Category: Newton Wood
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Coriolus versicolor
Confined to a classroom all day so an early morning dog run up Cliff Rigg was all I could manage. Too early for decent lighting but a display of colour on a fallen tree at the bottom of Thief Lane caught my eye. This is Coriolus versicolor, a very common fungus from a large family…
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Permissive Footpath, Newton Wood
I know this is not the most architecturally significant structure but it will soon be gone so I’ve taken this photo for posterity. Work started this week on upgrading the permissive footpath running along the bottom of Newton Wood. The two sections of wooden boardwalk, which at least twenty-one years old, will be replaced by…
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A morning jog in the snow is so exhilarating
And following from yesterday’s pagan festival of Imbolc, today is 40 days after Christmas so it must be Candlemas, the Christian Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I don’t pretend to understand what that means but content with the quip that it is by now light enough to rise, pray and start…
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Last of the evening sun, Newton Woods
There is something particularly nemophilic wandering through woodland at the end of a warm sultry day. Newton Wood has been designated ‘ancient woodland’. Officially it has existed for at least 400 years although it’s probably been here since time immemorial. It is hard to imagine the steep slopes ever having been cultivated or put to…
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Dryads’ Saddle
Dryads were tree spirits of Ancient Greek protected by the gods whose wrath befell anyone who damages a tree without first appeasing these shy and elusive nymphs. They would presumably use this bracket fungus to sit on when riding their ponies. It is quite common and supposedly edible when young but quickly becomes hard and…
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Bluebells and Roseberry
The Bluebell is the sweetest flower That waves in summer air: Its blossoms have the mightiest power To soothe my spirit’s care. Emily Bronte Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Wild garlic
The favourites of the woods at this time of the year are undoubtedly the bluebells but lower down wild garlic carpets the damp sumps of Newton Wood. Also known as ramsons, the plant has long been used medicinally, usually in tonics made from the bulbs. It is widespread throughout Europe and Asia where the bulbs…
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Peacock on a Bluebell
After a few false starts, finally a vernal freshness to the morning. The bluebells are out in Newton woods but a week or so off their best. The more astute of you may have noticed an increase in the posting of telephoto photos. My new toy. Normal service will be resumed when the novelty wears…
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Snow, bracken and bluebells
Beneath the wet, dirty snow, beneath last year’s carpet of dead bracken, the bluebells remind us that spring is on its way. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Spring has sprung
The first day of Spring. Meteorologically speaking. The 1st of March. An arbitrary date that the Met Office has declared for their statistics. More snow overnight with strong winds. Yet in a sheltered hollow of Newton Wood, a snow-encrusted oak sapling with a stubborn leaf still clinging on. An appropriate poem for this day by…