pre Victorian courses, and all over the forest the filigree of drains go for the most part unmaintained, often filling with debris to the point where many are becoming redundant. The forest is returning to a more natural boggy state.

Tuesday 13 February 2024

Ch ch changes.......or not.

Carved 95 years ago, so what's changed since CB made their mark on this mature beech in 1929. Well, what was going on in 1929? It was the beginning of the Great Depression, the beginning of a devastatingly period of poverty and decline, there was violent conflict between Jews and Arabs in Mandatory Palestine which saw hundreds dead and injured, across Europe nationalism and fascism on the rise, and around the world change bubbling up. Well, they do say history repeats itself don't they. They also say if we don't learn from history we're condemned to repeat it, looks like we weren't paying attention, eh. Is that proof of the Strauss-Howe hypothesis?

Monday 12 February 2024

Legion Son of X: Invasive Exotics (X Men Legacy)

 
He's going to keep his fathers' dream alive, though going to do it 'his' way. Following the untimely death of his father Professor Charles Xavier, David Charles Haller known in certain circles as Legion continues to follow his path towards redemption, whilst wrangling control of the myriad powers running rampant in his head and pursuing a relationship with his new found love Blindfold, a student at The Jean Grey School. And there's still the issue of the powerful and frightening interloper lurking in the shadows of his mind, who is it, what it's game? Full of twists, turns and surprises Legion Son of X: Invasive Exotics (X Men Legacy) by Simon Spurrier, Tan Eng Huat and Paul Davidson is a fabulous read. Superb writing by Spurrier, who portrays David in an unusually sympathetic way, an engaging story, witty and clever, and one which ensures this volume is a real page turner, though Huat and Davidsons' lovely illustrations keep you lingering on the page. Oh the dilemma.

Sunday 11 February 2024

Of birds and berries

 
I was talking to this old guy who lives right out in the forest, he noted that there were fewer birds about than usual, something I'd noticed too. As evidence he pointed to the number of berries left on the surrounding trees, something I'd not considered, though yeah, with holly particularly noteworthy. Climate change? Who knows. The old guy suggested it could be the return of Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) to the forest after an absence of over a 120 years.  Apparently there are 45 pairs in the forest, as successful breeders that number could rise quickly. They're top of their local food chain, a big hawk, as big as a buzzard, and a formidable predator too, predating on other birds of all types and sizes, they'll even take out other raptors (the old guy mentioned he'd found a couple of dead owls which looked Goshawk-ed) and a whole range of mammals, earning themselves the moniker the 'Phantom of the forest'. I couldn't say whether he's right, it's interesting though, conservation as we practice it can be myopic, prioritizing the welfare of one species over the interests of the wider community.

Saturday 10 February 2024

Friday 9 February 2024

Bomb store track

 
In the hollow of Magpie Bottom the last remaining section of the Second World War concrete track way which ran between the Bomb Store at the Corner of Holmsley Enclosure and the dispersal pans on Plain Heath. The majority of the track way has had it's concrete surface grubbed up, now just bare gravel. I think this section only survived due to the boggy nature of the bottom here, the removal of the concrete would've rendered the track impassable.

Thursday 8 February 2024

Mycelium Wassonii: Norma Tenega by Brian Blomerth

Recently a friend of mine kindly lent me a copy of Brian Blomerths' Mycelium Wassonii: Norma Tenega. Beautifully illustrated in Blomerths' 60's 70's underground comic stylee it enjoys an engaging quaintness and tells the psychedelic adventures of pioneering mycologists R. Gordon and Valentina Wasson  and their expeditions to discover rare psychedelic mushrooms, indigenous mushroom rituals and exploring their effects. It's a really lovely story, sad, but definitely lovely.  A recommended read for both comic and mushroom lover alike.

Wednesday 7 February 2024

Nursery blocks

 
I mentioned a ways back that silver birch were commonly grown in nursery blocks with longer lived hard woods such as oaks and beech amongst them, the quick growing birch affording shelter and protection. The sheltered trees being big enough to go it alone their birch defenders are for the most part cleared.

Monday 5 February 2024

Ramsons

Bang on time the arrival of February sees the first emergence of that perennial wild food favourite the Ramson (Allium ursinum). A ramson woodland in full flower is a wonder to behold, you'll need to wait a couple more months yet for that though.

Sunday 4 February 2024

Green wood

There's a lot of forestry going on about the forest at the moment. Some mature blocks are being clear felled, some previously cleared blocks replanted and there's a lot of thinning happening too; here juvenile Beech have been removed from amongst their more senior Oak. Our forests are unimaginatively managed, or at least could be managed more productively. Imagine if we managed and utilized our forests to their fullest as a huge diverse sustainable resource, if we used traditional skills to produce traditional and contemporary products for a modern world. A huge amount of things can be made of wood.

