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A Suffolk Lane

~ A diary of my life in rural north Suffolk.

A Suffolk Lane

Tag Archives: foxglove

A Walk in the Black Forest

02 Fri Sep 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in holidays, Insects, plants, walking, wild flowers

≈ 46 Comments

Tags

bedstraw, berries, bilberry, Black Forest, brimstone butterfly, butterfly, cat's-ear, Common Bird's-foot Trefoil, Common Cow-wheat, Common Earthball, common knapweed, Dame's-violet, forest, foxglove, holiday, Lesser Stitchwort, Loosestrife, Lysimachia, Male Fern, moth, Polypody, Scarlet Tiger moth, Small Balsam, Speedwell, St John's-wort, trees, Triberg, views, walking

Our week’s holiday was coming to an end and we wanted to take a walk in the beautiful countryside around the town of Triberg.  The hotel thoughtfully provided maps and suggestions for walks so we chose one and adapted it for our use.  Neither Richard nor I are as fit or as young as we used to be and Elinor cannot walk very far because of her scoliosis so we decided on a half-circuit of the town in the woods.  We went in the direction of the railway station and took a steep path up between houses towards the forest.

P1000813Bilberries

Bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus)

We were soon high enough to be able to look down on the town which was very busy with Sunday visitors and many motorbikes.  I think Richard told us this part of the walk was called the Bilberry Wood and there were certainly many bilberries growing at the side of the path.

P1000814Common Earthball phps

There was plenty of fungus too. I think this may be Common Earthball (Scleroderma citrinum)

We soon climbed a little further into the forest and left the town behind and no longer heard the traffic.

P1000815woodland
P1000816Woodland

The forest became denser but there was never any difficulty following the path which was beautifully maintained.  I began to see many different plants; some I recognised and some I didn’t.  If anyone can help me with the names of these plants I will be very grateful.

P1000817Polypody

Polypody (Polypodium vulgare) – a true fern. When walking with my family I always get left behind because I like to take photos of plants and fungi. I don’t have the time to take the detailed shots I would like in order to identify my finds in case I am left too far behind!

P1000832Polypody

More Polypody

I love the chunkiness of Polypody so I cropped one of the photos above to look at it in more detail.

P1000817Polypody - Copy (2)

Polypody

P1000818Small Balsam phps

I think this might be Small Balsam (Impatiens parviflora)

P1000823Unknown

Unknown flower

P1000824Unknown

It’s very tall!

P1000820Unknown

Interesting leaves

P1000827Cow-wheat

Common Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense)

P1000850Wild flowers

Wild flowers including a Bedstraw, Common Bird’s-foot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and Lesser Stitchwort (Stellaria graminea).

P1000834Foxglove

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Speedwell
Speedwell
Speedwell
Speedwell
P1000837Royal Fern phps

This may be Male Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)

P1000857

St John’s-wort; I don’t know which of the many St John’s-worts it is.

P1000855Cat's-ear

Cat’s-ear (Hypochaeris radicata)

P1000868Lysimachia

Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata)

I managed to photograph a butterfly….

P1000866Lysimachia

A Brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) on Lysimachia

…and a moth.

P1000864ScarletTiger Moth

A Scarlet Tiger Moth (Callimorpha dominula). When flying I could see its underwings which were bright scarlet.

The views as we walked were marvellous.

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Berries
Berries
Dame's-violet (Hesperis matronalis)
Dame’s-violet (Hesperis matronalis)
Unknown yellow flower
Unknown yellow flower
Common Knapweed ( Centaurea nigra)
Common Knapweed ( Centaurea nigra)

The path eventually returned us to the town near to the waterfall.

My music selection today is ‘A Walk in the Black Forest’ which was so popular on the radio when I was a little girl.

I am hoping that Elinor will provide the last of my Black Forest posts.

Thanks for visiting!

 

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Dobgill Waterfall

02 Fri Oct 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, plants, Rural Diary, walking

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Dobgill, Dobgill Wood, foxglove, fungus, heath bedstraw, larch trees, liverwort, moss, Phytophthora ramorum disease, tree-felling, walking, waterfall, wood sorrel

After leaving Elinor in the car to rest (see previous post Thirlmere Reservoir) Richard and I began the steep climb up to see the waterfall.

IMG_5210Ramorum sign

The sign that was attached to the gate leading into the upper wood.

