Jack attack

Jack Frost continues to run amok amongst the dells and bluffs of the countryside; his campaign of cold, his frenzied freezing and reckless refrigeration have taken a firm hold over heath and wood alike. The ground, so saturated and sodden after the frequent rains of autumn, has capitulated to Jacks continuous attacks, becoming deeply frozen, hard as rock, unforgiving. All visible standing water remains frozen solid, after days of increasing frigidity, every small puddle to the deeper water filled features has become adorned in a cloak of up to 30mm of thick ice. The sun shone majestically over
this tundra on our doorstep, warming enough to make the chill winds bearable, until you entered any shade, when the cold intensified. Deer and ponies made the most of this fine weather to graze and forage, a group of over 30 deer crossed the heath in front of us, while 3 stags stood watching our approach, not flinching until we came within 20m of them, their bucks waiting nervously just below the escarpment.

We made our way down into Alderhill bottom, crossing the usually wet terrain was only made possible by the current glacial conditions; out towards Latchmore Bottom and Latchmore Brook. By this point Latchmore Brook has left the secluded cover of the Amberwood enclosure and its headwaters to leave the forest through the bottom. Now the brook is lawn fringed as it flows through this lowland hollow; frequently shallow and broad, bubbling, tumbling over the gravels, eager to join the Avon 5km ahead. Ice has formed on several of the roots of trees overhanging the brook, water splashing up created strange frozen globular shapes; Jacks popsicles.

As the afternoon came to close the forest was bathed a glorious light, a fitting end to a wonderful walk.