Tag: wildlife

Sussex Woodland in Stormy Weather

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 9, 2012
7 Comments on Sussex Woodland in Stormy Weather

In my last post I followed a winter exploration in our own local patch of woodland As a contrast I can now transport you back into the summer and into another woodland.

As we were exploring a Sussex garden on a day when the weather gave mixed fortunes, we took to the woods to give us some protection from the showers and storms that interrupted the periods of sunshine. We thought the tree canopies would act in place of our umbrella which we had left in the car. The lighting in the wood struck us as really special as the sun and showers mixed so we explored the little wood further.

Tags trees, wildlife, woodlands

bird watching birds landscapes Shropshire wildlife

Bracken and Bilberries. Part 1. Walking in the footsteps.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 12, 2012
14 Comments on Bracken and Bilberries. Part 1. Walking in the footsteps.

Bracken and Bilberries is a short series of posts all about walking and appreciating our local uplands, The South Shropshire Hills. Bracken and Bilberries are the main herbage underfoot as we walk these beautiful hills. They have a special atmosphere all of their own that is tangible. You can experience this atmosphere in its silence and smell its delicate scents wafting in the wind that never quite goes away. It is interesting but up in these hills the silence has a particular quality – the secret sounds of grasses moving, the wind pushing at foliage, clouds scurrying and rocks groaning through the centuries gone before. Strangely romantic words but there is no other way of explaining it!!

These hills have their own wildlife, difficult to see and only slightly easier to hear. Creatures here have to adapt to the uniqueness of place – the micro-climate, the acidic upland soils and topography moulded by passing glaciers. The wild creatures here are below our feet or above our heads, not actually sharing the space we walk in.

We decided that as we have so many wonderful walks within minutes up in these hills we should take advantage of them more often.The first trek was up to find a stone circle called Mitchell’s Fold which is a few minutes drive from home. We left home in bright sunshine, under clear blue skies, well wrapped against the cold but just as we approached the starting place the sky darkened, the rains fell and the mists rolled in to hide the hills from sight.

We had a quick coffee in the dry and warm car and then as usual decided to defy the rain and as usual within ten minutes of setting off on our gradual uphill climb the rain stopped, the mists lifted above our heads but continued to cap the taller hills. The sun even came out at times through our wanderings. The light changed with every passing minute and I hope the pictures I took show this well.

From memory there was going to be a long steady climb to the stone circle. In truth it took just ten minutes or so. It shows how our perspectives change for the last time we came exploring up here our children were small so their short legs must have thought it a long climb.

We walked up through bracken browned by autumn on a soft path of green where sheep had mown the grass short with their munching. This gave little chance for few other plants to grow. The air hung with the unpleasant smell of sheep – dung and wet wool – simply too many sheep. In less favourable areas for sheep grazing the much more pleasant aroma of bracken won over, sweet and herby.

The weather brightened as our first sighting of the standing stones came into view. Sadly what showed most was the information board which presents a dilemna. We want the info but prefer not to see the board! Perhaps it would have been better for it to be fixed out of the view first seen on approach. Walking up to the stone circle we felt honoured to be walking in the foot steps of our ancestors from thousands of years ago.

Mitchell’s Fold originally boasted 30 standing stones varying in height from 1 to 2 metres and arranged in a circle of 27 metres in diameter, but today there are 14 stones left with only a few standing. The people of the Bronze Age, between 3000 and 4ooo years ago, constructed the circle it is assumed for ritual or ceremonial purposes. Originally there were three such circles within a few kilometres of each other. Hoarstones is still in evidence but of Whetstones there is no sign.

An alternative version of the story of the circle’s creation is very much a local tale. The tallest stone is a petrified witch who was turned to stone as a punishment by the local Shropshire folk for milking a magic cow through a sieve. Our Shropshire ancestors sensibly built the rest of the circle to prevent her from escaping. This tale is told in carvings in the sandstone of a local church.

If given the choice of the Bronze age peoples creating it and the petrified witch story I would opt for the second as it seems eminently logical and sensible to me. And obviously much more fun.

