A misty morning is a good time to look at alders. The alder is one of my favourite Blacka trees, a lover of wet ground, growing along the stream banks coming down from Cowsick and in the damp woods in the north west corner - the one near the car park surrounded by rhododendron. There is lots of folklore associated with alder as befits a native tree at home in secret wet and misty spaces. Ancient peoples such as Druids held alder in great respect partly due to its wood appearing white when first cut then "bleeding" red later. They used dye from this and green dye from the flowers.
Male catkins are on the same trees as females and the immature green fruit (above) become more like small cones when mature. The timber from alder needs to be water resistant given its situation in swampy areas and when cut has been much used for old buckets and also for piles and river edging works.
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