Douglas downed

Aw, what a bummer, man; sadly the mighty Douglas Fir that I featured in my post of the 6th of February has joined the hallowed ranks of the fallen. My heart sunk as I approached a familiar parcel of woodland and new immediately which tree had succumbed to Storm Eunice; what a shame. The once towering Fir's shattered and ripped trunk is evidence of the power of the elements; the forces involved in causing that sort of damage are something else; what must it have been like when it went; I'm sure it put up a heroic stand, defiant to the end.

And another one gone

Another ancient old lady takes her final bow; out gunned by the elements, undermined by the consequences of modernity, she joins the ranks of the fallen. It never ceases to amaze me that although extensive, the roots of these mighty leviathans appear so insubstantial compared with the enormity they support.

Storm damage

Only just entering the bad weather season and the recent winds have already slighted another of Burley Old's veterans, a mighty one too, a huge three trunked beech that's now reduced to one trunk. It was only the other day, whilst walking through with a friend, I'd mentioned the growing holes in the canopy, one of those holes is significantly bigger now. It's a worry. Over the last 10 years I've seen these holes develop, and below them, in sharp contrast to the rest of the leaf litter floor, green oasis’s of grass, bracken and bramble thrive. Seeing how Burley Old is going puts me in mind of Bratley Woods with its open aspect, I imagine (and the hulks and stumps scattered about support the idea) that Bratley was once like Burley Old and that in years to come Burley Old will be like Bratley. The woodland really is a scene of weather wrought destruction, it's impossible now to walk a straight path through...which at one time you could have easily done.      

Down and out

Walking through Burley Old this morning I saw that another four ancient/veteran beech trees have been taken out by this weekend's strong winds. Bummer, man. Each tree downed means another, or bigger, hole in the canopy, which in turn creates a weak point and another opportunity for destructive winds to get amongst the stands and wreak havoc. I've seen the number of trees slighted by the elements increase throughout the forest in recent years, although the destruction wrought is nowhere more apparent than here in Burley Old and out in Bratley Wood. In both Burley Old and Bratley the extent of the damage and the changes in the nature of the spaces caused are striking. Parts of Burley Old's floor are now becoming congested with debris, a tangle of trunk and bough, you can't take a straight course through the wood any more. It can sometimes be bitter sweet walking though the stands. Of course, it could merely be that since the forestry stopped removing fallen wood, that destruction has become more noticeable, whereas it occurred previously though because of removal was  invisible. I know everything changes and it's natural for trees to topple and new ones take their places, although there's a worrying lack of samplings coming up to replace the fallen. A huge increase in the populations of deer and pony over the last 20 years have led to over grazing on a now destructive level, where it's not just the samplings being eaten but also an increase in beech and holly bark being stripped, sometimes in the case of beech, to fatal consequences. I fear for the forests future.