Country ways

 

I've mentioned previously about how lucky we are living on the edge of the urban sprawl within pockets of woodland and myriad footpaths; it allows us to go about in a wonderful semi rural world. As an example, today we had to pick something up from the chemist in the nearby village of Burton, about 9.5 mile round trip, and all but a couple of miles our walk was on unmetalled paths and tracks. It makes those daily local  missions so much less of a chore, turning them into a bit nature walk instead.

Cranemoor Common

Cranemoor Common is another of our local commons. Cranemoor is shown on older maps to have once extended beyond the railway line to the A35; that land is under the plough today and the remaining common runs along the urban side of the tracks, an interface between the suburban sprawl of Walkford/Highcliffe and the rural landscape which borders the New Forest.  Like the other pockets of common in the area it's an interesting and diverse environment, with a small stream, a pond, set in mixed woodland and niche habitats...also like many of it's fellow common pockets, it can have a peculiar, somewhat unnerving, vibe to it at times.

Ooh!

Ooh! That's not a regular sight, a Deer in the central parcel of Chewton Common, in 25 years this is only the third I've seen. The first was 20 years ago, and this one happens to be the second in a week.  Last week one of the dog people told me he'd seen a large deer crossing the road that transects the common, so Geoff and I were particularly deft and vigilant as we wove the commons winding paths. It was Geoff who clocked the deer first and was off through the bramble choked thicket; the deer had more open ground behind it and soon was gone. I only caught a couple of glances as it disappeared in to thicket. Today's deer was not the same one, it was smaller, younger maybe. It didn't appear too fazed by our presence though, happy to check us out for a while before moving out of sight casually. The presence of a deer in the common highlights what I've mentioned before, that the pockets of common and strips of woodland create and act as wildlife corridors allowing animal movement through our urban intrusions into their natural world.

Bure Brook

Chewton Common isn't one parcel of land, it no doubt would've been, although by the 80's years of invasive development from Highcliffe and Walkford had reduced it to fragments of its former glory. The remaining fragments vary in size and exist in isolation, although only just so; through your minds eye though, you can imagine the common that was. Bure Brook runs through the north-eastern parcel of Chewton Common, still only an easy strides width at this point. Dry now, the surrounding woodland is seasonally wet and languishes mostly neglected, which is a shame as it's particularly florally diverse, a secret oasis. The trees in the photo stand on the bank of a small irregular sub rectangular enclosure, the origins of which I've no idea, some are couple of hundred years old which suggests the enclosure is older than that.  That's something for me to explore. 

 

Spread Love

 Wise words.

Waste or what?

I was really surprised to see so much grain left behind after a local field of wheat had been harvested, the field was covered in it. I wondered whether this was normal or whether it was a result of the weather or maybe it had just failed in some way. This can't be normal can it? It would surely be too wasteful to produce grain like this. I mean, it really was quite a sight, I searched my memory and couldn't remember seeing this before. No. Then I wondered, is this a climate change thing? Well, you don't know, do you. I'll ask a farmer if I get the opportunity.

Fun filled field

Fun was had in the field this morning.

Second cutting

Back at the beginning of May a lush and vibrant crop of grass for silage was harvested from these fields above Walkford Moor Copse. The grass grew back, though thinner, tougher and less verdant. Now this too was being cropped this morning. I got talking to the farmer and asked if this too was going to become silage, and learnt that it wasn't. No, this crop was grown for seed, seed that wouldn't be used on this farm either, rather passed on to other farmers...that's how it goes. So I learnt something new today, and gained more understanding of what I'm seeing, and the processes going on, in the fields. Walking away I realised I'd not why the seed went on to other farms, a question for another day, I'll have hypothesise until then.

Hidden history

History never rests, it's always creating more of itself, so much so that most of what went before gets forgotten, especially the ephemeral.  We'll walk past historical hints all the time, totally oblivious to them or the parts they played. Take these iron loops on one of our local bridges, two pairs a meter of so apart, set into the bridges brickwork opposite each other, easily overlooked. Any ideas about what they could've been for? The only reason I know is that one of my archaeological interests are the home front defences/sites/features of World War 2. These are anchoring points for wire anti tank/vehicle obstacles erected during the early part of the Second World War, the invasion fear period, probably by local defence forces. Who'd have thought. They reckon this sort of defence would've been effective in at least slowing down the light armour the Germans would have been able to land, and stopped most other vehicles. I understand there was some kind of defensive structure covering the bridge too, possibly a pillbox or strong point, although no evidence of that endures. Everything out there tells a story, and everywhere has stories to tell.

Carpet of Oak

The cities tiny Oaks have now become a dense carpets of Oaks. It's a very cool sight. I find myself in a quandary though. I know you shouldn't usually removed plants from the wild, and all that, though I also know that these Oaks will be seen as invasive, encroaching as they are on the farmers field and are undoubtedly destined to be destroyed. Do I try and rescue some, replanting them in safer spots around our locale....or not? I have to say, I'm leaning towards...yes. Though there's an issue, I wont be able to move them with much chance of success until winter, so it's whether or not they survive the plough/strimmer until then. 

Bure Brook

The headwater of Bure Brook, which enters Christchurch Harbour near Mudeford Quay, runs through one of the remaining pockets of Chewton Common, a narrow though still substantial band of wet and wild woodland running through Walkford. The fact that it's predominantly wet (with few paths), means that we don't often walk here, though the recent dry weather has now made it more accessible. Amongst this ostensibly wild wood there are signs of human activity, we walked along the raised bank of a long neglected old enclosure (shown on a 1888 map) to where it's cut by the Bure, still less than a meter wide.  Beyond on a drier slope are the scars of the levelled and filled dirt ramps built by local cyclists, they saw use for well over a decade, though soon they'll completely disappear out of sight and then memory. The archaeologist in me enjoys deciphering the layers which overlay our landscape, watching how features connect, how they weather or how the more ephemeral ones can appear only to completely disappear within a few years. It amazes me how, if left undisturbed in a stablish environment, simple earthen features can endure in a landscape for thousands of years, when soil seems such a fragile medium to endure.

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.

Primrose

The Primrose (Primula vulgaris) is one of my favourite spring wild flowers, they're always a joy to behold, particularly when found on mass...so pretty.

Blackthorn Blossom

Currently Blackthorn blossoms deck the hedgerows in a dense blanket of white, you can really see how frequent a fruiting shrub this member of the Rosaceae family is in the English landscape.

Sunset strip

Sunset strip