Trees and In the Woods

There is a spider in there somewhere

This part of Wykeham Forest has this year been subject to the clear felling of Larch and other crop trees. The track shown in the left hand picture used to be an easy descent into Troutsdale (just visible in the fog). As can be seen, it is now littered with the debris of the felling operations, making it quite tricky to use. The surviving trees shown in the centre and right hand pictures are I believe, Scots Pine.

HFF 14/10/2022 Many thank to you all for your visits and very kind comments.

This field was until recently used to grow on seedlings of larch and pine for planting in Forestry Commission England plantations. The grass was planted in this and other fields when the nursery closed, in order I think, to minimize wind erosion of the sandy soil. In some fields nature is doing the same job with wild plants such as thistles, clover etc. The silver is a result of sunlight on the grass that is being blown about by a strong wind.

Not a drop of rain did we get. The storm drifted eastwards out over the North Sea, about 4 miles/6 km away.

Sawdon Dale is a small, quite deep, steeply sided dale approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) in length. The dale follows the course of Sawdon Beck (small stream), south from high ground to the north of Sawdon village, to join Rushton Beck at the village of Rushton in the Vale of Pickering.

Common in Great Britain and Ireland, Broom was considered a sign of plenty when it bore many flowers. However a traditional rhyme from Sussex warns: "Sweep the house with blossomed broom in May/sweep the head of the household away." Broom was also used in a decorated bundle of broom at weddings in place of rosemary when that was scarce, and its strong smell was said to be able to tame wild horses and dogs. In Italy, the shrub was burnt to stop witches. Broom plants typically grow to 1–3 m (3.3–9.8 ft) tall, rarely to 4 m (13 ft), with main stems up to 5 cm (2.0 in) thick, rarely 10 cm (3.9 in). Stems are ridged and green. The shrubs have green shoots with small deciduous trifoliate leaves 5–15 mm long, and in spring and summer are covered in profuse golden yellow flowers 20–30 mm from top to bottom and 15–20 mm wide. Broom contains scoparin, which is a diuretic. The plant also is used as a cathartic and as a cardiac stimulant, which is credited to the presence of sparteine. A decoction (the boiling of plant material) or infusion of broom can be used to treat dropsy due to its diuretic action. An ointment can be made from the flowers to treat gout. Do not try any of the above at home!

HFF 13/2/2022 The location is the site of the now partially closed Forestry England, Wykeham Nursery. Although some of the buildings are still in use, the production of sapling trees from seedlings has ceased. A small number of staff have been retained for other forestry work. I shall miss watching the process of preparing the ground, planting out the seedling and eventually gathering up the saplings for distribution to various forestry plantations around the north of England and south of Scotland.

Hawthorn hedgerow

Raincliffe Wood/East Ayton Moor - North Yorkshire

The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent, at Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England. The Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l'Espec, lord of nearby Helmsley, who also built Rievaulx Abbey.

‘thence let me wander mid the pathless wilds of Raincliff, who, with intertwisted leaves, arches the bowers of silence’ Foster, M. 1770. Scarborough. A Poem in Three Cantos. York: Publisher Ann Ward The woods form a continuous belt of trees extending for a distance of nearly five miles from East Ayton in the west to the A170 Racecourse Road at Stepney Hill in the east, around the steep west, north and north-east sides of East Ayton, Irton and Seamer Moors. The woods have been in public ownership since they were purchased by Scarborough Corporation in 1926. The Domesday Survey (1086) records areas of woodland in the entries for East Ayton, Seamer and the lost settlement of Hillgrips. In the Survey, the area of woodland belonging to East Ayton is 9 furlongs by 9 furlongs (just over a mile by a mile) which is approximately the same as the length of the woods in Forge Valley and Raincliffe that fall within the historic boundary of East Ayton township.