These boots were made for walking.

These boots were made for walking. My walking companion Norris is an old fella now, and having walked thousands of miles with me over the years has developed arthritis in his paws, particularly his front ones. So, it's orthopaedic boots for him. He's still a bit unsure and still has the occasional trip, though he's stopped walking like a dressage pony and certainly finds gravelly surfaces easier. Looks quite dapper too. I may well get a back pair, then he'll have 'four paw drive' for those difficult off road walks.

All aboard!

Typical! You wait ages for a Magic Bus vinyl, and the two come along! I'm not complaining, mind. I've been waiting eagerly for Magic Bus's new Album 'Philip the Egg' to be released on vinyl since it's release on CD at the beginning of May. Though I was unaware that they were also releasing their 2014 album 'Transmission from Sogmore's garden' on vinyl. Both arrived this morning, and will be played relentlessly throughout the day.

Badbury Rings

The magnificent ancient earthen edifice of Badbury Rings Iron Age Hillfort.

Avon Water restoration

They're doing more river restoration on Avon Water. Avon Water was another one of the forests really straight 'drains'. When the kids were young we used to don old cloths and wade up its length, ducking and climbing a variety of fallen or half sunken trees and branches, like a wet obstacle course.  They've already restored a lengthy section of the stream between the A35 at Holmesley Tea Rooms and the path which runs under the second old railway bridge, and it's looking all the better for it. All the works to date have been done very sympathetically, naturalizing quickly and encouraging an explosion in diversity. Its restoration to it's old course is also more aesthetically pleasing too, meandering where it should; luckily the pre-straightening and cutting course of the stream was still defined through the adjoining woodland.  If it's the same crew and the current works are carried out to the same standard (as it looks like) give it 5 years and you'll never know the stream ever flowed elsewhere.

Japanese water iris

Not a local, nor indigenous, this Japanese water iris (Iris laevigata) has somehow found its way into an isolated  forest wetland hollow and set up home. It's not uncommon to find exotic escapees in the forest, though I have to say, this was a particularly lovely find, and I'd imagine one which doesn't pose a threat to the forest, as the gardening sites suggest they require experience to grow. There were about a dozen plants, several of which bore flower, so they'd been doing quite well on their own. A rare and beautiful find. 

Summer Solstice sunset down the quay

As it began, so it ended, in natures majesty.

Summer Solstice sunrise at Knowlton

I'd pondered where to spend the Summer Solstice sunrise and was glad that I'd decided on Knowlton Henge, a Neolithic Henge, part of a wider ritual complex embodying 5000 years of ritual activity, including the a ruinous post Medieval church. Even at 0430 as the sky began to colour, heralding the rising Sun, a crescent moon hanging magically above the nearby Great Barrow, it was warm enough to comfortably wear a t-shirt, amazing. Quite a few people had gathered to watch the sunrise, several of whom I knew, old freinds like Mick, who I've known for over 30 years and his girl friend Ang, Nick who I've known since the early 90's and member of the Dorset Grove who I'd not seen in a while; it's always nice to catch up with good people, it's something I need to do more and there's no excuse not too, only the barriers my mind creates. The Sun rose majestically, beautifully through the morning clouds. I say to myself every time I watch the sun rise 'I must do this more often', though still only manage it on the 8 days ascribed as important by my path. I left the henge with my spirits lifted and a smile on my face, though still with a corner of melancholia in my heart at how much I've changed. I hope the seeds of dreams and plans you planted in spring are blooming nicely. Solstice blessings y'all. 

Lizard king

This male Viviparous Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) didn't appear to bothered by my attention, that said, as soon as I moved back he scuttled off into the undergrowth. You've got to keep your eyes peeled if you want to catch sight of the forests more elusive residents. I often wonder how much I miss, I bet it's more that I'd think.

