Unusual trees at Hayley Wood

Tweet Follow @photograferry

One of the many important woodland sites managed by the Wildlife Trust in this part of the country, is the always interesting Hayley Wood. I took a trip over there recently, with my camera in tow, to get a few shots of the interesting trees that it contains.

Lynford Arboretum at Thetford Forest

Tweet Follow @photograferry

A few weeks ago I paid a visit to Thetford Forest, in particular, to Lynford Arboretum, a beautiful spot located in the North East corner of the forest, and somewhere I’d not been to before, so I was keen to give the old camera a bit of an airing and to see what I could see.

Owned by the Forestry Commission, it is the UK’s largest man made lowland forest and covers over 18,700 hectares, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The forest was created after the First World War to provide a strategic reserve of timber, since the country had lost so many oaks and other slow-growing trees as a consequence of the war's demands.

Bluebells at Waresley & Gransden Woods

Tweet Follow @photograferry

Following on from my recent visit to see the bluebells at Brampton Wood, I took a trip over to Waresley & Gransden Woods to do the same. I was in two minds whether to go, as there are only so many shots of bluebells you can take in a season until they all start looking the same, so I didn't have high hopes in getting anything new.

Of ancient origin, having been part of the local landscape for thousands of years, Waresley and Gransden Woods are a 54 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest that contain predominantly ash, maple and hazel, with parts of the wood replanted earlier this century with oak, beech and sycamore. They are home to many breeding birds, an abundance of wildflowers, and over 500 species of moth and butterfly.

Brampton Wood Bluebells

Tweet Follow @photograferry

Last week I took a trip to Brampton Wood, in search of bluebells, in fact I took two trips as it's a fairly large wood, and I couldn't do it justice in just one visit. In fact two trips barely grazes the surface of this fascinating place, but as it was the bluebell display I was after, that would just have to do, for now.

Brampton Wood, at 326 acres, is the second largest ancient woodland in Cambridgeshire, and is at least 900 years old. The first records date back to the Doomsday Book, “woodland pasture - half a league long and 2 furlongs wide”, when animals such as pigs used to feed on acorns. A large earth bank marks its ancient boundary, the bank and ditch barrier were built in the Middle Ages, to protect the wood from invading cattle and to keep pasture animals inside. There are several other minor banks and ditches within the wood, thought to be prehistoric field drainage systems. 

North East coast day 4 - Pennine Waterfalls

Tweet Follow @photograferry

While I was up north I took the opportunity to visit the Pennines, as I had never visited them before. I had a plan to do a bit of waterfall photography, because I can’t resist a good waterfall, and the Pennines have them in abundance, seeing as they form the main watershed in northern England, dividing east and west.

Often described as the ‘backbone of England’, the Pennine Hills form a more-or-less continuous range stretching northwards from the Peak District, into the South Pennines incorporating parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, through the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines past the Cumbrian Fells up to the Tyne Gap, which separates the range from the Cheviot Hills.

I was concentrating on the North Pennines, which is classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is afforded much the same protection as a National Park. Lying just north of the Yorkshire Dales, it rivals the National Park in size and includes some of the Pennines' highest peaks and some of its most isolated and sparsely populated areas.

Holme Fen in the mist

Tweet Follow @photograferry

On a particularly overcast and misty day, I decided to visit one of my favourite spots, Holme Fen. I hoped this particularly atmospheric piece of ancient woodland might yield some ethereal images.

When I got there it was certainly shrouded in a wintry haze, so I had a good wander along the peaty pathways that meander through this magnificent grove of silver birch to see what I could find. 

I've detailed the fascinating history of this place on a previous post, which can be found here, so I won't waste time in repeating myself. Much better to get on with the photos, in all their hazy essence.

Woodland colours at Holme Fen

Tweet Follow @photograferry

A couple of weeks ago, in my third visit to Holme Fen, the largest stand of silver birch trees of its kind in the country, and a place that has more atmosphere than you can shake silvery stick at, I get a bit of warm afternoon sunshine for the first time.