As with most places of mystery in England and Wales there are said to be links with King Arthur, the largest stone being the one the young Arthur pulled his sword from to make him the rightful king. This tale is not exclusive enough for me so I am sticking to the petrified witch story!

Close up to the stones we could admire Mother Nature’s artistry. She had painted landscapes of woods and fields out of lichens an mosses.

After soaking up the atmosphere of the magical circle of stones we decided to move on along the Stapeley Hill Ridge where we hoped to find further evidence of ancient man’s influence on the landscape. We were not to be disappointed. We found lots of earth works and shapes in the ground from the activities of ancient man. We even managed to pretty confidently work out what some were, surmised as to what others might have been and scratched our heads at others that totally baffled us. So we left the stone circle and followed the Ragleth Hill Path.

The first signs of man were more recent. The remnants of old hedgelines from the time after the Enclosure Act, just a few small trees along with broken bits of wall finished off with strands of modern barbed wire.

Before we encountered any ancient works of man to be confused by, we met a more recent addition to the Shropshire landscape which was designed to make the lives of walkers easier. This sign post definitely failed to make anything clear. Too many choices!! And the photo only shows the choices on two sides!

The first sign of man’s hand at work beyond the sign post was this long raised rampart. We thought it could be a trackway or perhaps the outer ring of a hill fort.

We were still climbing slowly and the air was moist. Water droplets sat on the webs spun by spiders on the Gorse bushes.

The views gradually became clearer and we could see further into the distance. As we walked these gentle slopes we were entertained by the Red Grouse calling in the bracken, but we failed to actually see one.

We skirted around the bottom of a ridge upon which we could see two piles of rock . We were determined to see what they were so we turned away from the track and followed a narrow sheep walkway up towards the top of the ridge. When half way up the climb we stopped to catch our breath and take in the views.

The clump of trees atop Callow Hill on the horizon is an old friend, as we see them ahead of us as we drive towards home from Shrewsbury.

The ridge of stones and raised ground, although difficult to see on the picture, appeared on the ground to be a part of the ditch and way into an earthwork.

The area of stones here at the base of the hillock that took us to the first stone pile were around a circular depression in the ground so we presumed they were the site of a hut circle.

As we reached the top of the ridge we realised the pile of stones was a cairn. We noticed just below the summit that the raised area was encircled by several clumps of different varieties of fungi. There were many different colours and shapes but none got much above the height of the shee-grazed grasses.

The most beautiful of all was this tiny bright red fungus. In the second shot Jude trieses to show us the underneath without damaging it. The grey woolly gloved finger shows how tiny this specimen actually was. Underneath we noticed that the inside of the gills was bright yellow with the outer edges painted in red.

When we reached the summit we had to follow the hill walkers’ tradition of adding a stone to the top of the cairn. The damp clear air up there provided the perfect atmosphere for lichen growth as this close up of the rock surfaces highlights.

This photo shows the landscape beyond the ridge which we planned to follow next to a second stone cairn. We promised ourselves a banana and a coffee when we reached it to give us energy and to warm us up. It was a good incentive.

We stood drinking our coffee and letting it warm us through as we drank in the view, looking out over the huge panorama. In the middle distance we could see the hill in the lee of which we live. We quietly stood hand in hand both having the same thoughts which we shared “How can we be lucky enough to live in such a beautiful place.”

Partway back along the ridge we enjoyed distant views of The Stiperstones, a high rugged ridge famous for its rock formations along its long ridge back. That distant view gave us an idea for our next walk in the Shropshire Hills.

We came across a big earth work partway back where a long ditch and raised bank crossed our path. We realised after exploring it for a while that it may have been a part of Offa’s Dyke, the massive wall built to keep the Welsh marauders from crossing into England (we had been following the Offa’s Dyke Trail for part of our walk). We crossed without resistance!

I hope you enjoyed sharing this wander through the Shropshire Hills with us. The weather was a bit dramatic and ever-threathening, the ground beneath our feet wet and slippery but we defied the rain and wind and cold and enjoyed the gentle climb and the views that unfolded for us.

Stiperstones next stop!

