Everyone enjoys the wood

One of the great pleasures of owning a wood is sharing it with other people. As the strange summer of lockdown comes to a close we can look back on a few of the visitors  who've had fun in the wood. 

Boyz in the wood

Six boys spent two nights in the cabin - a chance to catch up and chill out together far from parents and university. How they all managed to jam into the cabin we're not asking. 

They even made a video

Neighbours

These three loved it so much they're coming back to spend a couple of nights in the cabin and watch the bats. Perhaps they'll move in  and never go home ...

Climbing up every deer hide

The rope swing proved popular

Family party

Finally an end of summer family get together, under strict C19 rules - but with proper tea, delicious sandwiches  and cake.

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Teapod Party in the wood

Our friend Therese has left the world of digital tech for a new career making crepes and milkshakes at festivals and parties.  Last Saturday was a perfect day for a small, relaxed woodland gathering - socially distanced of course (we tried). The weather was gorgeous and the wood the perfect setting. So what better place for Therese to take her new venture for a trial run?  Friends agreed to come and sample some crepes and it was George's 9th birthday too ..

Therese, and George the Birthday Boy

George and  Pippa  waiting for a  treat.

 

Holiday get together

Despite post Christmas flu, midwinter gloom and other assorted reasons for staying close to home, a stalwart  group made it to Old Copse on December 30th. It was unseasonably mild , there was an abundance of food and drink, and a modest but highly appreciated firework display , provided by  Sarah, Simon and Stanley. Plus just being in Old Copse , lovely even at this bleak time of year.

Demonstration of the ancient table mat flapping technique for getting the charcoal going.

  

Jane

and Jane's Grand-daughter Mabel

Mabel and Isla size each other up. 

Father and daughter

Father and son . Full marks for getting the bonfire started. No wonder they looked pleased.

                                  All Best Wishes for a Happy New Year to Everyone.

Boys in the Wood

 
A Grandson celebrates his winter solstice birthday in the wood with some friends. Inner city London boys, they left the big city behind to come down to the wild, wild wood for a stay in the cabin.  I think they had a very good time. Off to different Universities in the next couple of years  it was a chance to spend some time  together before going back to more exam  swotting. It's good to see a younger generation enjoying the wood , even in winter, with darkness falling at  3.30 p.m

Photos by Angelo, Dylan, Ibrahim, and Oliver

                                     Difficult to get the fire going when it's been so rainy

Still life with electric toothbrush

Autumn roundup: late mushrooms, beech trees, Great Egret............

Mushroom foray

The West Weald Fungus Recording Group led by Dick Alder paid us a visit on 16th November. We  thought their chances of finding many specimens were fairly low this late in the season. Mushrooms had been early this year, and particularly abundant during late August to early October.  But we were  wrong.  While too late for ceps or purple web caps, the group still managed to find 55 different species, which was a surprise to us, though not to the expert visitors.

Ling and Mark, enjoying their introduction to Autumn fungus in Old Copse.

Growing our own

After planting out the best of the home grown oaks in the wood, there were still 30 or so that were  too small. Some of them were getting a bit pot-bound  so a  raised bed in the wood,  well protected from deer, seemed like a good idea. In deeper soil they'll have room to stretch out and start growing properly in the Spring.

Rare visitor

One of the mushroom group arrived early and was lucky enough to see a visiting Great Egret at this spot

We didn't see him, but here's a library picture of what we missed (credit RSPB)

Autumn photos

Old Copse is beautiful at this time of the year. The beech trees really stand out.

A decaying birch stump. First comes the moss, then the fungus.

Weather

At 8am the sunshine was brilliant, but the forecast wasn't too good,  -  strong  wind, wintry showers, sleet, maybe some snow, perhaps some sun, but as Herbie the dog doesn't mind what the weather's like when a day at the wood is in the offing, and we didn't want to disappoint him, we decided to chance it. Forestry work takes place all through the year, but the winter months tend to be the busiest, especially for felling, so there's no point in  moaning about the weather, or using it as an excuse not to do any work .

As we drove north the skies became ominously dark and soon we were in the middle of a storm of wind blown snow and sleet. It only lasted 10 - 15 minutes, and by the time we arrived at Old Copse the sun was shining again.  That was the pattern of the day, - freezing cold wind, rain and sleet, alternating with brilliant sunshine. But it's great to see the wood in all weathers. You don't see weather in town in such a close up way. Today you could see the weather happening; the heavy showers were announced by darkening skies followed by strong gusts of wind which made the trees, especially the pines, bend alarmingly. Then the rain would come sheeting down.

