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Showing posts with label Cross Farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cross Farm. Show all posts

Friday, 15 May 2020

Ne'er cast a clout . . .



oilseed rape, Cross Farm
© Teresa Newham

Lovely Spring weather at the start of the month made our daily walks a pleasure, even if we were just going round the block.  We've tended to avoid the lanes at the weekend, when they are most busy, enjoying them on the relative quiet of a weekday.


Mud Lane
© Teresa Newham

Our aim on this walk was to reach Thames Wood and see what it looked like now that the bluebells had more or less finished.  We'd been there a couple of weeks previously, so I wasn't expecting to see anything new - but the hedgerows were blooming!


White Campion
© Teresa Newham

Thames Wood still had plenty of atmosphere without the bluebells - there was almost an air of mystery about it, probably because it's ancient woodland.  Those trees could tell a tale or two but they're not saying  . .


Thames Wood
© Teresa Newham

The entrances to some of the fields were blocked with fallen tree trunks, presumably to prevent eager lockdown walkers from trampling precious crops.  There was hardly anybody about on this particular Tuesday afternoon.


wheat field
© Teresa Newham

I love taking photos of trees and shadows, particularly when they almost enclose the road - to me it always suggests the idea of a journey.  I just had to keep stopping for the right shot.  Luckily my husband is used to this . . .


further down Mud Lane
© Teresa Newham

Trees and sunlight are another favourite, and by the time we emerged onto Ayres End Lane we'd seen some pretty spectacular sights.  It's important to stop and look, and not just reach for the camera, otherwise what's the point?


sun on the leaves
© Teresa Newham

That old saying "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out" is particularly appropriate this year, proving that "May" means the month rather than the hawthorn blossom.  It's been really chilly the last few days - but the weather is starting to warm up again!


hawthorn blossom
© Teresa Newham










Thursday, 30 October 2014

Another walk round the corner - August, September, October

So . . . having finished the photo diary of our walks across local fields, I find we are still taking the walks and I'm still taking photos.  Seems a shame not to share them!

the first field - August
© Teresa Newham
The August walk took us through fields of ripened wheat bordered by lush hedgerows.

the old oak - August
© Teresa Newham
Everything was waiting for harvest and the summer skies were full of fluffy white clouds:

the second field - August
© Teresa Newham
While the blackberries faded in the hedgerows, new berries were to be seen - heralding the Autumn soon to come.

first of the berries - August
© Teresa Newham
By September, everything in the first field had been cut down to stubble!

the first field - September
© Teresa Newham
The oak tree was still in full leaf at the far side of the field.

the old oak - September
© Teresa Newham
They were ploughing the second field; we could hear the tractor going back and forth as we took our walk, and the driver gave us a cheery wave!

the second field - September
© Teresa Newham
We spotted this tiny snail basking in the early Autumn sunshine - it was still quite warm:

snail on a fern - September
© Teresa Newham
October, and the first field is looking somewhat unkempt.  I wonder what the farmer will be doing with it next?

the first field - October
© Teresa Newham
The leaves on the old oak are thinning out - earlier than last year, I think.

the old oak - October
© Teresa Newham
The second field, all ploughed, with ferns and bracken collapsing at the entrance:

the second field - October
© Teresa Newham
And finally, deep in the ancient woodland at the far point of our walk, we found some fungi pushing up through the leaves:

fungi - October
© Teresa Newham













Wednesday, 16 July 2014

a walk round the corner - May, June, July

We're now on the final lap of the countryside diary I started to keep in August 2013.  When I last posted in this series in April, we were just seeing the first signs of Spring, so by May things had moved on quite a bit. In the first field what I had originally assumed to be grass was becoming a proper crop:

the first field - May
© Teresa Newham
And on the oak at the edge of the field, the first leaves were unfurling!

the old oak - May
© Teresa Newham
In the second field, and along Mud Lane, things were looking green:

the second field - May
© Teresa Newham
And the hedgerows were full of cow parsley.  It was everywhere!

cow parsley - May
© Teresa Newham
By June, the crop in the first field was springing up:

the first field - June
© Teresa Newham
The old oak was fully in leaf:

the old oak - June
© Teresa Newham
Ferns were now growing at the entrance to the second field:

the second field - June
© Teresa Newham
And wild honeysuckle was beginning to bloom in the hedges:

honeysuckle - June
© Teresa Newham
July, and the wheat in the first field now has ears.  It's definitely Summer and the sun is out!

the first field - July
© Teresa Newham
The cow parsley in the hedges under the old oak is far taller than I am:

the old oak - July
© Teresa Newham
Wheat is also in evidence in the second field.

the second field - July
© Teresa Newham
The hedgerows are full of this pink flower.  It looks a bit like phlox but I think it's called rosebay willowherb!

rosebay willowherb? - July
© Teresa Newham
Well, that brings the year full circle.  We'll definitely continue our walks - I'm keen to see how that wheat ripens up - so watch out for an update here from time to time!



Sunday, 13 April 2014

A walk round the corner - February, March, April

It's time to update the photo diary of our countryside walks, last posted on this blog back in January.  For a while I thought we might not get outside in February at all, what with the weather being so bad, but some sunshine did eventually arrive, and we duly made our way across the mud in the first field:


the first field - February
© Teresa Newham
The storms had removed the last of the old leaves from the trees but everything was still looking pretty bare - at least the sky was blue!

the old oak - February
© Teresa Newham
At the entrance to the second field the catkins had gone - the farmer had been out managing his hedges.  I imagine that left untrimmed they would look a right mess! We have discovered that this little track is called Mud Lane, and it was certainly living up to its name:

the second field - February
© Teresa Newham
The only sign of life in the hedgerows at this point was some gorse making a welcome splash of colour along the railway line:

flowering gorse - February
© Teresa Newham
By March things had dried out a bit, but at first glance everything seemed still disappointingly dormant:

the first field - March
© Teresa Newham
Some of the hedges near the old oak had sprung into life but the tree itself wasn't showing visible signs of life yet, at least, not from the ground . . . .

the old oak - March
© Teresa Newham

. . .  and not much to see in the second field either.  At least the track was dry, so we were able to go along it without getting our feet wet.  No more wellies!

the second field - March
© Teresa Newham
However life was stirring in the hedgerows, as this blossom shows!

hedgerow in bloom - March
© Teresa Newham
On our most recent walk everything looked much fresher and greener, especially along the railway line:

the first field - April
© Teresa Newham
The old oak itself still looks leafless against the light, but the hedgerows are starting to fill out!

the old oak - April
© Teresa Newham
At the entrance to the second field, all the trees along Mud Lane and the edge of the field are coming into leaf:

the second field - April
© Teresa Newham
And to my delight there are bluebells growing in the hedgerows.  Spring is finally here!

bluebells in the hedgerow - April
© Teresa Newham