Tags autumn, hills, landscapes, Mitchells Fold, Shropshire Hills, South Shropshire Hills, stone circles, wildlife

autumn nature reserves photography Shropshire wildlife woodland

Brown Moss – a Shropshire Wildlife Gem

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 22, 2012

Brown Moss is an area of wet land, shallow pools, reedbeds and marsh surrounded by woodland, part of which contains old coppiced wood. We parked hidden in trees and emerged into the open to see the “moss” in front us. There was less open water than we remember.

Where the woods meet the marshes occasional Silver Birch grow with their white stems glowing in the sunshine now that most of the yellow leaves of autumn have fallen to colour the ground beneath in shades of primrose.

We skirted the marshy area and wandered into the woodland in search of fungi. The woodland here is mixed, some tall specimens with patches of coppiced smaller trees, some deciduous and some evergreen conifers. Jays foraged in the oaks for acorns which they buried in the soft ground between the woods and the pools, hoping to find them in times os severe weather. They were so busy they took little notice of us so we got close enough to enjoy the blues and pinks of their plumage and smile at their strange hopping gait in the long grass.

A pair of slim birches presented a natural portal into the woods, but Jude the Undergardener decided to consult the map – just in case it was Mother Nature playing a trick on us!

There were fewer fungi to see than expected and we were particularly disappointed not to see any Fly Agaric, but there were bracket fungi and earth ball fungi to find. The brackets are found on the trunks and the balls on the ground below.

We stopped deep in the woodland for a coffee just where we found a fallen birch conveniently providing us with a wooden bench. With the long zoom on my Nikon I scanned the trees above to see what could be seen from this different viewpoint. A tiny white ball of fungus stuck like a table tennis ball high on a tree trunk.

On the edges of the wood the skeletons of the summer’s flowers attracted spiders to make webs and the low light lit them up.

The low lighting continued spotlighting foliage along the edge of the marshlands. We skirted the marshland on soggy paths and occasional boardwalks.

At times the wet areas joined with the woodlands and mystery pools hung in the shadows. The water in the pools was clear but tinted with the russet colours of the underlying soils.

Two finds kept us mystified for a while. The first was these strange black and white colour washes on the sawn end of a felled tree trunk. It appeared to be some sort of fine fungal growth but we remained unsure.

The second mystery was solved after a bit of tracking Sherlock Holmes style with noses to the ground and eyes peeled. The trail began with the spotting of a small pile of outer leaves of maize cobs. We followed them until we found a whole pile around a tree stump. Two clues lead us to the answer. A badgers’ sett in the deeper shade of the trees and on the edge of the wood a field of maize.

Yes! the resident badgers had found themselves a fast food outlet!

Tags Brown Moss, fungi, marshes, North Shropshire, wildlife, woods

bird watching birds photography RSPB the sea the seaside the South trees wildlife

Go South 4. Dungeness RSPB Reserve.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date October 14, 2012
6 Comments on Go South 4. Dungeness RSPB Reserve.

Our plans to explore the shingle slopes of Dungeness soon came somewhat adrift. The wind increased to gale force. We decided to defy it and take the walk along the fisherman’s boardwalk across to the water’s edge. This was a stupid idea to say the least – the strongest gusts blew us off the boardwalk. We understood what it was like to be the “tumbleweed” of Dungeness, the dried Sea Kale plants.

We eventually struggled to the end by holding onto each other and making slow progress and tried to walk along the water’s edge. We couldn’t move as every step we moved forward the wind blew us straight back.

We gave up, went back to the car and drove along the coast a little to the RSPB Dungeness Reserve, situated in a more sheltered area. We vowed to return to Dungeness itself when the wind had calmed down.

The reserve was worth a visit so in the end we didn’t mind the diversion. Here was a strange watery landscape where unusual plants grow and unusual birds live and visit.

We particularly loved seeing the Vipers Bugloss in flower with its bright blue petals and strange structure. The dramatic seed heads of the Teasels and Mulleins looked so architectural and strongly structural, and would feed the finches as the cold weather set in.

The harsh environment created distorted trees and bushes twisted and stunted like bonsai creations.