So taking advantage of that, I took a bit of time to explore and get a few shots of the autumn colours, both on the trees themselves, and on the vibrant carpets of ferns that cloak the forest floor.

To find out a bit more on the history of this intriguing place, including how it rivalled the lake district in its aqueousness, and why eels were used as local currency, see my previous post on the area.

Autumn at Hinchingbrooke Country Park

Tweet Follow @photograferry

A couple of weeks ago my camera and I took a little trip over to Hinchinbrooke Country Park to get some pictures of the autumn colour.

Hinchingbrooke Country Park has 170 acres of open grasslands, meadows, woodlands and lakes and wildlife. It includes 63 acres of woodland areas - an oak plantation; a hornbeam dominated woodland (Bob's Wood); and other woodland comprised of more mixed species (Alder, Ash, Sycamore, Pines, Field Maple, Hazel, Willow, Birch).

I’d like to tell you a bit about the history of the place, but I can find absolutely nothing about it anywhere, so I’m assuming it’s been created relatively recently, so you’ll just have to make do with the pictures of autumn bloom.

Holme Fen on an autumn evening

Tweet Follow @photograferry

My second visit to the fabulous Holme Fen was on a rather overcast day. I arrived in the late afternoon and spent a very enjoyable few hours traipsing through the undergrowth and admiring the view until it was too dark to really see much at all.

As atmospheric as it is during the day, at dusk that atmosphere seems to pour in from all directions. The colours may be more muted, but the rustling of leaves, the sharp movements in the undergrowth and the all pervading silence seem to close in and come into explicit clarity. 

There is something special about the feeling of walking through a woodland or forest, especially one with so much character, with the light fading fast, when colours, trees and undergrowth seem to blend together into unrecognisable shapes and unfamiliar structures. I had the place to myself, so my only company were the regular inhabitants, for whom my presence was an unwelcome delay in their nocturnal activities no doubt.

Once I had left the woodland and found myself back on the drove road, I experienced the same feeling I had the last time I was there, namely, I was looking forward to coming back again. There is something very compelling about the place, plus there were parts of it I hadn't yet explored, and if that wasn't a good reason to return I don't know what was.

The following images were taken that afternoon/evening, before the light became too dusky to work with. I hope you enjoy looking through them as much as I enjoyed taking them. To see photos from my first visit, and find out a bit about the interesting history of the place please see my previous post.

Holme Fen - autumn colour & sunset lake

Tweet Follow @photograferry

I have recently been rather taken with a quiet patch of woodland named Holme Fen, and have visited it several times. It’s a very atmospheric place which, based on my sojourns, attracts very little in the way of visitors. This is surprising as this 660 acre plot contains, among other things, the largest, and some say the finest, silver birch woodland in lowland Britain, an impressive cornucopia of fungi, around 500 species, and at 9 foot below sea level, the lowest point in the UK.

It has also been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Nature Conservation Review Site, plus, it is home to a variety of birdlife. But I’m sure there are times when I’ve been there and I had the place entirely to myself.

Autumn at Monks Wood part two

Tweet Follow @photograferry

Following on from yesterday's post from Monks Wood, where we saw the trees changing into their autumn finery, in this post, also from Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire, we look a bit closer at some shots of the leaves and berries that festoon the undergrowth and the vibrant colours they reveal.

Monks Wood is a fair size woodland and doesn't get many visitors, which meant I pretty much had the place to myself as I rummaged through the thicket looking for shots. It was very peaceful indeed.

I hope you enjoy looking through them as much as I did taking them.

Autumn at Monks Wood part one

Tweet Follow @photograferry

Last week I took a trip over to Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire, it was designated a national nature reserve in 1953, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It has been described as one of the best examples of ancient ash-oak woodland in the East Midlands.

I was in search of some autumn colour, there wasn't a great deal about, but I managed to find a bit, as you see.

The following images show what colour I could find in this attractive woodland. In part two we will have a closer look at the leaves and berries that adorn the trees.