Dartmoor

Oh, man, Dartmoor, how I love thee. From the very first time I drove through it's rugged ancient landscape it stole a piece of my heart, I was smitten. The subsequent years of walking its wooded valleys and austere granite topped hills, camping in its secret places and dipping into its chilled waters, have imbued its landscape with deep layers of memory, of times and people. It is a special place to me, a magical place. I feel differently here, I feel excited like a child. Today's walk was up the wonderful Walkham Valley; a beautiful wooded valley through which the crystal clear Walkham flows around boulders and islands, forming rapids and pools amongst dappled light. It's a place we've walked for 30 years or more, and even though it's been some time since we last walked here, and there have been changes, walking here feels like coming home. Taking in all the sights, sounds and smells which abound around us we make our way up the river as it slowly narrows, and just before it emerges from its wooded valley, out into the open moor and the high origins of its source, we turn abruptly upwards through the humid wooded valley side. It's steep and the climb is hard.  Though when we reach the woodland edge and brake cover we're greeted with stunning views across the wild expanse of the moor; up towards our destination, Kings Tor, and looking back down over the wooded valley we've just left. Stunning. We continue, threading a path between natural boulders, then through the expansive detritus of the stone working industry of the previous 2 centuries, and finally, up atop the granite stack of Kings Tor. From up here we have views out across the moor and way beyond, off into Cornwall and out to the coast. What a spot. We can't stay here too long though, out here with no shade, and under today's blazing sun, it's too much. So, down we go, back tracking through the piles of waste stone chippings and half formed blocks. It's not too long before we find ourselves back in the welcomed shade of the canopy. The humidity is high, and as we descend through the trees the sound of the river grows; it's calling us to take a dip. Well, on a day like today it would be rude not to. The water bubbles up from deep below and even on a baking day like this is freezing cold, immersing yourself is a spiritual experience as much as an invigorating and refreshing one. Wow. It's amazing how refreshing it is, for the remainder of our walk back to car I feel air conditioned, in fact, I could feel the effects of our 5 minute dip for the rest of the day. Too soon we were back at the car, where we'd left a wounded member of the mission who'd missed out on the walk. I say 'wounded', massively hungover in truth, though he had recovered on our return, which was good. What a walk, man, not too long, sub 10, and virtually every step arduous, though the reward was massive.  As I said in yesterdays Here and Now gig post, life can kick the shit out of you, and to pinch a Here and Now lyric 'it's the little things', the simple things which give you strength. Today's walk and last nights gigs will charge my batteries and keep me running for some time. Oh, happy days.