I am forgetting what the RSPB is all about – the birds. Dungeness did not disappoint for despite the extreme winds which kept birds down on the ground we did manage to see a first ever bird, the Great Egret. We are getting used to seeing Little Egrets in the UK wherever there is a large expanse of water but we had never seen its much larger cousin. This was a red-letter day as we saw pairs of both species on the same lagoon.

After an hour walking around the reserve the wind appeared to be calming down so we bravely decided to give Dungeness another try.That will be the theme of the post “Go South 5. The Magic and Mystery of Dungeness”.

Tags birds, bonsai, conservation, Dungeness, egrets, RSPB, wildlife

bird watching birds photography Shropshire trees wildlife

From One Bridge to Another – a wander along the River Onny.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 25, 2012
4 Comments on From One Bridge to Another – a wander along the River Onny.

In South Shropshire the little rapid river called the Onny passes through the market town of Craven Arms. To the south of the town the Onny passes through the Secret Hills Centre featured in an earlier post called “A walk in the grounds of “The Secret hills” published in April of this year.

For this short riverside walk we decided to pick up the river as it wove through farmland to the north of the town. We followed the River Onny starting from the road bridge to a footbridge, as it passed through pastures where cattle and horses grazed.

Along its banks like ancient old hunched men on a slow march were the remains of pollarded willows.

The river was shallow and fast-moving at first, rushing and bubbling over gravel and boulders. The water was clear enough to afford views of bright green ribbons of weed. Its character changed as we passed a weir where an unlucky fisherman cast his lure for trout.

From here the flow slackened and the water deepened allowing waterside plants to flourish.

Every tree along our walk seemed old, rotting or falling over. Their bark was deeply textured. Exposed wood has been bored into by insects and birds.

Walking on from the weir we enjoyed a view of Holford Church standing closely and comfortably with a clump of trees.

The riverside here moved through an area of damp land where floods often settled. Trees grew in sculptural shapes creating natural arches for us to pass under.

Leaving the trees behind us the Onny began meandering tightly through open fields where large flocks of Sand Martins swooped close to the water searching out insects and Linnets fed greedily on large patches of thistles with their fluffy seed heads.

The banks are eroding daily and now look as if huge bites have been taken out of them.

As we approached the bridge where our walk was to end we entered a wooded area and felt the air turn cooler. This bridge was a narrow footbridge. We looked over into the water searching for trout but saw only our shadows.

Along the edge of the path over the bridge the native Achillea, the Yarrow, had found a foothold and was successfully flowering.

From the bridge we could look back over the pastureland we had walked through. After a cool break in the tree’s shade around the bridge we made our way back along the river.

We had time to stop and appreciate the flora of the river banks, including a Dock whose leaves had been turned into a skeleton by a caterpillar of some sort.

Tags birds, rivers, South Shropshire, wildlife

photography Shropshire trees wildlife woodland

Walking the Teme – a riverside walk.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 19, 2012
6 Comments on Walking the Teme – a riverside walk.

What a way to start a walk – a long latte and a thick slice of coffee cake in a riverside cafe! Here in South Shropshire above the River Teme sits the town of Ludlow. An historic market town with a reputation as a town of food, Ludlow has more Michelin Star restaurants of anywhere outside London. It is the home of organic, locally produced food.

We visited today for a walk along its trout river, the Teme. We crossed a beautiful old stone bridge, called Dinham Bridge before finding the riverside track. From the bottom of the valley we could enjoy views of the town’s castle in one direction and along the river in the other. As we crossed the bridge we looked down into the rapidly moving water to see a pair of swans glowing white against the dark shadow of the bridge’s arches. They became a blur as they moved into the reflections of the sun.

The blue of the clear sky added extra colour to the reflections of the overhanging trees on the opposite bank. It was a warm day so walking within the shade of the Teme’s deep valley sides was a cooling luxury.

On the steeply sloping valley side erosion from rainwater rushing down, had exposed the massive roots of the tall trees. Within the exposed roots white fungi grew looking like chewing gum pushed into cavities.

