Rock Hills

 

Although we're regular visitors amongst the stands of Red Rise and Burleys Old and New beyond, it's a while since we've approached via Rock Hills from Spy Holmes. The 'hills' offer pleasing vistas over the Furze Brake, Stag Brake and the canopy of the stands beyond, it's a lovely route. I find there's a natural seasonality to roaming, dictated either by necessity or opportunity.

Old Ford to long gone wood

 

You'd be forgiven for not recognizing it, though this was once the site of a well used track from Red Rise into Red Rise Furze Brake; at this point the track crossed what was the old course of Red Rise Brook (now the restored course) and was the site of seasonal ford. Now open heathland back in the early 90's Red Rise Furze Brake was all tightly packed conifers, a dark claustrophobic companion to the open and airy deciduous stands of Red Rise. Even though nearly 30 years have passed, the stream's been restored and the conifers have gone, when ever we pass by my minds eye still sees the spot as it was all those years ago, and I'm looking into a woodland that's no longer there; it's funny how vividly images can stick in your mind.

Red Rise Furze Brake

 Red Rise Furze Brake

Red Rise Furze Brake

As the year winds down so the colour slowly drains from the forest, verdance gives way to the subtler golden hues of Autumn. This is particularly evident as you take the path down Rock Hills with it's views over Red Rise Furze Brake.

 

Today

Our walk this morning started like this and 7 miles later finished like that. The transformation in-between times was striking. What a wonderful world.

Red Rise Brook after Storm Dennis

Standing in ankle to shin deep water, which extends at least 10 meters behind me, with Red Rise Brook 30 meters or so in front of me...the forest is wet. Falling on already sodden ground Storm Dennis' heavy rains have nowhere to go, so just stand waiting their turn to flow down stream. This section of Red Rise Brook was restored a good many years ago, the meanders restored and it's width and depth reduced, it's only about a meter and a half wide normally, not so today. This is one of the desired effects of the restoration though, that the water remains on the land longer, thus reducing the chance and severity of flash flooding further down stream in more densely inhabited areas. 

The video is taken a short ways up stream, on a corner where there's a very deep pool, even in the dry season. Just beyond the corner is a crossing point (normally either very shallow or a mix of very shallow and gravel banks), we passed here the other day and it was easy to cross, the gravel exposed in the middle. I would say the the shallows are waist to chest deep, the corner pool 2 to 3 meters deep, and that water would easily force you over and take you off.  As I wrote yesterday, the tame forest streams can become anything but tame.

Shelter

You could feel and see the weather changing as we crossed the open wet heathland of Red Rise Furze Brake towards Stag Brake, so we picked up the pace. The temperature dropped, the wind rose, the sky darkened, and as we reached Stag Brake, then the rain began to fall. Slow and light at first, though with more force as the drops got bigger and the winds picked up further. The speed of the change from clear and dry to wet and windy was swift. The brake is for the most part deciduous, so affording little shelter at this time of year, though we hunkered down at the base of a mature Scots Pine and prepared to sit the weather out. With the thick trunk at our back, facing the prevailing wind and rain, and a good sized Holly a few meters in front of us, we remained remarkably dry. We watched from relative comfort as the landscape outside was lashed. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the winds dropped the rain stopped, the sky once again cleared and we continued on our way. Had we been caught out in the open it would have been a different story, and we'd have definitely been soaked. Had this been Sesame Street, the word of the day would have been...changeable.