Woodlife

Although I like padding around my local woods and getting to know it intimately, I also like to explore new areas. There’s quite a few nooks and crannies which are not obvious, being hidden away in some corner of the countryside.

My mate Dave (of birding fame) gave me a tip to check out an area not far from where I live. I didn’t quite believe him when he said it was a Nature Reserve, but nevertheless, I set out late Saturday morning to find the place.

As described, the area was hidden away at the rear of a housing estate and comprised of some small disused gravel pits and some pathways around them, complete with a grassed picnic area. I shuddered at the sight of the picnic benches and galvanised steel dustbins chained to trees and imagined the cacophony of screaming and shouting people on a fine summers day. You never know though. It may well be hidden enough away for only locals to be aware of it. For now, the place was mine alone.

I tried to find an area off the paths to make my lunch, but soon realised that the paths were so close together that this was quite difficult. This really was a small area, but I was warming to it as I eventually found a spot overlooking one of the larger ponds.

Dave had said he had seen kingfishers in the area, so I kept my camera close. Alas, I only saw the resident mallards struggling to walk on the still frozen smaller ponds, and a pair of grey wagtails.

I sparked up the my bushbuddy with the Trangia burner adaption and settled down to devour some scrambled egg.

I had walked around the reserve twice when the adventurous spirit really took over, and I followed a public footpath by the side of a field which took me close to some woods. I couldn’t help but nip in and out of the woods to see what was going on and a good track trap showed roe, fallow, fox and badger.

At the bottom of the valley, I came across a bit of a surprise. It was a beautiful lake complete with swans. Because of the green vegetation floating on the top (and because the photo was taken in summer) the satellite picture showed it as a paler green field. The name “Sparrows Pond” was also deceiving as it was quite a large lake (by UK standards that is.)

More surprises followed as at one end of the lake there was a small dam which gushed water into a fast flowing stream and, after walking along the lake’s south side, I discovered an old bridge across the lake. This appeared to be constructed as an ornamental bridge in better days and the whole lake complex must have formed part of the estate of the nearby medieval hall.

A track from the bridge brought me almost full circle back to the nature reserve.

This is certainly a hidden gem. I could imagine the place teeming with wildlife in the spring and summer and certainly worth another visit. It would also be worthwhile finding out the landowner for permission to spend some more time exploring the woods.

Thanks for the visit.