Similarly, water seeping through the rock strata of the steepest slopes coupled with the freeze-thaw action of the severe winter weather of South Shropshire, has attacked the rocky outcrops. Large chunks of stone have broken away and exposed fossils. On the gentler slopes the rocks have been smoothed by the action of surface water.

It is a popular place for fisherman, both course and fly.

We walked as far as the weir where our path rose steeply through woodland. My legs decided it was safer not to go on.

Just where we turned back we found this interesting old stone plaque, emphasising the power of the water along which we were walking.

Tags Ludlow, River Teme, rivers, trees, wildlife

allotments fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture photography roses trees wildlife

Barnsdale – a garden of memories

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 8, 2012
8 Comments on Barnsdale – a garden of memories

We return to Barnsdale Gardens every few years on a trip down memory lane. Barnsdale was the garden of TV gardener Geoff Hamilton the nation’s favourite gardener for many years. He was the gardener on the BBC’s “Gardeners World” programme so he visited many gardeners’ homes every Friday evening for years. He was the first truly organic TV gardener and as such he promoted these sound garden principles and backed them up by conducting experiments and sharing the results on his show.

As well as Gardeners World he made several series of gardening programmes based on making gardens such as “The Cottage Garden” and “The Paradise Garden”.

He sadly died at a young age when taking part in a sponsored cycle ride for charity, but he has never been forgotten.

The Barnsdale Gardens still display all the model gardens Geoff made and others have been added since his death. The garden and the nursery attached are run by his son and daughter-in-law. His other son created this bronze sculpture that graces the garden.

The trees that we saw Geoff plant many years ago are now impressive specimens and display interesting bark colours and textures.

One of his favourite flowers was the Day Lily and many remain in the gardens still. Coming a close second as his most popular garden plant must be the rose.

A popular feature of “Gardeners World” was Geoff’s do-it-yourself projects – he was always making furniture and garden features, to try to save his viewers money. Below is his garden bench with matching herb coffee table made from recycled pallets with old roof slates built in as coasters.

He also constructed this compost bin disguised as a beehive and accompanying garden store, both created from recycled wood.

He even made a water feature from an old copper water cylinder!

Although he encouraged gardeners to construct things for their own gardens he also extolled the virtues of craftsmen and his garden diaplays many works by craftsmen local to Barnsdale. In particular he brought locally made furniture into the garden.

Productive gardening – fruit, veg and herbs – played a big part in his programmes, magazine articles and books. Several of his productive plots are still at Barnsdale, such as an allotment, the Ornamental Kitchen Garden, an Elizabethan Vegetable Garden. the Fruit Orchard, an Apple Arch and Herb Garden.

Geoff was definitely ahead of his time, encouraging organic principals and attracting insects into the garden. he recognised them as pollinators and predators of garden pests.

He featured plants such as Achilleas, Heleniums and other hot coloured flowers, and using lots of different grasses. These are all popular now.

Since Geoff’s untimely death the garden has continued to develop. His son, Nick and daughter-in-law have created new gardens so now Barnsdale is described as “39 inspiring gardens, all in one place”

A sign of just how popular and influential Geoff Hamilton was is the fact that his book on Organic Gardening is still in print and has been updated and revised on several occasions. He was a great believer in the importance of compost and found all sorts of ways of making it efficiently. How about this brick-made composter. The bricks would absorb warmth from the sun and heat up the composting material inside and speed up its decomposition.

I shall end this visit to Geoff Hamilton’s Barnsdale with a few more views of the garden.

Tags allotments, birds, foliage, foliage plants, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, fruit., garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, greenhouse gardening, grown your own, insects, organic gardening, ornamental trees, Rutland. Barnsdale. Geoff Hamilton, trees, wildlife

allotments community gardening flower show fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grow your own hardy perennials meadows National Garden Scheme NGS photography roses wildlife

A Wander around the Allotments in August

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 6, 2012
6 Comments on A Wander around the Allotments in August

August is when the busy harvest period begins. As land is cleared green manures are sown and compost is spread across empty spaces. Plans for next year’s gardening are beginning to form.

Another amusing sign has appeared on a plot in recent weeks. Doreen and Phil have a corner plot and it has been christened “The Naughty Corner”. Next to their plot, Gill has hung some vibrant decorations in her fruit.

