In the Trees

Even without sunshine there are views in the woods that deliver light. Some leaves radiate their stored energy. May in these woods brings with it a new sense of depth and secrecy.

Beech is fully out now and birch has finally made the effort.

Some are grateful for that.

Others look on.

'Improvements'

It’s sometimes called Strawberry Lee Plantation, though within it the trees and shrubs planted are well outnumbered by those that have grown from wild seed. It has been an excellent case of rewilding which has taken the neglected interventions of previous years and turned them into something special of its own. For many years nothing was done to this woodland and it has been much the better for it.  Near the main road it was at some time in the distant past the site of a house of some sort. Rhododendron  was planted in the gardens plus Sycamore and Scots Pine. The Sycamore is mostly fringing the road, the Pine fairly well scattered and the Rhododendron has managed to circle the whole woodland enclosing the wilder inner parts of it in a protective shelter from wind and noise.  This inner part is a delightful unmanaged mix of alder, pine and birch underlaid with bilberry, grassy area and bramble and at this time of year plenty of wood sorrel. In some places the bilberry can be seen growing in alder crevices 6 feet from the ground. 

How long it has gone its own way is not known. It is part wild and part secret garden a haven for wildlife who seek out its spaces within the shelter belt of rhododendron when the cold winds blow. Undeniably the rhododendron spreads and would continue to do so. But its value is also immense to the area. Having lived this way for many years it has become an established network of wildlife links with foxes, deer and unusual bird species patronising its environs and enjoying the encircling shelter belt it provides. 

There have been some magical moments when wildlife has been seen through the writhing boughs of trees that could have come from a story by Grimm or an illustration by Rackham.

Only the most sensitive and imaginative people should be trusted with the management of this site and true to form and expectation we’ve got anything but that. The sensible approach would be to declare ‘as far as this and no further’, firmly stopping the spread of rhododendron and checking it once a year. Instead SWT have done the opposite. Tempted by seeing pound signs flashing and the prospect of grants and the needs of their organisation they decided to go to war laying waste to large sections of the growth. The mess and the devastation has managed to destroy the magic of yet another special place. And the debris has been left around in many places for over a year. It’s enough to make you wonder if we belong to the same species when you read the words ‘it will take some time to recover’.

Meanwhile in fine woods further east there are several  rhododendron shrubs which ought to be dealt with before they spread any further.  Nobody would have complained. But it’s too small a job. It is typical of the way that SWT operate that they respond to grants rather than consider priorities or the appearance and character of the site they’ve been given to manage.  

Foaming Streams

Those who want to control everything can't yet control the weather. There are people who would not consider walking in such weather as this. But it is Blacka's best feature that it owes a lot to the years of no management. A good time to see nature in control is when the water is flowing fast as it was today.

The management would if they could of course. It is simply what they do. It must give them real pain to see the 'wrong things' growing, just as to see the 'wrong ideas' being promoted or even, in some cases, recorded.
But raw natural beauty beats anything that is designed by a committee be it the Board of Natural England or the Steering Group of the SMP Master Plan or the coordinated professional Lobbyists of the NFU.

A lone stag, one of the bigger ones, was shaking himself dry near the woods, his velvets already well advanced.

Paths of Bygone Days

Some routes on Blacka have still not been discovered by bikers.

This reminds us that hundreds of paths in the area used to be very similar to this, genuine walkers paths that never got past a basic level of erosion if it can be called that; some might describe it as a benign compression that remained much the same from one year, even one decade, to the next.

The hope that this one (below) would remain the same - much as it was when I first walked it and continued for nearly 30 years - has long since gone.

This is one of the stretches that has held up best to date but close looking reveals a steady decline following increased biking and a lack of regrowth of surface grasses. Meanwhile other sections of the same path further along have developed deep ruts and then serious widening even deltas. Once it becomes obvious that bikers are ignoring the 'walkers only' signs as it already has, then it becomes open season for others even horse riders.

We will then finish up with similar ugly repairs to those carried out on the Devils Elbow and the Wimble Holm Hill bridleways, changing their appearance permanently and for the worse but with the advantage for the managers that it gives them something to claim credit for  in their reports which is why they do nothing to prevent the situation developing.

PS

I've been told that an item appeared on a BBC TV programme that I never watch called Countryfile recently in which there were scenes of Wimble Holm Hill. I understand it concerned the repair of footpaths in which case it will have been about the bridleway I've posted pictures of.  My informant tells me it was presented as if the bikers were not the cause of the erosion. It wouldn't surprise me at all. There's been a coordinated propaganda campaign not just from bikers groups but also from land managers like those of EMP and SMP.  They are adept at using press releases as you have to be if you spend your time excusing the indefensible. The true situation speaks for itself but only to those who actually see it. Press releases and propaganda are addressed to those who have no first hand knowledge.

Before the bridleway repair you could hardly make out the path when looking up from the north. Now it looks like this:

The Birds

You don't have to label yourself a 'bird watcher' to enjoy birds. Labels anyway are best avoided if you want to stay independent.

Neither does it matter so much if the bird you see is exactly what you think it might be unless you have a meticulously kept journal in which you tick off each specimen that you see. (I did collect train numbers as an eight-year-old).

The weeks in early May are often the best to actually see the birds rather than tell them from song and call.

Our friend here is just visible because leaves are not fully out. But is it a warbler or a Whitethroat?

Other birds make life easier for the identifier.

Floor in Spring

The woodland floor in Spring is that way because there is enough light coming through to encourage those that are discouraged by deep shade, and because the competition is less intense.

Whatever the merits of Bluebell it's the much smaller Wood Sorrel that wins favour here.

Where We're At

As at 12th May:  state of the greening.