Follow Follow Follow?

As promised here is the beech tree blog :-)

I mentioned earlier that to the south of my village once stood a great beech wood.  In the 1970s some of it made way for a housing estate.  Then in the 1980s more trees were cut down for further housing estates.

I didn't move to the village until 2004 when most of the house-building to the south of the village had finished (although more housing could be in the pipeline but the villagers are adamant that no more building should take place to the south).... the north east area has been extensively developed removing all the marshland that beautiful birds once frequented...... all in the name of progress.  Well I suppose if we keep on increasing our population we continue to need more housing. 

Sorry.... I digress.

Back to the beech trees.  Well..... as you know, I am following a tree for a year... a Japanese Flowering Cherry ... in my garden.  See here for details.  But I thought I should follow one of the mighty beech trees in my village.  I knew exactly which one I wanted to follow..... I speak to 'him' almost every day.... and have done for almost 8 years.

When I first moved here there were two beech trees standing closely together (about 8 feet apart) but the other one, a copper-coloured beech, was taken down about 4 years ago due to disease.

Here you can see the present beech tree to the top left and the stump of the copper beech to the bottom right.

The reason I know I want to follow this particular beech tree is because I believe this will be the last year of its life!  And this will become clearer as I show you the pictures of this mighty tree.

I don't know how old this tree is and I suppose I should research it. 
But it has been the victim of vandalism.......

..... from humans.....

..... and nature.......

If we take a closer look at the scaring hole ...........



.... and closer still......

..... we can see what is doing the damage.  I know the photos aren't brilliant but if we look even closer.....

..... I think we can see woodworm activity going on.  It is all very sad.  But maybe the tree will survive this onslaught.  The tree produced hundreds and hundreds of beechnuts....... and some casings are still on the tree.......

This year's leaf buds have formed and are on all of the branches..........

..... so let's hope that this tree is a fighter.

Have a great weekend.  More blogging next week :-)

Blessings, Willow x

Saving trees ~ the planet ~ and 90p

I took a walk to the village on Tuesday.  The sun was shining and the skies were blue... but it was cold.  So I wrapped up warm and put on my rucksack to carry back my shopping.

There was once a great beech wood to the south of my village... before all the modern building began in the 1970s.  My house sits where once majestic trees graced the area.  I didn't know all this before I moved here.  But it makes me sad to know that nearly all of them were cut down to make way for housing estates......... and my house included.

When I moved to the village in 2004 there was still a few of these beautiful trees lining the side of the road from my house towards the village...... for half a mile.  Nearly all of them have been cut down now.... and in their place are large wooden stumps that once reached into the sky and gave us oxygen to breath in exchange for our 'polution' of carbon dioxide.  But the cycle of life still goes on as the trees have died so fungi comes to life.

Some fungi is pretty and some not so pretty.  Well this fugus falls into the latter...... and then some!

A bit closer............

........ and closer still.

There is ivy and twigs and all manner of stuff growing in it ... through it.... and around it.  Fascinating!

So.... as I said I walked to the village.  Here is the village.... looking towards the north.  Quiet isn't it?

I promised that I would keep you up to date with the restoration to our oldest pub.  Well here it is with all the scaffolding off.

It's not finished yet..... as you can see.  But the pavement has been altered and the road narrowed to accommodate the new bay window.  

 Let's hope it is worth all the disruption when it is completed.

Right across the road from the pub is a briliant green grocer and butcher.   I like to buy my vegetables from here as it is a little independant shop. 

As you can see they sell wood for the fire..... plants for the garden.... soil for pots..... milk for your tea.... cans of 'pop' for the young people...... and every sort of vegetable for me!!!

The little Westy isn't for sale................ unfortunately!

After buying all my veg, my bag was so heavy, I decided to catch the bus home.  Shhhh .... don't tell anyone ... but I got my over 60s bus pass earlier this year and still hadn't used it.   Before my illness I would have walked the mile home and enjoyed the 'work out' with the heavy bags.  But now I can't .... so I gave in and used my free bus travel pass.

So I saved my legs..... my energy..... and 90p....................... LOL

I would have been happier if I hadn't needed to have a 6" long paper ticket as well as a plastic pass.  I'd like to think that taking the bus would mean I was helping the planet....... but obviously bus companies don't know about saving trees.  Ah well...... can't save everything.

As you can see, the walk from the bus stop to my house is quite pretty.

And I saw daffodils peeking out from behind an ancient tree..........

........... and grape hyacynths hiding in the grass .......

Spring is definately here :-)



With all my talk of the once great beech wood I thought I would blog about one of those majestic trees later this week.

But for now I close with blessings to you all, Willow x

A Walk by the River Wharfe

This week's walk was by the river Wharfe at Tadcaster in Yorkshire.  Hope you like the photos.

I started at Tadcaster church, St Mary's.

From the church gates there is a great view of the viaduct.

With the river to my right and the weir in front I spotted a regal swan.

After an easy walk along a tarmac path and passing through a style I was met with a view of the brewery across frozen flooded land.

From here the path is across grass... but today it was frozen flood water and mud where the sun had managed to melt the ice. The viaduct arches are reflected in the frozen flooded river water.

Once through the viaduct arches I looked back and saw dog-walkers, a dog, and the tower of the church.... a really atmospheric sight.

Everywhere there were large frost crystals which looked stunning on this fungi...

and on this fungi in sunshine and shadow.

The view across the river was breath-taking showing the tree reflections and frosty grass.

Everywhere I looked were masses of fungi in sunshine.....

.... and frost crystals on the fences.

On the old 'road' and crumbled down bridge that once crossed the Wharfe are the beautiful roots of a beech tree...

..... and trees growing out of an ancient wall.

a glorious sunshine walk.  hope you liked sharing it with me :-)

with blessings, Willow x

A Little Pennine Way

The first week in January 2012 we decided to do a gentle stroll along the Pennine Way.  It was bitterly cold and no sunshine.... but still an enjoyable walk.  Here are some of my photos.

Blakeley Reservoir and a tiny peep from the sun

hidden waterfall

our stop for lunch..... such a pretty place

strange skull stone

wiggly wall

tiny moss

lovely old tree by a stream

hopefully my next walk will be in sunshine :-)

blessings, Willow x