Mike's Natural Musings

Saturday, 30 October 2021

Lake District, October/November. Day 3

Having negotiated the awkwardly placed pillars, tight corners and narrow parking spaces in the Kendal multistory we found the farmer's market just in time for the monsoon to begin again. We were tempted, though, despite the rain, and a few Christmas presents secured and a small fortune in cheese later we sought shelter in Farrer's tea and coffee shop of lunch. It eventually cleared and in a brief spell of excellent light we wandered down to investigate the state of the river. I was surprised to see that although full it was far from overflowing. Next on the agenda was a visit to all the favourite shops of the leader of the opposition, with me being, as usual, patience personified! Time then for a return to the site for a cup of tea. Amazingly the sky had cleared and there was some fantastic light. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Thursday, 28 October 2021

Lake District, October/November. Day 2, Floods and lunch in Wilf's

The water was fountaining out of the manhole cover on the road into Stavely when we arrived after walking across the fields from the caravan. The River Kent had overflowed its banks and flooded the fields, but fortunately not yet the village, although the water is up to the bridge on the main street and this has only just been rebuilt following Storm Desmond. The walk over the fields had been somewhat of a wet plodge, although the rain had eased and didn't resume until the walk back. Luckily Wilf's was up and running and we enjoyed our lunch. Back, hunkered down in the van, we are enjoying a cup of tea and I shall shortly launch into cooking Normandy pork with cider and cream for when friends Nigel and Jackie come round later.

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Lake District, October/November. Day 1, A Brief Encounter.

The drumming on the caravan roof began at 3.00 in the morning. This was not a demented bird dancing on the roof but the forecast rain that came complete with a weather warning for the next three days. The morning brought no relief. At 6.30, still pitch dark, it was time for my first visit to the facilities. Not only was it still monsoon style rain but the route to the toilet block was flooded as I discovered when I found myself ankle deep. We sit, now, enjoying breakfast, and looking out at the rain. Plans are to meet Thomas at Carnforth Station for a train ride to Ulverston over two viaducts over the Kent and Leven estuaries.

Our journey here yesterday went well. Arriving at 4.30, we were soon set up and enjoying a cup of tea shortly followed by pizza and an early night.

When we pulled Into Carnforth Station car park Thomas was already there. We made our way I to the station where we enjoyed tea and stickies in the Brief Encounter tea room, looking just like station tea rooms from my childhood. Mind you couldn't get flat white in those days. Heather was disappointed that they didn't sell the old British Rail bread pudding. We looked around the Brief Encounter museum while we waited for our train to Ulverston. It was fascinating to sit in an old style cinema mock up watching clips from the film which was filmed here.

Despite the foul weather we enjoyed our train journey; it was interesting to see Leighton Moss and Arnside from a different perspective. We thought that Ulverston town centre was lovely and we had an excellent lunch at the fine Cobbles Tearoom.

Back at Carnforth we said our farewells to Thomas and then did our usual trick of getting lost in the lanes to Arnside. Stopping only briefly at Booths in Milnthorpe, we were soon back at the site and battening down the hatches.

Despite the weather an excellent day.

Friday, 22 October 2021

The Wood Wide Web and Finding the Mother Tree.

As I wandered through the ancient birch and oak woodland of the Woodland Trust's section of Nettleton Woods, my mind was full of Dr. Suzanne Simard's book Finding the Mother Tree which I found incredibly moving, both on a personal level as well as a scientific one. She is best known for the research she has done on the underground networks of forests characterised by mycorrhizal fungi and roots. She worked out how these fungi and roots facilitate communication and interaction between the trees and plants of an ecosystem. Within the communication between trees and plants is the exchange of carbon, water, nutrients and defence signals between trees. In 1997 the journal Nature referred to this discovery as the Wood Wide Web. Simard has since identified something called a hub tree or 'mother tree'. Mother trees are the largest trees in forests that act as central hubs for the mycorrhizal networks. A mother tree supports seedlings by infecting them with fungi and supplying them with nutrients as they grow. She discovered that Douglas Firs provide carbon to baby firs and that there was more carbon sent to baby firs that came from that specific mother tree. However she also found that mother trees were using the fungal web to support other tree species. Simard was the primary inspiration for the scientist, Patricia Westford, who, like Simard, was ridiculed by fellow scientists and forest managers before eventually being vindicated, in Richard Powers' 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Overstory, also an excellent and moving book.

As I wandered through Nettleton indulging myself in the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku or forest bathing I couldn't help but wonder at the amazing world, not only around me, but beneath my feet. As I walked I kept my eyes open for the Mother Trees, some ancient and venerable oaks and birches being prime candidates. One purpose of today's visit was to look for fly agaric toadstools which I found in the same place as last year. Although poisonous to us, fly agaric forms mycorrizhal associations with a range of trees, notably birch and and pine, both part of the community of Nettleton Woods.

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Fly agaric

Dead Wood, particularly standing dead wood, is an importand part of a forest ecosystem.

Autumn colours

Scots Pine and birch woodland

Cots pine with ancient oaks showing behind.

Scots Pine and birch woodland

Birch and pine leaves.

A Mother Tree?

Ancient birch woodland

The spirit of the trees.

Woodland path (a Shul)

Ancient birch woodland

Birch and pine woodland

Unknown fungus

Puffball.

Thursday, 21 October 2021

The Fantastic Mr Fox

As I walked through the cemetery, autumn colours were just beginning to sparkle on the trees. I opened the gate into the woodland burial ground and there he was again basking in the sun like last time. He/she seems to be bold and fearless, obviously habituated to people. He only allowed me to approach so far before retreating to the undergrowth, however.

Continuing my walk around the perimeter I was fascinated to see an apple tree laden with rosy fruit. Presumably it has grown from an apple core discarded by a visitor to the cemetery. There are also some heavily fruiting crab apples in this part of the cemetery too, but a green, rather than a red variety so not sure what sort of jelly they would make.

Further around I was pleased to see the spindle trees now with open fruits displaying the orange seed. Although the insignificant flowers are white earlier in the year in autumn they create a magnificent display. Although the spindles here are most likely planted for ornamental purposes, in the wild they are an indicator of ancient woodland. The wood from spindles is creamy-white, hard and dense. It is straight grained and was once used to make 'spindles' for spinning and holding wool (hence its name), as well as skewers, toothpicks, pegs and knitting needles.

The guelder rose berries are now well-ripened but it needs another week or so before the foliage reaches its full autumn glory.

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