Solstice

The Sun shone brightly on the Dorset Groves Summer Solstice open ritual at Knowlton henge. A good turn out, again as with last nights ritual, of lovely people of good heart. The Dorset Grove always put on a full and beautiful ritual, shamanic aspects, meditation, appropriately focused play containing water pistols and, of course, rubber chickens, healing and cake; there's always cake. Glenn the Shaman wore the headdress of his close friend Nick who has passed not so long, in his honour and memory, powerful stuff. Another great grove ritual.

Solstice Ritual

It's the Summer Solstice tomorrow and this evening the Pagans of Ytene had their Solstice ritual out in the forest.  A nice ritual with good people, plenty of humour and good energy, a fitting way to see in the Solstice.

Pyramid Orchids

More orchids. This time they're Pyramidal orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis), one of the orchids I more commonly see, though still a welcome sight to behold.  It really has been a good year for orchid spotting.

Fire starting practice

I thought I'd do fire starting practice. So whilst out walking I collected the components; papery and resinous Birch bark, dried matter, in this case Fern and small Birch kindling sticks. Laid them out, hit the stop watch, 2 minutes 10 seconds later I had fire. Easy to do when the weathers good, materials are well dried and you've a reliable strike; not so easy in winter or the rain or wind. I practice then too, but I don't practice this and other skill regularly enough. I think everybody should be schooled in basic bushcraft/survival skills and everybody should practice those skills regularly. When I think how removed we've become from our natural environment and how many fundamental skills we either never learnt or have forgotten, how many everyday practices are lost, it's quite scary. Even going back fifty or a hundred years, the majority of people would have had at least some knowledge, if not much more, of basic, what we'd maybe call survival skills and they'd have known as everyday skills. What have we become? Weaker for one, less robust or hardy, less adaptable and more reliant than independent. We've, on mass, forgotten who and what we are.

Bee Orchid

I've been blessed this year to have come across several Orchids on my wanderings this year, rare or unusual ones too.   Today it was the Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera, which takes its name from the bees who pollinate it; over the years the plant has evolved bee-like flowers to ensure it's visited by pollinators.  What a beautiful plant, with such lovely form and colours. I thought I'd write a description of it for identification purposes, but no need, you could misidentify it; it's so striking.

Nine Barrow Down

Nine Barrow Down prehistoric barrow cemetery. A linear barrow cemetery of Bronze Age round barrows and a neolithic long barrow. The Bronze Age barrows range in size, with the two largest (above) at the eastern end; the Neolithic long barrow is harder to identify and lays just to the east in front of the two large barrows (the above photo is taken from its bank). Nicely placed for best effect, these barrows, especially when first constructed and brilliant chalk white, would have been visible for miles around and have created a imposing symbol of power or maybe devotion to a loved one/ones, the ancestors or spiritual path. It's always a pleasure to sit, relax and ponder a while; no matter what the weather spectacular views can usually be had and I think the ancestors would like it.

This is England

This is England. A free St Georges flag, given away in the odious Sun newspaper, flies limply from a mauled conifer, below it, the detritus which increasingly marks are open spaces. The lager cans, fast food containers and myriad of crap which has come to represent all that is Britain in the consumer age. Makes you proud.

Toad

On his way back to Toad Hall, this warty fellow makes his way slowly through the rough grass. I thought Toads lived in water, but I was wrong. Common Toads, as this one is, favour woodland and damp areas and can tolerant quite dry habitats.  Though they can be found in ponds around February and March when breeding. They usually spend their days hidden away in damp hollows, coming out later in the day to hunt for slugs and worms. So what this one was about today, I don't know. The Sun was high and hot, and it was exposed in the relative open beyond the woodland fringe, it looked arduous moving through the rough. and can't have been comfortable for him or her. Always nice to see nature though.

Rhinefeild Sandy's

I couldn't resist a wander through Rhinefield Sandy's enclosure 1809, an enclosure through which we used to walk frequently, although about 10 years ago it was fenced off, high deer prove fencing and deer proof gates made it inaccessible and off limits. Ten years of no deer or ponies grazing and no people, or at least infrequent interlopers, have allowed the enclosure to regenerate substantially and in some places the woodland under-story is now so dense as to be impenetrable. The main tracks through the woods remain reasonably for the most, stilled used sometimes by the forestry, though most of the secondary tracks and smaller paths have now all but disappeared. I don't know why the enclosure was deer fenced, it's usually done after an area has been clear felled and new saplings planted, although there's no evidence of this in Rhinefield Sandy'. It was nice to be alone in the woods, dappled Sun, the best kind of Sun, coming through the canopy brought the woodland alive. That said, I wasn't the only one who was looking for seclusion, as I was heading out I noticed a couple had just come over another gate. 

Telegraph

Abandoned in the early 1960's when the line closed, it's amazing that this telegraph pole, with many of its original fittings still in place, remains in such good condition.

Old Ashley rail line

Occasional structures dotted along the the Castleman trail remind you that once we had an integrated public transport system which connected all the regions and even the smallest of town. Now though, over grown and wooded, the old line is popular with walkers and cyclists, a handy way to get about and avoid the traffic. Here a small railways building, which gives no hint of its previous use, has become shelter to fag smoking youth, rain dodging dog walkers and even, as the graffiti reads, a composer R Burke who in October 1993 'composed a major part of his symphony no1 in e minor'.  Funny place to write a symphony, but then when creativity strikes.

Rempstone Stone circle

They've cleared the ground around the Rempstone Stone Circle exposing the stones and allowing for a better look at what remains of this unusually sited stone circle. Ten stone remain in situ, believed to be about half of them, the rest were removed and piled when the circle was truncated by clay workings; once in open rough grass and heathland the stones now lay in deciduous woodland adjacent to a more modern coniferous plantation. Early field notes record a stone setting of eight stones off to the east and a later discovery two parallel lines of stones numbering twenty three in all to the northwest which may have represented a ceremonial avenue leading to or from the circle suggest that Rempstone may have been an important religious complex during the Bronze Age.  I've always found the site an atmospheric one, with an air of mystery and on a misty day even an eerie feel. A powerful site without a doubt.  I will return soon and spend some time here.

Brenscombe Hill

The view westwards towards Flowers Barrow, the western terminus of the fold of hill which, like a mighty rampart, create and protect the isle of Purbeck. A spectacular view on any day, but bathed in Sun, a view that's hard to beat.

Green Wood Work Shop

It's Purbeck arts week this week, with lots of arts and craft events. Walking up the track past Brenscombe Wood up towards Brenscombe Hill I spied a gate which was usually closed was open and accompanied by a sign which read 'open studio'. An opportunity not to be missed I thought and so detoured into the woods. I'd noticed a few years back, from higher up the track, that the wood had been managed and worked. Tucked in a gentle fold in the hillside, two large tarp covered working areas; The Green Wood Work Shop. The Green Wood Work Shop manages the wood using mostly traditional methods, such as using horses to move felled timber and produces logs, charcoal, bespoke furniture and coppiced products amongst others. It was good to a woodland being productively managed and worked; nice people who run it too.I was glad I passed this way today.

Dragonfly

Dragonflies are cool. This golden ringed Dragonfly, resting at the edge of a cereal crop field on the edge of the forest, let me get quiet close before it sped away; I got great look at it.

Fracking!

Photo from Commonsensecanadian.ca

Fracking or to give it its proper name, Hydraulic fracturing is the process of vertically drilling for about 10,000 ft, then horizontally drilling for up to 2 miles and injecting a fluid mix of water, sand and a varied chemical combination, under pressure into the ground. Hundreds of well heads are required. The purpose, to fracture shale rocks with the pressurized mix, keep those fractures open and to release any natural gas trapped there in. A process which is resource exhaustive, using hundreds of tankers of water for each well head. A process which is environmentally damaging, with roads destroyed by mass heavy vehicle movements, increased occurrence of  earth tremors, failing wells leaking gas and chemicals with the potential to poison our water aquifers. Over 600 different chemicals can be used, with hundreds of gallons of these chemical cocktails employed for each well. A dirty and unpleasant process which is all round destructive to our planet, our environment and ourselves; and to cap it all totally unnecessary in light of the developments in sustainable energy technologies.