Wendy’s plot is always full of interest and at the moment the star of the show has to be the glitter ball hanging inside an obelisk up which is growing Morning Glory.

We have had a very successful month where awards are concerned, some for the whole site and others for individual allotment holders. Jude and I were invited to the Shrewsbury Flower Show to receive an award for the allotment site. Chris Beardshaw, author, broadcaster and TV gardener presented me, on behalf of our allotment site, with the award for “Shropshire’s Best Community Garden”.

Bowbrook Allotment Community members also provided plants for a show garden created by the Shrewsbury Residents Association – herbs, vegetables and companion plants. This garden won a medal.

The two daughters of our Membership Secretary entered craft and art classes in the Honey Tent and won many certificates too. Their honey cakes and biscuits looked so tasty.

Jude and I also took part in the Shropshire Organic Gardeners Society stand at the show. Members were asked to provide photos of themselves with a pot plants and these took centre stage.

Dave Bagguley one of our plot holders was awarded Shrewsbury’s “Best Front Garden” award at the show.

Back at the lotties the Autumn Garden, one of the site’s “Gardens of the Four Seasons” is beginning to look really good, with the late summer/early autumn perennials blooming in their hot colours.

The meadows around the site are incredibly colourful at the moment but the early flowering ones are well-past their best. They will soon be due their annual haircut.

We like to leave the meadows’ annual haircuts as late as possible so delay them until seeds are well set and there is an obvious decrease in the amount of wildlife visitor activity. But in the Buddleja Borders the beautiful scented flowers are still bringing in so many butterflies, bees and hoverflies.

This year’s periods of extreme wet have taken their toll. Whole potato crops have rotted on plots and root crops badly split.

As I was finishing writing this post I heard that our site’s entry into the Shrewsbury Town Allotment Competition came out the winner, so well done to Sue and Paul from Plot 40. Here are a few shots of their plot to finish off this post.

Tags allotments, community gardening, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grown your own, meadows, NGS, organic gardening, roses, wildlife

birds climbing plants photography Shropshire trees wildlife woodland

Through the Garden Gate – part two – getting lost!

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date September 3, 2012
2 Comments on Through the Garden Gate – part two – getting lost!

From the pool we could look back at the wood we had just left and enjoy a different view of the hill that we usually look at from our garden and over which we watch Buzzards riding the thermals created by its slopes.

Well we may never have been more than a mile from home on this walk from our garden gate, but we did manage to get lost. The footpath signs kept disappearing, or that is our excuse. Our wander took us along sections of the long distance path, “The Shropshire Way” and on a local path “The Chris Bagley Walk”.

Leaving the fishing pool we followed the valley of the stream that fed it. The grassland here was rich and was being enjoyed by dairy calves, who watched our every move as we passed close to them.

The valley widen out but the wooded slopes and tiny stream running through it kept it intimate. The fields of grass on which the calves fed was a lush green but was devoid of wild flowers, a sad sign of modern farming practices. we followed the path until it took us up a gentle slope away from the stream and up into a wood which was partly coppiced.

On the slope up to the wood we spotted this Scarlet Pimpernel in flower on the pathway beneath our feet. Although only a tiny flower its orange petals glow so it can be seen from a distance. We now lost the footpath and had to consult maps on the smart phone, which rescued us nicely.

The wood gave away its past. Signs of the work of woodlanders abound. Their homes were now mere ruins covered in Ivy as Mother Nature reclaims her woodland. A clearing showed signs of coppicing.

The darkness of the wood and its cooler atmosphere was in stark contrast to the brightness and warmth that greeted us as we left it behind and returned to farmland. The path narrowed and took led us around a field edge where the sterility and silence of the arable farming on our left clashed with the natural exuberance of the hedge and the wildflower filled verges.

This was modern agricultural practice at its worse. We crossed over several of these fields and saw no signs of life apart from two Wood Pigeons flying overhead. The only flowers were a few yellow Rape plants from a previous crop and brave purple flowered Vetches attempting to clamber the Barley stalks close to the path. Years of pesticide and herbicide use coupled with monoculture has wiped out wildlife from these acres of land. To illustrate the point a small group of Swallows flew over the crop in search of insects, but it was in vain and they quickly moved on. At least until the footpath signs disappeared once more and we relied again on the smart phone maps to rescue us.

