Burley Old

 

Burley Old

Chicken of the woods

Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) is popping up on trunks across Burley Old enclosure, its' near florescent orange easy to spot against the verdance of spring growth. This is a perfect example of a young mushroom here on a hulk of truncated Beech.

People eh.

What's wrong with people? From a notice attached to the fencing it sounds like machinery (a roller) which was being used to repair the car park was used to destroy this toilet block before being vandalized itself. £100000 plus worth of damage done to one of the forests' handful of amenities. Anderwood car park has long been a focus for vandalism, though this is by far the worst. People eh.

 

Chewton Common

 

The common is really coming alive. We're lucky to have a magical space of such diversity on our door step. It's a haven for innumerable bird and beast, foxes are common, deer are regular visitors, and a dog person told me he's seen a badger recently.

Bare bones

We're not out of spring and already the streams of the forest are showing their  bare gravelly bottoms. I know this is the way of many of the forest streams, but it seems to come earlier and earlier each year, it used to be I'd be making these observations in June/July.

Avon Water

Wandering the meandering Avon Water this morning I took a moment to marvel at the streams growing diversity, post restoration. It's genuinely amazing. I remember when the old straight drain Avon Water was all steep cut sides and bare naked gravel bottoms, look at it now, sporting an ever increasing range of aquatic and wetland freshwater flora; and of course all the life that thrive there.

Last look

 

I cycled out via Guss Common (Burton Common) this morning to find change is afoot. Watery Lane has always afforded a pleasant route down into Christchurch or up onto the common and the wider countryside beyond - all that is about to change. Some years ago there were plans of a quarry mooted, a new access road and large sign on the A35 stating Quarry Entrance suggest it's about to happen. Watery Lane will still be here, you'll still be able to use it, but views like this wont be.

Southern Marsh orchid

It's that time of the year when the Southern Marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) dominates the flora of the wetter meadow at Ossemsley Ford.

May blossom

 

It's been a fantastic year for Hawthorn blossom.

Bluebell

 

So indicative of spring woodland the humble Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), a dainty drooping beauty which smells as sweet as it looks. There's an open stand of mainly oak alongside the course of the old Brockenhurst to Ringwood line near Osmonds Bushes, it's peppered with Bluebells, the scent as we passed this morning was heavenly. Their presence here indicates that the stand represents a pocket of ancient woodland.

Ebbor Gorge

It's been a few years since I last visited Ebber Gorge. Tucked away in woodland on the Mendip Hills, Ebbor is a lovely spot, less well known than Cheddar, and in many respects better for it. A compact 350 million year old limestone gorge engulfed by woodland, it's a wonderful place; very Robin of Sherwood. The gorge has been popular with humans since the palaeolithic, with evidence of later Neolithic occupation and possibly Bronze Age too. It must have been a special place, being on the edge of two worlds, of the Mendip hills and the wetland world of the levels. In more recent times the gorge has been blighted with Ash Die back (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus), resulting in the loss of trees; fortunately the natural aspect and atmosphere of the place are little affected, and it remains magical walking. I read that the Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) is fighting back, with saplings growing in some infected areas developing a degree of resistance to the fungi. Here's hoping, eh.

Beltane

 

Climbing the pre-dawn tor the sound of drumming from inside St Michaels Tower gets louder, hypnotic beats echoing through the night, heralding sunrise. Beltane has always been my favourite festival of the eight fold year, and bar a handful of occasions, since 1989 I've seen the morning in here. This morning had it all going on, atop Tor a broad diverse group of folk drawn together from the quarters to mark sunrise, Rollo leading the traditional Druidic ceremony, and the Cam Valley Morris dancing in May. Perfection. The sun rose to the hoots, howls and cheers of we gathered observers, who where treated to a magnificent sunrise. Beltane blessings /|\

Camel Green

 

Camel Green looking verdant.

Red Deer

The number of Red Deer (Cervus elephus) around the forest would have appeared to have grown over the last few years. There was a time when I would've been  surprised to have stumbled upon a handful of Red Deer amongst the stands, now though it's become a common event to see groups of 15 plus milling about. A few hundred meters further and we spotted another group of similar number. Spring stirs through the stands.

Pay to play

 

We knew it was coming, but still, it's a sad turn of events. Living in the area since I was four, the forest has been a canvas on which so many of my memories have been painted. We walk here more days than we don't. This morning notices have gone up in every one of the New Forests' car parks, parking starts at £1.50 an hour. It should be noted that Forestry England have a monopoly on forest parking. The forest has always been free when you've needed it, a place to explore both the stands and your own imagination, a place to build memories, or a place to find solace, tranquillity, some measure of relief from what troubles you. That's the magic of the forest, it's all things. Not any more though, strictly pay to play now. At a time when the country's suffering an omni health crisis, on top of seemingly endless austerity which is thinning lives to the bone; when Government and health experts wax lyrical about the holistic benefits getting out in nature, an executive agency of the same Government put a barrier in the way. I mean. What a soulless place we're becoming.

First Foal

The first foal I've spotted this year, early doors too.

Dartmoor

Dartmoor holds a special place in my heart, a place captured the first time I came here in the late 80's. In subsequent years we've ranged over widely through the the wooded valleys and across open more, countless nights have been spent wild camping under a canopy of star. It's a magical natural landscape steeped in archaeology, history and mystery. It was good to be here again, it's been too long.

Vernal Equinox

Though they mark significantly moments in the year, the equinoxes seem to pass without much acknowledgement. In the case of todays' Vernal equinox, a moment of equilibrium between night and day. From tomorrow day reigns, with incrementally longer days and shorter nights, Spring proper has begun. Blessings at Equinox /|\

The Pinnicale

 

The Pinnicale

Silent sands

The tide was out and from Shell Bay all the way to North Beach we had Studland beach to ourselves, and it was glorious.

Toad orgy

There was a full on toad orgy going on at Mogshade Pond this morning. Mild as it was, the sun was out and our amphibian friends were making the most of it by getting jiggy.  The pond was packed with them, impossible to count, though I'd say at least a couple of hundred paired and numerous individuals. Recent research reported a worrying decline in Common Toads (Bufo bufo) throughout the country, so it's good to see them apparently flourishing in the forest ponds. I've seen them, or evidence of them, in several forest ponds.

Imbolc

 

At winter solstice we witnessed the birth of the new sun, and began our next journey through the wheel of the year.  It’s now at Imbolc that we see the first signs of natures burgeoning and spring to come. Imbolc is said to translate as in the belly, apt with it being the beginning of lambing, and a much broader reference to the boundless fertility of the natural world at this time. The seeds dispersed last autumn have waited patiently, nurtured by the Earth in preparation for this moment, beneath the litter of last years' glory, the green shoots of this year are beginning to stir.  Imbolc blessings /|\

Creepy woods

 

Creepy woods

Frosty out

You can't beat a crisp slightly Narnia-esque winter morning.

Swanage line

A steam train hurtles through a chilly January morning towards Corfe along the Swanage Line.

Gregorian calendar

 

It's 2026 and the first day of the Gregorian calendar has been lovely.