Walk out from Bishops Waltham to explore the woodlands of Runnydown Copse and Little Phrympth Copse.
Runnydown Copse a Woodland Trust site, acquired in 1988 and covering just under 10 acres. It lies a short distance from Bishops Waltham in a north east direction.
It comprises of ancient semi natural broad leaf trees. Species include oak, sycamore, field maple, yew, dog wood, hawthorn, wild cherry, holly, Scotts pine and yew with ash and beech being the dominating the canopy. It has an under storey of hazel and ground cover including Solomon's seal, wood anemone, ferns, bramble, clematis (old man's beard) and bluebell. Many trees of any timber value were removed during WW2.
The Woodland Management Plan (2018 to 2023) identified ash die back. And earlier this year, approximately 80% of the woodland was cleared of diseased ash trees. This has fundamentally changed the woodland from what was a dense collection of trees and under storey to a site which is now open. When walking through the woodland before the trees were felled, it was possible to imagine that you were in a large wood. Now that many of the trees have been felled, it’s quite apparent how small the site actually is. I contacted the Woodland Trust to find out if their plans had changed since writing their Management Plan, in terms of how the site will be regenerated. They have confirmed that as per the Plan, that they will not be replanting, and will simply allow for natural regeneration over time.
We passed through what was left of the woodland, stopping to examine the sooty black buds of ash and the contrasting long pointed buds of the beech tree. We also stopped to look at holly that had previously been sheltered by the trees and shrubs that had been cleared. Holly usually shows a spiked leaf which is as a result of herbivore browsing. However, many of the holly bushes were displaying rounded leaves, a clear indication that the leaves were previously out of reach of browsers. I am sure now that the bushes have been exposed that we will see a spiky leaves in the future.
The woodlands used to have a good number of well establish badger and rabbit dens. These have now been completely covered by cleared woodland, and it will be interesting to see what impact the forestry works have had on these wonderful animals. With a lack of trees, the sound of bird life has certainly reduced. Although we did find an old tree with clear woodpecker holes drilled into it.
We made our way out of the woodland on it's eastern edge, and headed towards Phrympth Wood. Although privately owned, there is a public footpath going through the woods and the owners welcome walkers to explore the woods away from the footpaths. This has resulted in a small track that skirts across the southern, and highest (elevation) edge of the woodland, which affords great views in a northerly direction. The wood is classed as ancient woodland and was extensively felled in 2015. This has enabled oak, hazel, ash and field maple to take a hold. The land is managed by a forester, who with the assistance of volunteers, have been clearing the area of brush and replanting with oak and hazel. The southern edge is dominated by a small cluster of yew trees, all of some age. There is also an intriguing sink hole, around 10 metres by 10 metres, perhaps an old quarry pit. We stopped to look at some spindle trees on the edge of the woodland. These trees have an intriguing shaped berry, poisonous to humans though edible to birds. The tree was historically used to make spindles for spinning wheels as well as skewers for butchers shops. Another tree with bright berries at this time of year is the cotoneaster, again with berries that are poisonous to humans, but edible to birds. The shrub version of this tree has recently been reported to a great pollution absorber, particularly in places of high car pollution. It reportedly absorbs 20% more pollution than any other similar shrub. So we may see more of this shrub lining our busy roads in the future.
Whilst walking the woods we came across one of the foresters who pointed out an intriguing clump of tree stands. These turned out to be maple trees, quite small, though vast in age. It transpired that these trees throw out suckers. For every metre that the tree has grown away from the main stump, this equates to 100 years. What we were therefore looking at was a clump covering a four metre area, which equates to 400 years of growth!
We also came across copious amounts of wild garlic, spreading ferociously under the tree canopy and taking over the track ways. The leaves are barely a couple of inches long. However it won't be long until we are picking our first leaves, followed by the super fiery flowers.
We finished our walk by making a circular route back to Bishops Waltham.
Weather, dry, light breeze, low single figures.
Condition underfoot, bit damp, though still relatively firm following the very cold temperatures we have had of late.
