Purple reign

 Purple reign. The heather and Ling are putting on a magnificent show.

Hedgehogs ahoy!

It's still very dry out and about in the forest, and although the autumn fungi is slowly emerging, there's been few of the popular (with me anyway) edibles so far this season. So it was a pleasant surprise to spy some Hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum repandu) in one of my foraging roams...a couple of meals worth were gratefully harvested. 

Graffiti; traditional, tribal and pervy

I spotted three very different types of graffiti whilst out on this morning's walk. The first traditional; a dated (20 years old) declaration of love for 'Valerie', love, a classic focus for graffiti in one form or another. The second tribal; this is the third 'Millwall' I've seen carved in a forest tree, all in different parts of the forest, although all very similar in form, the 'firm' must give classes...it was carved well up the trunk too, it must have taken some determination and dexterity. And the third pervy; I thought at first that 'Black Mini Skirt White Panties' was a lyric, it sounded familiar, though an internet search proved fruitless...beyond what you'd imagine, suggesting that, yeah, just pervy.

Ents

 Ents walk the forest.

A portent?

Folklore has it that when Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) berries are out early, that a harsh winter is on the horizon. Well, they're not only out early, but they're also present in huge numbers, the boughs hang low under their weight. My fingers are crossed for harsh winter, it's been too long since we've had one, and I'm so bored of these bland featureless winters we've endured of late. The forest takes on another face in harsh winter.

Not oakay

I've noticed that a good number of the forest's oaks haven’t fared well this year, the tips of many branches have their leaves faded, browned and curled. I'm not certain of the cause, though I suspect it's a combination of factors, the weather, underlying climatic change and disease. Whatever the cause, it's had a drastic affect on the quantity and quality of the forest oak's acorns; this years upcoming 'pannage' will afford the pigs slim pickings, especially noticeable after last year's acorn glut. 

The Locker Room Cowboys - Into the Silence

 

Not satisfied with one release this year with the Locker Room Cowboys outstanding  début album 'The Future Came and Stole Our Dreams', the west country's Bassist Supreme Andy Budge has already dropped the band's second album release 'Into the Silence'... and, it's something very different in theme and feel to the former. Well, beyond that, as with the bands previous album, there's a nice 80's flavour and aesthetic running through many of the tracks. Notes on Bandcamp tell us that 'Into the Silence' is inspired by Chomolungma (Everest/Goddess Mother of Mountains) 1921 - 1924, with spoken extracts taken from the diary and letters of George Mallory (Mallory was the only climber to be on all 3 British attempts 21' to 24', dying on the third in 1924), and yeah, what a wonderful suit of music. The whole album has a mellow laid back vibe to it, very atmospheric, lovely guitars, and throughout a cinematic quality to the music which perfectly convey the topics of the album and stimulates the mind's eye. Budge is joined again by John Garden, Icarus Peel and Charlie Bateson, accomplished musicians to a man, and, as you'd imagine, the composition, musicianship and delivery are all top draw. I'd love to see this synced with footage of the landscapes and events of the period, I reckon that would really work...koyaanisqatsi type thing. 'Into the Silence' is a fabulous album and I thoroughly recommend you check it out here.  I can't wait to hear in what direction the Locker Room Cowboys will venture next.

Blackensford Brook

 

Blackensford Brook near Blackensford Lawn, deep in the heartlands of the New Forest. And one of the places in the forest that it's possible to escape, beyond the occasional plane, the noise of human modernity. Blackensford Brook was the first of the forest's streams I remember being restored to it's pre-Victorian course, way back in the early 1990's...I remember it being a shock seeing machines tearing up the woodland floor. A couple of miles out from even the closest of parking spots, it remains a slice of forest you'll invariably have to yourself.

Burley Boundary

Old enclosure banks, if clear, make excellent walkways.

Pomme

This time of the year the common's apples make for a welcome fruity snack whilst out for a walk with Geoff. I know I bang on about this every year, but I'm amazed more of the common's fruit is utilized, there are half a dozen apple trees and countless blackberries....I feel guilty that I don't use more of it. This particular apple tree yields a very tasty smallish apple, slightly tart on first biting though there after sweet enough, an eater cooker cross maybe? Very nice.

Retreiver

 Geoff! Such a retriever move, man. 