I've been opposed to fracking from when I first became aware of it about 2 years ago; opposed from the angle of someone who cares about the environment, from a spiritual angle and from a human angle. It's a process which is wrong on all levels, is unnecessary, and doesn't deal with the main issue which is our reckless and wasteful over use of resources. It's sold to the public as an opportunity for lower fuel prices and energy security; neither are grounded in fact, rather speculation. Local authorities are bribed with payments for each well; though the costs of repairing the environment could never be met, being potentially impossible. Finally, no open debate or discussion has been entered into nationally or locally; people are being kept in the dark....Mushroom Britain. Fracking, in recent months, has been brought into even sharper focus for me, with the announcement of the intension to frack in Purbeck, an area that if you have seen my blog before you'll understand I view as a magical and sacred landscape, close to my heart.  Also part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Landscape, unique. They plan to start exploratory drilling in Purbeck in September and I'll be writing more on the subject as that time draws nearer.

I've just scratched the surface here, I recommend that if you don't know about fracking, look into it, there's plenty of information about it on the web. The dangers are real, the perceived rewards are not and it does nothing to alter or alleviate the problem.....our behaviour.

Lichen branch

A wood of stunted Oaks, exposed and battered by the elements, trying to eek out an existence on fairly poor soils, obviously make an enticing home for lichens. Nearly all the trees have boughs covered in thriving lichens, festooned with an array of broken colours, akin to all the trees are wearing organic ghilli suits, trying to hide, as if growing somewhere they shouldn't be.

Penbury Hill

Crowned by tall Scots Pine, Penbury Hill, is shown on OS maps as a hillfort, though walking around it I'm not so sure; a fortified settlement of some kind yes, but a hillfort, no.  Placed as it is on a prominent ridge, which in Iron Age would have been on the border of three powerful tribes, I see it more as a trading post, neutral ground maybe. There's evidence of enclosures, maybe for stock, on the slopes just below the settlement, a settlement of quite small size, with defences which are only slight and appear to cover only one direction, as it happens the easiest to defended without defences direction and therefore the 'defences' maybe more for show than actual defence. Nothing like the hillforts of the area. It's a beautiful setting, with views for many miles in all directions, a natural meeting place overlooking a landscape rich in archaeological sites, the importance of the surrounding land wouldn't have been lost on the inhabitants of Penbury. I wonder if the site has been excavated? I would like to see the reports. Anyway, whatever, it's a lovely site set in a spectacular landscape.

Mole archaeology

I can't walk past a ploughed field without the urge to walk it nor can I resist troweling through mole hills. The mole archaeologists have been busy at work again, this time over Martin Down. An area rich in history and monument from the Neolithic and probably beyond, so the moles hills of Martin Down have particular draw. Troweling through a few hills near to Grims Ditch and in an area dotted with barrows, nothing caught my eye, I persevered, then a largish sherd of Bronze Age pottery presented itself; course fabric, ruddy in colour, about 10mm thick with plenty of gritty inclusions. Nice.

Pennington Marsh

Rubbish

Foreign rubbish! Coming over here, hanging about in bushes, taking a job decent British rubbish could do, it's a disgrace! What would the Ukip bigots think? On a more serious note, not that bigotry isn't serious, I wonder how it got here, whether in was brought in or arrived here under its own devices.

Bokerely Ditch

It is believed that Bokerely Ditch originated sometime in the late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, although the exact date is uncertain. It was probably created to delineate a tribal or cultural boundary, there is evidence of differing practices on either side of the line which lends weight to this hypothesis. It was later cut in the 1st century AD by the Akling Dyke, a Roman road between Sarum and Badury Rings. Although 250 years later the ditch was re-cut, fortified and this time it was the Akling Dyke which was truncated.  This change is attributed to the necessity for defence after the decline of the Roman Empire after AD410 and the treat of foreign incursions, in particular the Saxons.  Even today centuries after it's construction it remains a prominent feature in the landscape, still an impressive defencive structure, about 5m or 6m from the base of the ditch to the top of the bank in places, snaking for some 3.5 miles across Cranborne Chase.