So today we were right in the middle of the weather, getting tasks done when the rain held off and the sun came out, and then dashing for shelter to the cabin to watch another blast of  gusty rain and wind pass through the wood, while warming up at the stove and drinking tea. An exhilarating day.

We  love a wood burning stove on a cold day

Visitors: We met Martin (bird expert) between showers -  he is contributing to an RSPB  survey of Marsh Tits, Willow Tits and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers who might (or might not) live in the wood. He had a tape of bird sounds with him, presumably to attract birds in the vicinity, but had to give up on this today because of the noise made by the wind in the trees. He is waiting for the next still, sunny day.

Mushroom Foray

Today we welcomed a group of walkers and mushroom enthusiasts led by Ann Axon (walk leader and Sarah's Mum), and mushroom expert Dick Alder from the West Weald Fungi Group http://www.westwealdfungi.co.uk/. The recent weather - warm sunshine and rain,  produced a bumper crop of fungi to be identified by the visiting group. The foray was followed by lunch at the cabin, and then a 5 mile walk through St.Leonard's Forest, returning for tea before they set off home to Surrey. Everyone enjoyed the day and hope it will become a regular event in their walking calendar. See below for a full list of all the fungi seen and identified.

Tawny Grisette

Unidentified as yet. It has a purplish stem which doesn't show in the photo

Charcoal Burner

Gomphidius roseus (Rosy spike) and Suillus bovinus (bovine bolete). Rosy spike is parasitic on bovine bolete.

Umm.......not sure what these are, but they look very appealing.. 

We've been collecting large numbers of ceps (Boletus edulis) during the past couple of weeks, which are now being eaten fresh, or sliced and dried at home.

Fungi found (listed by Dick Alder)

St. LEONARD’S FOREST, 20/09/15	HAWKINS POND, EAST SIDE TQ219214
Aleuria aurantia	Orange Peel fungus
Amanita citrina	False Death-cap
Amanita citrina var. alba	False Death-cap, white variety
Amanita excelsa var. spissa	Grey Spotted Amanita
Amanita fulva	Tawny Grisette
Amanita muscaria	Fly Agaric
Amanita phalloides	Death Cap
Amanita rubescens	Blusher
Amanita rubescens var. annulosulphurea	Blusher with yellow ring
Boletus badius	Bay Bolete
Boletus cisalpinus	Red-crack Bolete sp.
Boletus edulis	Cep
Boletus erythropus	Scarletina Bolete
Calocera viscosa	Yellow Stagshorn
Cantharellus cibarius	Chantarelle
Coprinopsis atramentaria	Common Inkcap
Daedaleopsis confragosa	Blushing Bracket
Ganoderma applanatum	Artist’s Bracket
Gomphidius roseus	Rosy Spike
Gymnopilus junonius	Spectacular Rustgill
Gymnopilus penetrans	Common Rustgill
Gymnopus erythropus	Redleg Toughshank
Hydnum rufescens	Terracotta Hedgehog
Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca	False Chantarelle
Hypholoma fasciculare	Sulphur Tuft
Hypomyces chrysospermus	Bolete Mould
Laccaria amethystina	Amethyst Deceiver
Lactarius quietus	Oak Milkcap
Lactarius turpis	Ugly Milkcap
Lactarius vietus	Grey Milkcap
Leccinum scabrum	Brown Birch Bolete
Megacollybia platyphylla	Whitelaced Shank
Mycena inclinata	Clustered Bonnet
Paxillus involutus	Brown Rollrim
Piptoporus betulinus	Birch Polypore
Psathyrella multipedata	Clustered Brittlestem
Rhodocollybia butyreacea	Butter Cap
Russula cyanoxantha	Charcoal Burner
Russula delica	Milk White Brittlegill
Russula nigricans	Blackening Brittlegill
Russula ochroleuca	Common Brittlegill
Russula parazurea	Powdery Brittlegill
Russula subfoetens	Stinking Brittlegill sp.
Scleroderma citrinum	Common Earthball
Stereum hirsutum	Hairy Curtain Crust
Suillus bovinus	Bovine Bolete
Trametes versicolor	Turkey Tails
Tremella foliacea	Leafy Brain
Trichaptum abietinum	Purplepore Bracket
Tricholoma fulvum	Birch Knight
Tubaria furfuracea	Scurfy Twiglet

Filming in the Wood

The wood made a wonderful atmospheric location for a movie 'short' being shot over the weekend . Its young director won an award last year at Cannes for another of her short films. The crew had to contend with changeable weather and the relentless quacking of a moorhen aggrieved at the intrusion.

For the full annoying moorhen effect, click here: