Chewton Bunny

Walkford Brook runs through Chewton Bunny as it nears the sea. A New Forest stream which once served as a moonlit route for smugglers up to the forest plains to their contraband stashes and distribution points. I wonder if brexit will see a return to the days of the smuggler?

Bluebells

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) carpet the open stands and overgrown coppice of Walkford Moor Copse and the wooded environs of the Walkford Brook. Maybe it's the reduction in pollution since the lockdown or maybe it's just a good year, but you can really smell the Bluebell flowers this year, their usually subtle though intoxicating scent is heavy in the air. Breathing in amongst them is a meditation.

The wheel keeps turning

Lockdown's really locked down, no more walks abroad beyond my home roam. I'm aware that living on the edge of the conurbation, where farmland and woodland border the forest and with the coast just 10 minutes walk away, that we're luckier than many, blessed to still be able to get into nature on our walks. Today we wandered around the fields and the edge of Walkford Moor Copse, through which the Walkford Brook flows. Walkford Brook meets the sea through Chewton Bunny, historically it was one of the streams which smugglers used to make their way up into the forest's heart with their valuable contraband, today though it's quiet but for the pheasants. I noticed as we walked, that the wheel keeps turning, even if the world of man has temporarily stopped. Some of the eagerer oaks are already pushing out this years growth, with a yellowy green hue creeping across parts of the canopy.