Bo Ningen at the Joiners

Bo Ningen, if you haven't seen them live yet, then ensure you do so at your soonest convenience! A friend had enthused about them, I'd heard some bits and listen to a piece on 6 music, where they were described along the lines of a musical apocalypse, so I went along. Nothing had prepared me for the musical onslaught (not in a bad way) that is Bo Ningen. I can't describe them beyond that as they defy description. What I would add is that they happily mingled with the crowd afterwards and appeared to be jolly nice chaps.

Camouflage

The broken dappled patterns along with the many hues of green created by the rich woodlands covering the gorge would make an excellent camouflage.

Gorgeous

After last evenings musical delights and an all too short sleep in Cheddar Gorge, we made for a sunny vantage point and a hearty breakfast. Finding a pull in with views across the levels and out to the Bristol channel, we took in the morning. Still smiling from last nights Sentient gig. Glastonbury Tor was clearly visible in the distance, such a magical landscape, it's easy to imagine that the Tor has always been held in awe, remembering that until more recent times the surrounding levels would have been an extensive mix of wetland and open water.  Avalon would have been an important and significant isle. After, we made our way back to the gorge. Ascending rocky pathways we rose through a bolder strewn woodland of tenacious stands, before emerging atop of the Mendip Hills and were afforded some spectacular views over and along Cheddar Gorge. The difference in environments between the Mendips and the levels could not be more marked. Again letting my my mind wander, I imagined how the Mendips gorges must have been viewed by people in the past; wild and mysterious places full or stories and folklore, places probably avoided by many and maybe sanctuary for others.  For me the gorges and hills of the Mendips are a magical environment I never tire of exploring.

Sentient at the King Arthur

The King Arthur is an unassuming pub in the back streets of Glastonbury, and what a friendly drinking establishment it is and very cool venue to boot; our purpose for being so far from home tonight. Tonight we had traveled to see Sentient, a four piece comprising of Steffe Sharpstrings (of legendary Here and Now fame amongst others) on guitar and vocals, Anand Gary "Subs" (of Dave Howard Singers) on bass, Joie Hinton (of Eat Static, Ozric Tentacles amongst others) on synths and keyboards and Tanya Smart (of the Oroonies) on drums and percussion. I've wanted to see Sentient for some time and had high expectations. The room was empty really, a few people sat about but as Sentient let loose like psychedelic pied pipers preparing to lead a merry dance the edges of the King Athurs back room filled with people drawn by their music. As the band took the audience on a journey through some outstanding magical musical soundscapes, the room quickly filled and folk started, slowly at first, to move on to the dance floor, until it was filled with strangely moving and gyrating people, lost in the music. Imagine, as I did, a Romero zombie film or maybe the video to Thriller but the zombies have been replaced by colourfully clothed, very happy and smiley 'heads' all blissed out on what were some sublime sounds. Made me smile; everybody was having a great time. The band too, appeared to be enjoying themselves, which is aways nice. With plenty of glissando, fine guitar work by Steffe over Joie's wild synthscapes, all underpinned by Subs solid bass and excellent drumming by Tanya, they brought the back room of the King Arthurs to life. Beautiful. I enjoyed every minute of it though was particularly taken a groovy little jazzy number about halfway through, as the Jazz Club guy might say.....niiiice. The band played a nice long set of 2 hours or so, though as with all good things it appeared much shorter and ended far too soon. Bloody marvelous. I said I had high expectations, well I wasn't disappointed, if anything Sentient managed to exceed expectations; what a fantastic night.

Burnt Orchids

A rare treat on Martin Down, coming across a group of Burnt Tip Orchids (Neotinea ustulata) as they begin to flower. These orchids are not common and are listed as endangered.  Only found in a handful of sites across Britain I feel very lucky to have seen them.