This is yet another disease that is killing our trees.  I have found an interesting and informative article on a Forestry Commission site about Ramorum disease and I include it here.  It includes a video in which an expert goes over a diseased tree and points out and explains the symptoms.

IMG_5211Oozing tree

Almost the first tree I saw showed symptoms of a bleed.

IMG_5212Dobgill wood

Tree-felling in Dobgill wood.

I don’t know why the stone wall was here.  Perhaps it had been constructed before the trees were planted.  Just behind the trees in the photo is a sheer rock face.

IMG_5213Dobgill wood

There was a marked difference between the wood below the car-park near the lake and this part of the higher wood.

IMG_5214Dobgill wood

The trees struggle to grow up between boulders. The native deciduous trees have been left standing.

IMG_5215Chewed fungus

Chewed fungus

IMG_5216Path up through wood

This is the steep stony path we took up through the wood.

IMG_5217Dobgill falls

Dobgill Falls

IMG_5225Dobgill falls

Dobgill Falls

IMG_5227

Dobgill Falls

The climb was very tiring because so steep and rough under-foot and I’m not sure that the falls were really worth the struggle to get to see them.  However, Richard and I were very pleased with ourselves at having managed to get to the top.  After a short rest to get our breath back we began to walk back down the hill.

IMG_5223Heath Bedstraw

Heath Bedstraw (Galium saxatile)

IMG_5224moss

Hypnum cupressiforme moss / Cypress-leaved Plait-moss

I love this moss.  It looks as though it is made from plaited silk.

IMG_5228Wood Sorrel leaves

Wood Sorrel leaves (Oxalis acetosella)

IMG_5230Fungus on dead tree

Fungus (I think) on dead tree

IMG_5234Liverwort

Not a very clear photo of some liverwort

IMG_5236Dobgill wood

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) in Dobgill Wood

I found walking in this upper wood rather a sad experience with disease and death all around.  Because most of the trees in this part of the wood are non-native there are fewer insects, birds, wild flowers and plants than in the lower wood.  Those non-native trees are now being killed by an incurable disease (also known as Sudden Oak Death).  I hope that by destroying these trees the spread of Ramorum can be slowed down and that one day a cure can be discovered.  It would be nice to think that the native trees in the wood that are unaffected might now be able to grow and spread and native wildlife might return.

Thanks for visiting!

 

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A Visit to Captain’s Wood – 4th May 2015

29 Fri May 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in plants, Rural Diary, trees, walking

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

Alexanders, bluebells, Captain's Wood, Climbing Corydalis, coppice, foxglove, Suffolk, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, veteran Oaks, wild cherry, wood sorrel, woods

Captain’s Wood is owned by Suffolk Wildlife Trust and is found next to the village of Sudbourne which lies south of where we live, about 40 minutes drive away.  The morning had been beautiful and bright but by early afternoon the skies were beginning to cloud over and by the time we got to the wood the sun wasn’t shining much at all.

This was the first time we had visited the wood.  We had heard that the bluebells there were wonderful and hoped that we would see some.  We parked the car in a small car-park a few hundred metres from the entrance to the wood and walked down the lane towards it.

IMG_4571Alexanders (640x480)

Both sides of the lane were covered in Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) which had been in full sun all the morning and as a consequence were giving off a perfume redolent of rotting spinach!

IMG_4572 (640x480)

Alexanders is a very attractive umbellifer and until recently has only been found within a few miles of the coast. I am not sure why, but in the last couple of years it has spread very quickly further inland and I have seen it in Norwich this spring for the first time.

I remember including it in one of my posts last year but can’t remember which so I’ll repeat what I said then.  The name Alexanders refers to its origins as a herb of Macedonia (Alexander the Great’s country of birth). Its black seeds were sold in the 17th century under the name of Macedonian Parsley and Nicholas Culpeper the herbalist noted that among other things, Alexanders could cure not only flatulence but snake bite!  The whole of the plant is edible and the generic name Smyrnium refers to its myrrh-like taste.

We walked along a short entrance path between gardens towards the wood.

IMG_4573Bee hives (640x480)

Bee hives in someone’s garden

The first part of the wood we walked through didn’t really look like a wood.

IMG_4574Captain's Wood (640x480)
IMG_4575Captain's Wood (640x480)

This is newly acquired land consisting of 17 acres of small fields, scrub and a little area of woodland in-between the village and Captain’s Wood proper.  This land has not been farmed for many years and was largely left fallow.  Part of the land stays wet for most of the year and apparently has Marsh Orchids and other wetland plants growing there.