Turkey Oak

A more and more common sight, the Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris) is an aggressively invasive visitor to our forest. A native of Southern Europe the species was introduced into south west Britain in 1735 and loves the sandy acid soils of the New Forest.

Rhinefield Sandy's

I love the stretch of open, mainly birch, woodland that borders Rhinefield Sandy's along the low ridge above Ober Water; I've watched it grow and develop...it's the only part accessible of an old roam. Rhinefield Sandy's used to be a regular walk of ours, and a much loved one, it's where our eldest said his first word...tree. Though for over 20 years now it's been inaccessible, surrounded by 8ft deer fencing and locked gates as part of some forest project I suspect. The woodland fringe's position overlooking the river and good cover makes it a great spot to watch deer from, especially of an evening when they gather to drink. As I pass I often wonder when the deer fencing will come down and our roam restored.

Barton

 

We walked the coast to the edge of Milford-on-Sea and back this morning, about 11 miles. It was another grey drab walking day, we even had rain on our backs for a good chunk of the outward leg; that said, it brightened for our return. Nice walking whatever. I don't mind walking alone (other human wise, I mean), though not all the time. It must be nearly 18 months since I last walked with friends... and, that's a long time. Of course circumstances dictate, so no point moaning. I miss the walking talks though, where our long form conversations would range wildly; all those conversations 'we' never had I've still had to myself... I really do go on. Such turbulent times too, with so many topics and events to talk about, a period of huge socio-political, cultural, economic and environmental crises...and I've got opinions on most of them. Time with myself has me thinking my friends must be enjoying a welcome break from me.

Black Water

Black Water

Stag brake

 

We were out in the forest early again this morning, 12.6 miles under our belt and home by late morning. Again the forest rocked a deeply autumnal vibe, it was a moody morning all flat subdued tones occasionally punctuated by bursts of bright dazzling light; as here in the photo when we passed Stag Brake. Lovely.

Autumn's early arrival

There's no denying it, Autumn arrives earlier every year. Whether as a consequence of Climate Change or some natural anomaly, the last decade has seen a change in the nature of the seasons. To my senses, Summer and Winter have contracted, becoming much shorter defined events, whilst Spring and Autumn expanded, appearing much more nebulous in nature. My calender tells me it's easily still summer, though my senses and many natural indicators suggest otherwise. Weird times.

DDT Freshwater

 

DDT return with their second album release 'Freshwater', and what a corker it is too. DDT (Dieter, Duvall and Taibi) are a merging of members of Carlton Melton and White Manna, two exceptional bands in their own rights, though when combined...well, far out. Also on this release, the added talents of messrs Rich Millman and Nicholas Talvola.

Freshwater differs greatly from it's predecessor 'Enter the Bend', although as you'd imagine is equally engaging listening. The opening track 'divided attention' is a 60's acid soaked beauty, all shamanistic drums, spacey reverb and echo, then it's off at speed courtesy of some lovely tripped out spacerock psyche following the 'ley Lines'. The acid kicks back in as we meet the 'Stick figures', all jazzy tones and rich spacey textures melting into a psychedelic pool of eerie in 'always return', through which the hypnotic shamanistic drums are again 'unearthed'. Smashing! Side one is akin to the Carleton Melton gig experience, an aural journey, it flowed beautifully.  Side two has an all round heavier sound to it, opening to the distorted guitars and pounding rhythm of 'Set Alight', a nice heavy psyche sound, the tone is set. 'Crows Know', is a tasty slice spacerock psyche. Whilst 'Dynamo' is just that, an intense driving track. 'Marking the Clouds', offers a brief psyche jazz distraction before 'The Second Third' drops like heavy gravity, droning guitar and electronic textures conjuring the discordant ominousness of a 70's cult film soundtrack, which ends the album in reverberating distortion.  And....wow! What a fabulous album, man, absolutely marvellous from start to finish, DDT have created a wonderfully rich psychedelic gestalt from myriad psyche family facets. An album with more than a hint of 60's/70's psychedelic attitude, and plenty of heft to boot; all performed by exceptional musicians...what's not to love.  The whole package is a beautiful thing too, you can lose yourself in the stunning artwork on the outer sleeve, and the vinyl, what a cool coloured splatter, quality pressing as well. Part of the vinyl experience has always been the sleeves, a nod needs to go out to artists who keep that experience a rich one, from the photo above you see that the feast DDT serve is not just for the ears. Check it out on Bandcamp or at Drone Records.