Follow the path

Even if your course appears unsure, just follow your own path and you'll get where you need to be. Verdant doesn't go there, this path appeared to disappear in a sea of lush green vegetation, the like of which is uncommon. It reminded me of Ryhope Wood in Robert Holdstocks Mythago Wood cycle of books, wild and magical, all consuming, a place you could lose yourself in. Nature at her most fertile.

Hawthorn

It's May time and the chalk grassland is punctuated with thick clusters of pinky white, these can be seen for as far as the eye can see dotted about the mostly open landscape, the hedgerows too are festooned in the bright blossom of the Hawthorn. If folklore be believed then the area must be rife with fairies, who are supposed to live within. There's no doubt this landscape is magical.  

Purple Orchid

There were a few Early Purple Orchids (Orchis mascula) growing on Grims Ditch today, such cool plants the orchids and always a treat to discover.

Spring Chicken

The first Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus), also commonly known as the sulphur polypore, I've seen this year. I'll come back in a few days to see if there's a dinners worth.  

Roman Bridge

Norden Woods

Long before I can see them or the wood their home, the strong smell of garlic as I approach Norden Wood tells me that the wild garlic there are know in full bloom. Never a disappointment in May, Nordon Wood is carpeted in fresh white star like flowers on a deep bed of rich green; this carpet extends well up the sides of the hill of which the wood partially covers. I pick a couple or so of the flower heads and eat them, the flavour is strong and hot, but not off putting and I eat a few more. It's good to be reminded of how pungent and strong they are, a mistake I made last year was to use far too much wild garlic in a soup and render it virtually impossible to eat. It's early evening and as the Sun slowly lengthens the shadows, golden light streams through the stands, from the open fields beyond the wood Deer spy our passing, whilst all about is alive with evening bird song; nature in full effect. Just to stand awhile amongst such beauty.

A Purbeck evening

I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again, Purbeck is magic. Even with the encroaching metropolis of Bournemouth/Poole across the harbour, it retains an air of isolation, of being slightly out of the flow of time.....of being an island.

Canopies

I never get bored of the majesty of woodland canopies, always I look up in awe at natures wonders. Clothed in springs new finery, you feel enclosed as if in one of natures cathedrals, looking up at mighty boughs forming a vaulted a roof atop sturdy pillars of Beech and Oak. I can't understand why Christians would choose to worship their creator inside cold buildings, as beautiful as some of them are, when the wonders they believe he created outshine even the most majestic and would appear to have be created for the purpose.

Brolly

Obviously a gentleman out walking, I like to imagine a John Steed type character dressed in hunters tweed, out walking perhaps with a Mrs Peel type character, sat for a moment to take in the views and has alighted forgetting his trusty brolly, left perched against a fallen bough. Or maybe there's another scenario, though I doubt it.

A dappled forest stream

Now days Highland Water runs under the low laying boughs of stream side trees, serene and demure, dappled sunlight playing on its gently flowing surface; no longer the racing torrent is was through the winter months, when its banks could frequently not contain it and it travel where it willed, no, today it chatters merrily as navigates its way over sections of nearly exposed gravel, well with the confines of its banks which now tower above.

Broken Beeches

Too many trees have succumbed to the angry elements this past year, too many mature woodland leviathans lay splintered and broken on the alter of mans inability to control his actions, even in the face of certain destruction. What we do to ourselves is, of course, our own prerogative and stupid is as stupid does, but we are not alone and sadly, if we don't wake up from our malaise, we'll take much of the worlds wondrous nature with us as collateral damage. Leaving future generations to inhabit wastelands.

Mast be spring.

Throughout the forest nature bursts into life, the Beech of Great Huntley Bank are festooned with flowers and young mast, the Beech grows both male and female flowers on the same plant, which is handy for its propagation.  In good years, come late summer/autumn, these boughs will hang heavy with mast or Beech nuts, now mostly forgotten these small triangular fruits were a useful crop well used by previous generations.

Beltane

The cleansing fires of Bel will purify the night and prepare the land and our spirits for the season to come. Where our May Queen, our Flower Bride, passes stem, bud and flower will burst forth with youthful vigor, symbols of purity, of new growth and of renewal; where she treads new life burgeons as fertility floods our lands. Blessed be and happy Beltane.