The path crossed one of these fields creating a narrow band of green which cut through the drab grey-yellow of the Barley. The only good part of crossing this desert was the rattling sound that the ears of Barley made as our elbows brushed past them.

Walking across the field we aimed for a style in the distant hedge. It seemed a long way across as there was little to look at or to listen to. The style in the hedge turned ou to be a double style, one each side of a thick, dense, tall hedge. there was a different world awaiting us on the other side. The grassland here was full of clovers and there were many different grasses, not just the ryegrass we had walked through earlier.

We were now within the land of our local organic dairy farmer. The hedgerows had deep verges full of wildlflowers, thistles, mallows and vetches. No hedges had been removed and the fields were much smaller.

As we passed through to another field we were hit by a sweet. rich aroma from the hedge. It took us a while to find the source – a Sweet Bryony clambering over an Elder.

It was downhill now all the way home and we enjoyed lovely views through gaps in the tall hedges.

As we left the final field of pastureland we spied our house across the hayfield. We had to pass our big old oak tree which we admire from out back garden. As we walked along the fence to the garden gate we called out to the chickens. They looked totally confused – we were the wrong side of the fence.

Tags birds, footpaths, harvest, insects, meadows, organic gardening, trees, wildlife

birds meadows photography Shropshire trees wildlife woodland

Through the Garden Gate – part one – to the Pool.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date August 29, 2012
4 Comments on Through the Garden Gate – part one – to the Pool.

This post features a wander in the countryside beyond our garden gate. We literally walk down to the bottom of the garden, past the chucks, go through the wooden gate and enter our borrowed landscape. We ambled for four hours spending much of the time standing, looking and listening or sitting and taking in the atmosphere. At no time were we more than a mile from our home.

An alternative title for the post could be “Why we live where we live and why we love where we live.” Join us as we wander around our local patch, our own personal bit of countryside.

We walked alongside the fence line along the paddock to join the public footpath which led us diagonally across a field of winter wheat. Reaching the far side of the field we looked back to get a view of our home snuggled within the short row of houses.

Looking back across the field we have just crossed gives us a different view of one of the hills we can see from the garden.

We needed now to walk along a lane for a while, a narrow lane with high hedges on each side and verges full of wildflowers. Climbers clambered over the hedging bushes.

A bonus was the appearance of the first ripe blackberries. We enjoyed them and thanked the blackbirds for sharing their larder with us.

Luckily this gently uphill trek on tarmac was short-lived and we soon clambered over the hedge via a wooden style and revelled in walking with the feel of soft grass beneath our feet. Here the land is rich pastureland enjoyed by dairy cattle. The cows here were all lazily sitting down chewing their cud.

A tiny stream acted as our guide across the pasture and to the edge of our secret wood with abandoned fishing pools now overgrown and in places looking more like swamp land.

Whenever we walk this wood, whatever the time of year and whatever the weather, the light has a special quality which lights up the overgrown pools and turns trees and bushes into silhouettes.

We can look up into the tree canopy of the steep valley sides as we walk along the water’s edge and appreciate just how tall some of the trees are. Below them is a thick carpet of brambles displaying their white flowers with hints of pink and their glossy, black fruits. Occasionally a tall rose-coloured flower spike of Rosebay pushes up through the bramble carpet. The trees are busy with mixed feeding flocks of Warblers and Titmice, the brambles resonating to the powerful song of Wrens and Dunnock.

As we reached the end of the wood walk an old wooden gate invited us back into open countryside. Jude the Undergardener glimpses the next part of our walk leaning on the gate as she waits for me as I finish taking photos.

A walk across a sloping field on ground churned up by the feet of cattle takes us to the fishing pool, our halfway point and the perfect place to sit on the grass slope and enjoy our usual fruit and coffee. By the pool the farmer has provided a picnic bench and today a family are enjoying a picnic and three generations are doing a spot of fishing.