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.

Bountiful Beech mast

The boughs on some of the forests beeches are weighed down with mast this year, good size too by the looks of them. Although the small triangular Beechnuts are described as bitter, I've always found them to have a good mildly nutty taste. For me the real prohibitive issue around them as a wild food is the processing required, which is fiddly and laborious. Anyway, if we don't eat them some of the forests birds and smaller mammals rely on them.  Still worth remembering as wild resource.

Lughnasadh

 

Although we continue to live through these thin times, I hope your first harvest was bountiful and satisfying. Lughnasadh blessings y'all

Burley Old

An early morning walk through Burley Old never fails to hit the spot, it's such a wonderful woodland, and without a doubt my most visited forest spot. This morning I mused on how much this parcel of much loved enclosed woodland, one of the New Forests' oldest enclosures, has changed over the last 40 years, and yet amongst all the changes how timeless it's feel remains. Love it.

Camel Green

Our walk along Highland Water was particularly lovely this morning, especially through Camel Green...it's one of those forest spots where the magic of the woodland is most pronounced. We stopped awhile by the stream, we were out early and had the woodland to ourselves...sublime! I took the opportunity, as I frequently do, to take some time to connect and run through some Awens. Lately I've taken to running though a couple of yoga poses (ragdoll, transitioning to mountain, a couple of forward bend/tabletop/forward bends, finishing in mountain) beforehand, and have found then beneficial in my focusing and breathing pre chant. I love the calm clarity afterwards, especially your hearing, as if you're listening to the woodland in super high definition. A standing mediation in a beautiful, and beautifully lit, woodland with the earth below me, sky above me and water running at my feet...perfect.

Sea of oak

Tens of thousands of tiny sapling oaks carpet the floor of Brinken Wood, they're quite the sight. I hope they're to left to their own devices, I like the idea of a dense thicket of juvenile oaks, I'll watch their progress with interest.

Vinney Ridge

Where Dames Slough Hill abuts Vinney Ridge.

Fletchers Water

 

I've got grainy video of our children swinging out over what was a fairly broad, and for the most part straight, forest stream, deep enough in parts to make swinging out over it safe-ish, though not deep enough to pose too much of a risk. We spent many happy hours wandering and exploring it's banks and wider environs, often returning to the car wet. Then ten years ago they restored Fletchers Water to it's pre-Victorian course; I'll admit that at the time I wasn't happy about the change, though now naturalizing so beautifully, it's a really lovely stretch of forest stream.  Agreeable as the old Fletchers Water was, you'd not recognize it as the same place. 

The Gatekeeper

Our garden's full of Gatekeepers (Pyronia tithonus) at the moment.

Highland Water

Highland Water, Great Huntley Bank.

Summer woodland

Sad as it is to see leviathans fall, time and the elements have opened up Burley Old beautifully. Fallen trees have created holes in the canopy, below where the woodland floor has subsequently greened, the effect, a wonderful patchwork of woodland glades.

Avon Water crater

When they restored this section of Avon Water between Holmsley station and Wootton Bridge, the new course of the stream cut through what I believe to be a Second World War bomb crater (it exhibits all the characteristics and is adjacent to the old railway line, which would've been a wartime target). The restoration has brought the old bomb crater to life. The crater used to be seasonally wet, though for the most part quite the dank lifeless hole, now it's part of a rich and verdant developing wetland/carr woodland environment.  You'd be surprised at how many World War Two bomb craters pock the forest, not all of them the result of the enemy either.

Beautiful Erica

Purpley pink now dresses the forests' heaths as the Bell Heather blooms.

Lakewood

 

The underlying Eocene clays have traditionally ensured that the Highcliffe area has been wet, crossed by rivulets, pocked with ponds, generally soft under foot and prone to standing water during the wet seasons. Before settling on Highcliffe-on-Sea one of the village's names was Slop Pond, you can understand why they changed it, even if the latter is descriptively appropriate.  Lakewood is one of the remaining ponds; a good sized pond with a small island, one half surrounded with what's left of the woodland the pond was set in up to the 80's housing expansion, the other grass and open mature/veteran trees, nice. Recently some local fishy folks have cleared the pond out of clogging mud, detritus natural and otherwise, and choking flora; they've restored the banks and restocked the water with good sized fish which lurk just visible in the murky waters. A nice spot to visit on our local walks. An amazing nature oasis.