Exmoor Day 5 - Culbone Wood & England's smallest church

Tweet Follow @photograferry

I arose, on my last day in Exmoor, to a dank, drizzly morning, so a sunrise was out of the question. After packing up the tent in the rain, always a delightful job, I drove to Porlock Weir so I could begin a spot of rambling along the South West Coast Path.

By the time I arrived it was starting to brighten up a bit, with the morning sunshine appearing through the ever thinning clouds. I parked up, and strapping on my camera bag, I took the little track to the coastal path. I was only walking a tiny fraction of it, the entire length of the path is 630 miles, the longest in England, and stretches from Minehead, around the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, all the way to Pool in Dorset. And because it rises and falls with every river mouth, the total height climbed, if you were to complete the route, has been estimated at 114,931 feet, almost four times the height of Everest. I wasn’t about to do that.

West Woods Bluebells

Tweet Follow @photograferry

Recently I took a trip down to Marlborough to visit the West Woods in their full bluebell glory. West Woods is a plantation of beech trees on a former ancient woodland site, managed by the Forestry Commission.

Until around 1300 West Woods was part of Savernake Forest, but now, along with Savernake and Collingbourne Woods, form Marlborough Woodland. West Woods is one-fifth of the size of Savernake Forest, and was clear-felled in 1928, leaving only a few Ancient and Veteran trees on the outskirts. It was replanted with mainly Beech, with some Birch, Pine Sycamore and Ash.

As I visited during the week, the woods were relatively empty, especially for the time of year, so I had no trouble getting some shots of the peaceful woodland bejewelled in a sea of brilliant azure.

Austy Woods bluebells

Tweet Follow @photograferry

This morning I paid a visit to Austy Woods, a private woodland located in the heart of Warwickshire. Normally the woods are closed to the public, apart from once a year when the family open them up for two days on the early May bank holiday weekend, to coincide with the eruption of bluebells that occur here every year, and to raise money for charity.

It’s widely recognised as one of the most spectacular displays of bluebells in the county, and beyond I would imagine. Whereas most places have patches of colour, here nearly every part of the woods is carpeted in the sapphire flowers, there must be countless millions of them.

Thankfully they had agreed to let us visit the woodland after the bank holiday, which by all accounts was a bit of a melee, I can’t remember how many thousands of people they said had visited over the two days, but it was a lot. But because we arrived on the Tuesday, we had the place to ourselves, which was rather splendid.

South Wales Day 1 – Mistaken identity at Porth yr Ogof

Tweet Follow @photograferry

I was travelling down to South Wales to help out on a photography workshop, and as usual I was running late. I had hoped to get a bit of photography done of my own in Waterfall Country, that area of the Brecon Beacons that is home to so many beautiful Welsh falls, before making my way down to the coast to meet up with the group that evening.

By the time I arrived at Pontneddfechan, the small village that is the de facto starting point for all things watery and falling, it was already mid afternoon, and thanks to the fact it was a glorious day, there were people everywhere. I had planned to visit Sgwd Gwladys, or Lady Falls first of all, but considering the amount of bodies about, I figured my chances of getting a decent photo to be unlikely.

Bluebells in West Woods

Tweet Follow @photograferry

Last week I paid a visit to West Woods, just outside Marlborough, for a spot of bluebell photography, as it's about that time of year when they are looking their best. West Woods is a plantation of beech trees on a former ancient woodland site, managed by the Forestry Commission.

Wychwood Wild Garden

Tweet Follow @photograferry

A couple of weeks ago I paid a visit to the lovely Cotswold village of Shipton-under-Wychwood, a place that takes part of its name, along with a couple of other nearby villages, from the ancient forest of Wychwood.

In past centuries this forest sprawled across a large area of rural Oxfordshire, at its height in the 12th century, the forest covered some 50,000 acres. It is of course now a shadow of its former self, and since it was enclosed in 1887, 870 hectares is all that remains of the woodland that was once home to forest fairs so riotous they were eventually banned.

The remains of a pine woodland

Tweet Follow @photograferry

I spent a few hours last weekend exploring a stand of pine trees that were in the first process of being turned into something other than trees.