Creepy woods

 

Creepy woods

Clay Hill morning

 Autumn continues to deepen in the forest.

Knightwood enclosure

Knightwood enclosure, early doors.

Black Water

We've enjoyed quite a few misty mornings in the forest this winter, and I for one am not complaining. The presence of mist only adds another layer of mystery to the forest and therefore to our roams.

Markway in the mist

 

Markway in the mist

Below Wilverely plain

Another bright start to the day, the sun was really trying, though it was too cold for him to make much of an impact, everything remained dusted white, an icy glaze crowned puddles and pools, and as a consequence mists lingered over the mires and in the hollows below Wilverely plain. You know, beyond the heather canvas of the photo all the flora present are deemed 'invasive', mostly native though not in keeping with the chocolate box image created of the forest. Personally I'd love to see nature recolonize the landscapes it's been previously evicted from.

Holmhill passage

 

Holmhill passage had all the qualities of a 1960's horror movie.

Rockford Common

 

I liked the subtle early morning light on these mature Silver Birches on Rockford Common.

Whitefield Plantation

Across the mist filled valley, through which Dockens Water wends, the coniferous clump of Whitefield Plantation stands proud up on Ibsley Common. Planted as an ornamental landscape feature by some toff in 19th century, Whitefield Plantation is a small 20m by 160m banked enclosure comprising mainly of Scots Pine and Maritime Pine, along with some re-naturalizing Silver Birch. Small as it is, it's still by far the largest clump of trees on Ibsley Common.

Apsey bridge

Aspey Bridge over Ober Water.

Alien worlds

 

The forest was shrouded in mist again this morning, giving it an air of alien world. 

Stag Brake

 

Mists filled the wet heath hollow in which Stag brake sits this morning.

Misty morning

 

The forest has many faces.

Stag Brake

 

Stag Brake

Misty morning

A beautiful misty morning in Mark Ash Wood.

Misty hollows

 

Mists hung silently in the boggy hollows and tributaries of the early morning forest; there's a mysterious otherworldly quality to the Forest when conditions are like this.

Stonard morning

We were out early doors this morning, beginning our walk over Cranborne Chase ways shortly after sunrise. Mist clung amongst the stands. Stonard Wood looked like a set from Robin of Sherwood or Middle Earth. Not a soul about, lovely, just the subtle sound and movement of nature changing shifts to the dawn chorus. The conditions under foot were such that even travelling at a good pace you could move near silently, I find it's a nice way to move through the land, lends your walk an ethereal feel. I thought the woods misty, though nothing compared to the Ridgeway where visibility was down to 50 meters at times; like walking through the clouds. What a day.

Wilverely

Fall is nearly done, as autumn comes to an end and the deciduous canopy grows increasingly naked and skeletal, I'm starting to be drawn into the evergreen glades of the forest. This morning it was into one of my favourite coniferous blocks of Wilverley's mosaic; entering it is like entering a foreign world. 

Autumn morning in the forest

 Duck Hole Bog dawn

Murkwood

 A damp and murky morning on James's Hill.