Friday 2 February 2024

Imbolc

 
Imbolc is here, enjoy the first feast of spring and the excitement it brings. With the first signs of life renewed, our hearts with light and love imbued. Said to mean 'in the belly', a reference to the pregnancy of ewes, Imbolc more broadly represents the imminent burgeoning of spring. Blessings at this time of new beginnings y'all.  

Thursday 1 February 2024

Spawn

 
It's that time of year again. Frog spawn usually arrives early in these parts, it has and they've been busy too. Spawning this early can be a risky business, I've seen huge clumps of spawn devastated by frost. They're hedging their bets with the quantities they've produced though.

Wednesday 31 January 2024

MM 1944

 
There are those in the nature loving and pagan communities who'd pour scorn on folk who'd scar and mark trees, and in some circumstances I've got a degree of sympathy for that. Though I have to say that for the most part I enjoy graffiti. Be it profane or mundane or profound, someone had been moved enough to spend time and effort on it's carving. Fair play. One type of graffiti that never fails to move me is wartime graffiti, and particularly that of American servicemen here only fleetingly during World War Two. I've often wondered the fates of the carvers. To me the imagine of young men thousands of miles from home, fully cognisant of the possibilities ahead on the eve of the unknown wishing to leave some mark before they go, no matter how ephemeral, is a powerful image. MM did just that in 1944, no doubt just before D-Day. There used to be ten or so pieces of American WW2 graffiti I knew of in Burley Old, though as the years go by they're slowly being reduced by time and the elements. 

Sunday 28 January 2024

White Shoot reflections

I stared for a while into the reflection cast by the sky and a gaggle of silver birch in a forest pool, the scene appeared to take on the appearance of an oil painting to me.

Saturday 27 January 2024

Black Water

 
This stretch of Black Water above Gravelly Ford has always been a favourite of mine. Before they deer fenced a large portion Rhinefields Sandys, we'd regularly  park in the old car park on the ridge a wander hereabouts. Our walks often taking in both Ober Water and Black Water, and the mosaic stands of Rhinefields Sandys enclosure running between the two. It was good walking. Still is. Although as you'd imagine, the imposition of a large chunk of the enclosure being securely fenced and inaccessible really affects your roam.

Friday 26 January 2024

Red Rise

 
A naked or near naked Red Rise this morning. I love the energy of this time of year. It's now right before the new growth of spring that the forest finally approaches peak bare, with last years growth thoroughly battered and broken down the land appears forlorn, though just beneath the surface the energy of the land slowly grows, almost tangible now. You begin to feel springs' approach before it becomes perceivable.   

Tuesday 23 January 2024

Fletchers' Water

 
Dank day on Fletchers' Water

Monday 22 January 2024

Frosty fringe

You know it must be cold out when the fringes of higher reaches of the forests' streams remain frosted well into the day. The forest streams are a favourite roam of ours, I particularly enjoy wandering their wilder head waters. This morning it was the Smoky Hole section of Bratley Water, thicket flanked, boggy and wild, walking these upper stretches of stream always feels like walking back into the wild wood.

Saturday 20 January 2024

The Light and Darkness War by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy

 
I've been after reading this for years, The Light and Darkness War by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. Way back in the late 80's I read the first issue (1of 6), though subsequent issues alluded me, I've always kept my eye for those other issues. I was initially drawn by the Cam Kennedys' art work; Kennedy was a favourite of mine from Legendary British Scifi comic 2000AD, particularly his work on 'The VC's' and 'Rogue Trooper', and Veitchs' story immediately captured my imagination.  Until recently I'd been completely unaware that Titan had released a collected edition in 2015, sumptuous it is too, hardback, with plenty of extras. Lazarus Jones, a door gunner on a slick over Vietnam, had lost his legs in an explosion that took the lives comrades. Years of PTSD, alcohol and drug abuse lead him to wish he'd died with his friends. Returning from a visit to Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall Jones is involved in car crash that leaves him in a coma, transporting him to a dimension where his friends are alive and fighting for light in an eternal battle with all consuming darkness. A timeless theme cleverly re-imagined, and much more too, delivered through gritty and direct art, and well written characters. I wasn't disappointed.

Friday 19 January 2024

Sunset #1 2024

My first sunset photo of 2024, taken at Mudeford Quay.

Wednesday 17 January 2024

Endurance

 
Trees can teach us a thing or two about endurance. Twisted, buckled, torn and split, this beech has been bent and battered by time and the elements, though even with it's crown forced to the ground it dug in and kept on keeping on. You see a lot of trees about the forest that have been slighted by the elements and have fought on and thrived.