Here & Now @ Unit 23 Totnes 17.6.2017

Ah, the Here and Now Band. Since I first heard Here and Now's 'All Over The Show' album in the early 80's, the bands music has remained a constant on the soundtrack of my life.  The bands line up may have changed over the years, though a consistent throughout has been the quality of musicians and the quality of the music, both have remained very high.  The current line up of Keith da Bass, Mark Robson, Andy Roger, Andy Burrows and Gem Quinn is fantastic, and together they have an amazing chemistry, the energy created fair crackled across the stage tonight.  Andy B on guitar and Gem drums are newbies, though you'd never know it, so tight is the band sound you'd think they'd been there forever; credit to them as musicians, you should see them in their other bands too, Andy with MOTA and Gem with Kangaroo Moon, wow.  As for the other band members, well, Keith's Keith, a bass legend who deserves the title, a man with Vibranium fingers; Mark, no matter in what manifestation (H&N, Kangaroo Moon, Magic Brothers) a multi instrumentalist par excellence; and Andy R, a master of the electronic universe, a wizard of soundscape creation.  Naturally, our expectations were high, Here and Now have set themselves a high bar over the years and have never failed to reach beyond it, other than... only kidding, of course they've never failed to produce the goods, they're feckin ace! Tonight the set list was outstanding, a smorgasbord of tracks from the bands extensive back catalogue; some tracks that when we were first seeing them we could could only dream of hearing (they weren't included in the live sets at the time), like 'Surgeons Knife' and 'little things' (two particular favourites of mine), and then there were tracks of the 'Secrets' and 'The Mega Number' period, aw, man, the 'The Mega Number', a track I remember blissing out to at so many gigs through the 80's. The band delivered every track perfectly, and with gusto and panache. But that's not all, no, there were new tracks! Yup, we thought we heard one during Here and Now's Avalon Ballroom set at the King Arthur, but tonight, there were more! All good strong stuff too, one in particular, a long number, was outstanding! That's an exclamation mark at the end of the last three sentences, if that's not an indication of how good the evening was, then I give up! We the audience were loving it, man, you couldn't help but move; the band too looked like they were enjoying it, which is when the magic happens. And, magic was happening. Each time I looked about, everyone was smiling, people dancing and moving (there was some great moves on show too), people were really feeling the energy. Life can kick the shit out of you, and it's bands like Here and Now who can put the wind back into your sails, and for that we thank them and love them. And, there was certainly love in the room this evening. Now, we've seen Here and Now many many times over the years and it would be fair to say that tonight their performance ranked with the very best of them, and as I said, that's a high bar. They finished with, of course, 'So Glad You're Here', the joy in the room was palpable. Every member of the band had brought their best game. Special credit though needs to go to both the Andy's who'd already performed a stella set this evening as MOTA, bravo fellows. What a stunning performance, and one that will raise a smile for a long time to come. I can't wait for the new album, yeah, that's right, that's what I heard from a reputable source, and if that doesn't excite any Here and Now fan, I'd check your pulse. Finally, a big thanks to Mike (I'd found out from a friend that Mike was the guy who put the gig on), when ever I'd seen him he was bobbing about beaming, and why not, he'd put on a beautiful thing, nice one, man. And thanks to the venue and sound guy, both top draw, big up. 'Till the next time, thank you Here and Now.

MOTA Music of the Andys @ Unit 23 Totnes 17.6.2017

Excited, car packed with camping gear, we made our way west to the picturesque town of Totnes, down in Devon, and to the excellent Unit 23 venue, in order to see the magnificent Here and Now Band, supported by the equally magnificent Music of the Andys. We'd been to Unit 23 back in March to see Gong and Magic Bus supported by The Invisible Opera Company of Tibet (what a top evening that was), though arriving only shortly before the gig we had no time to explore the town. Today we arrived in plenty of time allowing us time for a good look around, what a lovely town, full of character, good pastries and cake.  After a lazy afternoon milling about it was off to unit 23 for the evenings entertainment. First up, Music of the Andys. If you've not heard the Music of the Andys you've been missing out, and if you have, then you'll understand our excitement at seeing them again was well placed. As has become their style, the 'Andys' gifted us a unique and entrancing set of psychedelic trance. 'Andience' is how the band describes their sound. Andy Roger, keyboard wizard and professor of synth-tastic sounds, looking studiously out from his nest of wires and gizmo’s, laid down a solid foundation of deeply layered hypnotic beats and spaced out sounds, creating a rich flowing sound-scape through which Andy Burrows deftly thread some wonderful noodled guitar, not just noodling, mind, Andy 'B' uses his guitar in a bewildering range of ways to create a plethora of mind melting sounds, and has a whale of a time doing so, by the look of it. Together the 'Andys' created a wonderful musical universe to become lost in, and the audience were loving it, shuffling throughout and showing their appreciation noisily at the end of each track.  We first saw Music of the Andys last year and they were good, though over the last year their sound has grown exponentially, deeper and more layered, producing a tight style which easily moves from the heavy trancey drone of tracks like the 'the Banger' to the more drifty meditative trance flavours of 'the Goose of Perception'. And, each time we've heard these tracks, they've evolved in some way from the last performance, each time they have slightly different aspects and qualities to them, 'Andience' is clearly fluid.  What a splendid start to proceeding, another stellar performance, bravo, Music of the Andys!

Music of the Andys have a couple of tracks available on Bandcamp, check them out; with any luck there'll be an album at some point. 

