Notable tree

I've always loved this wildly spreading oak on the edge of Sloden; with it's flamboyant animalistic characteristics it really makes its' presence felt. Definitely one of the forests notable oaks. You can't help but wonder how many other travellers have marvelled as they've passed.

Mast

 

The forest is experiencing a bumper mast year, wherever there are oaks the floor beneath them is liberally covered in acorns, to the degree that walking has become a crunchy affair. In light of the glut, I've been surprised as to how few pigs I've seen about the forest this pannage. They're going to need more pigs if a meaningful reduction in acorn mast is to be achieved. Years ago I had a go at making acorn coffee; I learnt that earthy burnt is an acquired taste. That said, if processed properly to remove toxins and tannins (it's a lengthy affair) they'd keep you fed in a crisis, very nutritious.

A venerable Oak

 

If you know where to find them, the New Forest is brimming with majestic ancient trees. Like this venerable Oak, one of several clustered in Undersley Wood; a parcel of old forest, never enclosed, and still retaining some of the character of the forest that was.

Magnificent Oak

Oak

Oak King, Beech Queen

 

You'll see this pairing all over the forest, an Oak and Beech planted together. What the purpose if any is, or what the significance is I don't know. Though it's frequency suggests it's not accidental. Whatever it is to me they represent the pairing of the king and the queen of the forest.  

Pin Oak

I think this is a Pin Oak or Swamp Spanish Oak (Quercus palustris), as a non native species it's gorgeous red foliage sticks out like a sore thumb.

Pannage

Pannage is upon us and I understand the pigs have been released into the forest; although as yet we've not spotted any. What a grand old tradition pannage is; the practice is nearly 1000 years old, dating to establishment of the royal hunting forest by William of Normandy way back in 1079. It's a joy meeting the pigs amongst the trees, well, for the most part that is, occasionally you'll come up against some brute, in which case......run! 

Oak Pinhole Borer

This fallen mature oak trunk shows the tell tale signs of Oak Pinhole Borer beetle (Platypus cylindrus) infestation, the entire length of this substantial trunk is effected, covered in fine sawdust, as the the floor below. They clearly attack in numbers; I say attack although that's not entirely fair, the Oak Pinhole Borer goes for dead wood or declining trees and isn't the cause of a trees downfall. Called 'Oak' Pinhole Borer this hungry bug will be just as happy with other deciduous trees such as Beech or Sweet Chestnut too. Apparently they were listed as rare by the mid 1980's although the Great Storm of 87' saw their fortunes change with an abundance of dead wood suddenly becoming available.

Narrative shmarrative.

 

It's horrible seeing our natural world so stressed, struggling under the pressures of rampant abuses and accelerating erratic change. I've always felt a deep connection to nature. I've been an environmentalist all my adult life, an activist on many occasions too, and grasp the reality of the magnitude of the crises facing us; because lets be honest the climate crisis isn't the end of the world, the world has survived far worse and will inevitably endure this too. No, it's the potential end of us or more precisely it's the end of this iteration of us; humanity may endure but it wont be like this.

So, I'm no denier. But, man, the current climate narratives leave me cold. Why? Primarily because they're all bollocks. Some purposely failing to address the foundational problem of our consumption/behavioural habits, in favour of the idea that 'growing' a 'green economy' where we essentially carry on our destructive behaviours through virtuous 'green' means will save us; a comforting fantasy for the privileged classes. A fantasy that's for the birds. Scrutinize the detail and none of it adds up. And what does the future look like for the growing body of marginalized  disenfranchised folk who aren't privileged with agency and opportunity? It looks at best to me quite like green feudalism and opportunity apartheid; the dystopian societies of scifi novels made manifest. Fuck that. Or you've the wailing doomers with their worst case scenarios, where there's no averting our extinction, we're the walking dead. I don't think fatalism is a motivator; unless the response you desire is 'well fuck it then'. Neither green techno-unicorn-ism or death cult narratives move us towards the change we need to make. I'm bored of hearing them. We need to acknowledge that wide ranging climatic and social change is now baked in; though if we get our heads out of our arses, there's a hope that strategies for our managed decline and survival could be achieved. I wonder though if we've really the desire or stomach for the change required. If the current narratives can't convince me as one who's already on board, how are they going to convince the uninterested, the sceptic or worse the denier?

Oak Apple

Oak Apple, home to the Oak Apple Gall Wasp (Biorhiza pallida), easy to see where it gets it's name; looks and feels like a gone over apple. I'm sure there's been a marked increase in galls on the oaks in recent years; last year locally the oaks of the common were covered in Knopper galls.

Oak stand in Dames Slough

Oak stand in Dames Slough.

Elephant or Rhino?

What do you see? An elephant or a Rhino? Or maybe something else.

Wood eddies

 Wood eddies.

More fallen

I see them with such frequency that I thought I'd grown immune to seeing uprooted, truncated and otherwise slighted trees, I'd become hardened to the inevitable consequences of our erratic weather on the forest's veterans; I haven't though. The face of the forest is changing so rapidly. The trees in the photos above are just a couple of examples, two good sized oaks, one of them a veteran, both stood on the meandering bank of Highland Water not too far from each other, both had subsided and toppled over and into the stream. There were so many fallen or damaged trees, so many innumerable ripped and severed boughs on our walk  through Great Huntley Bank and Brinken Wood this morning; a good number of them large enough to have caused additional collateral to the trees about them as the fell; it was impossible not to be affected by the sight of such carnage.   

From tiny acorns

The oaks are smothered with tiny acorns this year, quite the contrast to last summers near bare boughs. A good sign maybe for a fruitful pannage in autumn; last years pannage was very thin on the ground for the foraging pigs. Still, nothing is guaranteed, and without some much need rain I don't know how well this crop will develop. 

Ivy

Winter in the forest is a thin time for grazing, and the ponies will take any opportunity to snack down on a tasty morsel; here they've taken great care to strip clean the soft outer bark off a filigree of Ivy (Hedera helix) wrapped around a fallen veteran oak.

Man down

 

A veteran Oak makes for an effective roadblock; with the A35 still closed for the Holmesley Bridge replacement, the addition of a blockage, no matter how temporary, will be a real pain in the arse. These are big trees which would take time to clear under normal circumstances, and I imagine there's a huge number to be cleared today; I'd seen several. The road here is quite narrow, with very soft verges, meaning I found myself needing to do an Austin Powers style turn before deciding on an alternative walk.

Hardwood extraction

Hardwood extraction and thinning in South Oakley enclosure (1853); the nearly 170 year old beech and oak trees are cropped, trimmed, graded, stacked or laid out. Really a large part of the New Forest is a tree farm, and has been for hundreds of years (that's what the enclosures are all about); South Oakley here was created on a landscape of open heath and scattered clumps of ancient unenclosed woodland, the remnants of which are represented by scattered ancient pollarded trees; pollarding was banned 1698 to ensure timber for the Navy; admiralty arrows are the most common mark/graffiti found on forest trees. I like the foresight of planting a crop not to be harvested for generations; that's belief in humanities persistence that is. 

Reluctant to leave

Oaks; always late to the party, and always the last to leave.

 

Illustrated tree

 

It was good to find the illustrated tree on the edge of Pinnick Wood at Marrowbones Hill still doing well, in fact he looked better that my previous visit a couple of years back.  Ancient and weathered he's really quite the wonder, and quite the spectacle to behold.