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. 

Berry Beeches

 

Berry Beeches

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.

Encrusted fronds

Encrusted fronds in a forest ditch.

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. 

British Soldiers

British Soldiers (Caldonia cristatella)

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.

Get it on

 

Get it on.

Endor

 

I'm sure I could hear Ewoks chattering.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

Burley Old

Burley Old

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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.