Great Huntley Oak

I visited another ancient Oak today, the Great Huntley Oak (my name for him). This magnificent fellow, as large and imposing as he is, and being significantly larger than the surroundings trees as he is, can still melt into the surrounding wood, disappearing, making him hard to find. I reckon he moves; they do, you know! It doesn't help that at this time of year much of the woodland understory is chest deep in bracken, disorientating even the most frequent walker in the woods. Still, I found him, and he was in much the same condition as when last I passed by. Which is always a good thing.  

Slip sliding away

As the recent past slips from memory, so its physical remnants slip too.  These humble concrete slabs, passed by many daily, mostly ignored, their pasts on the whole unknown, are slowly making their way down the cliff side, sinking through the beach pebbles to disappear under the waves into oblivion. I understand that during World War 2 there was a gunnery range here, if you look, on some of the slabs you can see where the gun mounts were. And, occasionally I've even found badly decayed .303 cases on the lower sections of cliff. Though soon nothing will be left to see, nothing to prick the imagination and then the site will be gone, erased from the archaeological record and memory.  It makes me wonder how many other sites have gone this way over the centuries; more than you'd think, I'd imagine. 

Warwickslade restoration

Back to Warwickslade Cutting (as was) today, after yesterdays downpour the stream overflowed it's margins to flood large areas of it's surrounding woodland. I walk the forest often and over the years have seen this area change through the restoration process, though it's changed so much that at times it can be difficult to orientate myself.  It struck me, that if you'd not walked here for 10 years (or so), even if before you knew the area well, you'd probably be at a loss to orientate yourself. The woodland wet with standing water (some deep), a stream runs through, though where exactly you can always be sure, the woodland environ is lush and green, and the everything's alive; it really wasn't like that before. As the old meandering watercourses are restored and the woodland returns to its wetter 'bog woodland' nature, you get a hint of how wild and inhospitable an environment it must have been in ages past when the weather was against you. Today though, it was just stunning.

Flat Oak

I visited the Flat Oak (my name for it) today, still gnarly, still majestic, still a one off original. What a lovely forest Ent. You could spend ages, and I often do, exploring the nooks and crannies of it's deeply folded bark, home to all sorts of creepy crawlies. It strikes me that I'm just one of a long line of admirers who over the years have made pilgrimages to the Oak, and that trips me out. Knowing I'm standing in the same places, touching the same bark and feeling the same wonder. I dig the continuity. Well anyway, the Oak seems in no worse state than the last time I passed this way; a good thing. So, until I pass this way again it bade it hail and farewell.

Natures bounty

The forest is flush with Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) after the recent rains, they're absolutely everywhere! Of course, obeying the recent notices in the forest in relation to mushroom collecting; I didn't collect any, nor did I add them to a delicious (speculation) stinging nettle and mushroom risotto.  Ludicrous really, trying impose the current collection restrictions. Yeah, stop the mythical commercial picker, who I don't doubt exist, though who in my 30 years of mushrooming have never seen, but for personal use, it's stupid and must be impossible to enforce. You could have collected a couple of carrier bags full today and not made any impact. Anyway, here's some I didn't eat earlier.

Root art

For about 10 years this giant coniferous root ball at Steamer Point has made for an ever changing natural sculpture, organic art. It's currently going through a rather groovy period.

Stag Beetle

We've got some cool nature, man. I came across this female Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus) around the woodpile at the back garden this morning. Some months ago I'd seen a Stag Beetle larvae whilst moving some wood and hoped I'd not disturbed it, and I'm going to take this sighting as I hadn't. Nice.

Totem

Ageing totem.

Warwickslade Cutting

Warwickslade Cutting is another good example of the positive aspects of stream restoration in the New Forest. Ten years ago Warwickslade Cutting was a straight deep cut drain which ran for about a mile and a half, through woodland from Warwick Slade to the edge of Poundhill Enclosure, where it turned into another straight drain and fed into Highland Water. As with most of the drains, it was fairly sterile, bare gravel bed and sheer banks. Now look at it.  The woodland has been opened up, the stream now shallower and meanders all over the woodland. And now, it's thriving, with a huge diversity of flora and insect calling it home.