Church Bottom morning

The weather wizards had forecast scorchio for the entire day, so Geoff and I got out walking early this morning, and by 0700 we were over 3 miles out into the Chase. The mist still hung in the folds that empty into Church Bottom, and already it was hot enough to have me sweating. We did 11.7 miles overall, beginning at Vitrell Gate, along the Ackling Dyke, descending through Church Bottom, crossing the Ebble Valley, up over Stoke Down, along the Old Shaftesbury Drove, back down to the Ebble Valley retracing our outward route back to Vitrell Gate. It was a good move too, getting out early, by the time we got back to the car around 10.00 and it was sweltering.

Common Broomrape

Common Broomrape (Orobanche minor), a plant which reflects beauty and ugly in equal measure. It's been a good year for them. The narrow strip of old woodland alongside Hinton Avenue has been full of Broomrape, usually you'll see a handful here and there though this year they've carpets small areas. I don't know if that's a good sign or not, Broomrape's a parasitic plant. It's an odd one too, no leaves, just a flowering spike protruding from the ground.

Dog people

If you walk locally with a dog you'll quickly become 'dog people', a cadre of people who, for the most part, are known by their canine companion's name. Sometimes a nod, a wave from a distance, small talk or even occasionally longer exchanges bind us. I have to admit I dig it. Life's a collection of infinite stories, and I love to hear them. Through talking my community feels more alive somehow, populated now by real characters rather than a nebulous homologous neighbour, and many have a story they want to tell...and I'll listen. For another time maybe. For now though, I'd had a chat this morning with an elder who always stops and tells me her story through unconnected piece, like slowly doing a jigsaw. Anyway, as we wished each other a good day, she turned and said 'thank you for talking to me'. I told her that it was my pleasure.  But, man, as I walked off emotion captured me, for this wasn't the first time, by far, that a local elder spoke those exact words...and every time they land like unintended punches. As for that short sentence to be common parlance, we must genuinely be losing our humanity.

Burley Old

The root bole in the centre background, seen from between the root boles of a recently toppled conjoined Oak and Beech, has been there for at least 30 years and is now entirely hollow. Walking land over an extended period of years allows a glimpse at forest time. The divided Oak and Beech were only slighted during late spring (the bottom photo was taken back in May), the oak falling and blocking one of the woods well used winding paths; in fact both trees were veteran trees of a good height, and have formed a formidable barrier in the woodland...and will do for decades to come. Some kind soul has cut through the tangle of roots, filled the hole and created a narrow passage through what was impassable mess, and now the woodland path flows once more. Nice.

Endor

 Today our walk was on the forest moon of Endor.

Red Rise Brook

The forest has afforded me much respite from life's pressures of late. Of course nature always does, it's her way, she always gives you the space you need to unwind and the peace you need to think through stuff. Sometimes that aspect of the walk goes unacknowledged, whilst at other times you feel her soothing embrace so keenly, today it was the latter. 

Hidden paths

 

Walking the Common's myriad paths at this time of year you need to be a believer, to have faith that the path exists and you're not just stumbling off into the undergrowth. The annual excess of summer growth has choked the place with a sea of verdant bracken raising to 6 or 7 feet. I love it like this. Although, the downside is you're assured of a soaking if you walk here early in the morning or shortly after a downpour.  

Left behind

 

Spend any time walking in nature, especially the same roams regularly, and you quickly become acclimatized to her characteristic textures and forms, becoming more aware of anything out of place, especially anything man made. Geoff and I were storming through the open mature oak stands of Dames Slough Hill, when off at quite a distance something incongruous caught my eye. I stopped and backed up, and there tucked in the root flares of a mossy trunk was what looked like a yellow cane... you regularly come across coloured canes in the forest, part of, or remains of, some survey or other. Closer inspection identified this as a orienteering station post, minus station....no doubt left in err.  It reminds me that although for 99% of our walks we have the forest, or at least the tract we're walking to ourselves, it all goes on in the forest.