Samhain

Samhain
Darkness falls across the land, as winters grip draws near.
Last harvest's in, chattels stored, a darker time’s now here.
On far hills bone fires burn bright, to mark the end of year.
A gate to world's now open, calls of the ancestors we hear.
For the ancients walk amongst us, though we have nought to fear.
We're honoured by their presence, it's good to feel them near.
They’ve come to share our evening, of thanks and hope and cheer.
We’ll eat and drink, we’ll celebrate, for come morning one thing’s clear.
The wheel of life has turned again, last harvest ends our year.

Mark Ash

Mark Ash was beautiful today.

Chestnuts roasting

Like much other forest fayre, Chestnuts have been, on the whole, low on the ground and poor quality this season.  The bases of Chestnut trees are covered with small, loose nuts; only a small number of trees are producing nuts worth collecting. In Wilverley several trees producing good sized nuts were found, one opposite the Naked Man was particularly fruitful; though they were the exceptions. It's the squirrels and other woodland creatures I feel for, this years poor harvest will have left them wanting.  Although, it's a lesson to us too. One thing that has become very clear this year is how devastating the wrong weather can be to wild resources; if we were relying on wild foods to provide a proportion, or all, of our food requirements, we would be very worried now. 

Spiral dance

A spiral dance for Samhain.

Knowlton Samhain ritual

The Sun shone from a blue sky, dappled with fleeting clouds which raced for some unseen finish line, the wind scoured, but couldn't dampen the spirits of those gathered to celebrate Samhain.  It was another enjoyable ritual with the good folk of the Dorset Grove at Knowlton Henge, open, welcoming and friendly as always.

Holm Hill Bog

Holm Hill Bog is one of a group of bogs within close proximity to one another, all separated by fingers of higher open heathland. Walking over this landscape can be convoluted, the path dictated by impassable wetland areas. Today the sky was heavy with clouds threatening rain, the heathland landscape has browned and withered, pausing at a bridge/ford and taking time to look about, I see how far towards winters desolation the land has travelled.  It wont be long before a walk on this open land becomes a feat of endurance.

Soarley Beeches

Soarley Beeches, a great place with a unique air about it.

Oak block

This old Oak surcame to autumns winds, blocking the Mill Lawn road.

Soarley Bottom

The view from Backley Plain over a misty Soarley Bottom, with a shrouded Beech Bed Enclosure in the distance.

Lichen

Lichen is so trippy, man.  One tree can harbour a myriad of different shapes and forms, colours and textures; symbiotic and strange, capable of living in every diverse environment we know and in extremes other life forms would baulk at.  There are some 1873 species of Lichen found in the British Isles and Ireland and more than 17,000 worldwide. 

Red Rise

There are certain spots in the forest that call you to them with more frequency than others, that exert some unseen influence over you and your imagination, ensuring you roam them with regularity. Red Rise is one of those places. No matter the season, no matter the weather, it's always got it going on.

The Holly King

The Holly King rules this half of the year and the Holly tree features heavily in the forests native woodland matrix.  They're found throughout the forest and on Crab Tree Earth is found a particularly magnificent stand of Holly trees, each with multiple trunks, a couple of metres in circumference; older and thicker in the center and younger surrounding, all looking old and gnarled by time and teeth. 

Bee Hives

I wonder how the forest Bees fared this year?

Lonesome Cep

A lonesome Cep. I only mentioned yesterday that this season the forest where I roam has been bereft of Ceps, this is the first I'd seen so far.  It's no fungi renaissance, but maybe it's a start.

Red Rise Brook

Baby Fly Agaric

The recent rains have precipitated the emergence of a small flush of mushrooms.  Here and there amongst the stands a Fly Agaric pushes through skywards, there's the occasional group of Chanterelles and an unprecedented amount of Parasol mushrooms up on Spy Holms. Still no Ceps or Hedgehogs yet though.

Rooks Bridge

Autumns here

Autumns here for sure. The walking is wet, the wind forces mountainous clouds across the face of the Sun, the walk swings from light to dark, and between warmth to quite a chill. The forest feels Autumn. The rustling amongst the stands, the smell of wet wood and leaf; across the bare heath, deer roam, darting from cover to cover. It's nearing years close and the land is wrapping up, another year near done.

Gimmi shelter

A shelter built for a giant or merely over enthusiasm, either way this is a huge a frame structure.  Its scale reminiscent of the communal lodge building common in rain forest regions.  It would be some shelter if completed, although poorly sited, as the woodland around these parts is nearly always wet.

Crabby

This year the Crab apple trees of the forest are bare for the most part, their leafs browned and fallen some time back, their boughs bearing little or no fruit. A sad sight indeed. Compare this last years bumper harvest and it serves to highlight how devastating heavy / prolonged rain can be on fruit bearing shrubs.  Sloe's too have been hit hard, with bare boughs the order of the season, as many of the other woodland fruits.

Bratley Autumn

The march towards winter continues with the forest adopting its wardrobe of rich autumnal hues; the canopies are fading and the heath is becoming subdued. Damp mists hang in the hollows and amongst the stands, stags search for mates, their roars occasionally in the distance and the woodland quietens as it begins it's journey to hibernation and winters sleep.

Subway art

The usually grey and dull concrete walls of Upper Lazy Bushes underpass have been brightened by the addition of some interesting graffiti.  Created it would appear by Snoopy, Evil and Ezra (their tags abounded), these strange images were a pleasure to stumble upon; other than the top hatted skull, all the pieces possess what appear to be particularly stoned looking eyes, maybe an indication of the artists condition whilst creating. That said, the lines are clean and flow beautifully, and the images are pleasing to the eye.  More please.