Sat by Red Rise Brook this morning I noticed a young Alder (Alnus glutinosa) sapling clinging to the bank. Alder is fairly common amongst the forests carr woodland communities, in the bogs and stream environs, more so in some places than others, it has to be said. It's a very useful wood, it was commonly coppiced and is often recognized by its stool. Along Avon Water below Wootton Bridge years of Alder coppicing have created huge stools with multiple stems. It's a water tolerant hardwood, used in furniture making and Fender guitars, you get dyes from the bark, it has medicinal properties too and it's said that you can eat its catkins, though I'm not that hungry. In recent history New Forest Alder charcoal was produced and used in huge quantities in gas mask production during World War Two. I always think it's a tree which I overlook in the woods, others popping to mind more readily, that maybe as I tend to avoid the wetter parts of the forest as a rule (as if such a thing is possible) and don't meet up with them as much as I should.