IMG_4576Moss (640x480)

On entering the wood I saw this beautiful moss.

IMG_4577Captain's Wood (640x480)

Most of the wood looks like this.

Captain’s Wood consists of mainly open woodland with Oak and Birch.  There is a large stand of Hazel, clumps of mature Scots Pine and lines of planted Sweet Chestnut.  Herds of deer roam at large through the wood and seven different types of bat live here.

IMG_4578Violet (640x480)

There were a few Violets on the woodland floor. I didn’t check to see which violet this was but I think it may be Sweet Violet (Viola odorata)

IMG_4579New bracken (480x640)

New bracken.

IMG_4580Climbing Corydalis (640x480)

Climbing Corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata)

Bartholomew of Glanville was an English friar living in the 13th century.  He wrote an encyclopaedia of natural history and in it he said that, despite its ‘horrible savour’, the roots of this plant could be made into a potion for dispelling melancholy.  Later on Climbing Corydalis became known as a cure for intestinal diseases.  This plant, along with fumitories, has flowers that resemble clovers and vetches though with fewer petals.  The flower’s peculiar shape has been likened to the head of a crested lark; hence the name ‘corydalis’.

IMG_4581Wild Cherry (640x480)

Wild Cherry (Prunus avium)

IMG_4585Foxglove (640x480)

The Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) were growing well.

IMG_4586Woodland floor (640x480)

Woodland floor under the pine trees.

IMG_4588Witch's broom (640x480)

A ‘Witch’s Broom’ in a Birch tree.

These ‘Witch’s Brooms’ are caused by a type of parasitic fungus which induces galls in its host.

Bracket fungus
Bracket fungus
Bracket fungus
Bracket fungus
IMG_4591Oak tree (480x640)

One of the veteran Oak trees in the wood.

IMG_4592Lichen-covered trunk (640x480)

A close-up of the lichen-covered trunk of the Oak tree. A lot of the bark has disappeared and it no longer looks like a tree trunk anymore.

These veteran trees support many different species of fungi and invertebrates that are dependent on the slowly rotting heartwood of the tree.  Most notable is the Oak Polypore fungus which is known from only six other sites in Britain.  The Oak Polypore fruits for only a very short time in the summer.

IMG_4623Oak (640x480)

New Oak leaves and flowers

IMG_4593Pond (640x480)

One of the several ponds in the wood

IMG_4608Wood Sorrel (640x480)

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella). A flower which indicates ancient, undisturbed woodland and hedges. The petals are white or pink with lilac veins.

IMG_4610Wood Sorrel (640x480)

Wood Sorrel

IMG_4626Beech (480x640)

A Beech tree (Fagus sylvatica) coming into leaf

IMG_4597Green river of Dog's Mercury (640x480)

This bright green, running like a river through the woods is Dog’s Mercury(Mercurialis perennis)

IMG_4611A  coppiced tree (640x480)

A coppice stool. The wood from the coppice is harvested every few years. New shoots are protected from deer and then left to grow until they are ready to be cut again.

At last we reached the part of the wood where the bluebells were, but found we were just a little too early to see them at their best.

IMG_4604Bluebells (480x640)

Bluebells (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

IMG_4612White Bluebell (640x480)

There were a number of white bluebells.

IMG_4594Bluebells (640x480)

Bluebell potential was good….

IMG_4599Bluebells (640x480) (2) IMG_4600Bluebells (640x480) IMG_4601Bluebells (480x640) IMG_4605Bluebells (640x480) IMG_4606Bluebells (640x480)

….but if we had visited a week later it would have looked heavenly.   Unfortunately, a week later we were doing other things.

We got back to the car and discovered we had a puncture.  Richard tried to change the tyre himself but we were unable to get the tyre off.  We had to call a rescue company and after just under an hour’s wait the mechanic arrived.  He managed to remove the tyre by sitting on the ground and kicking it with his left then right boot alternately.

Captain’s Wood is somewhere we would visit again.  It has plenty of plants and a variety of trees.  The walk through the wood would be pleasurable at any time of the year.

Thank-you for visiting!

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Peak District Holiday 1st to 9th July. Day 3

28 Thu Aug 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, walking

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Back Forest, bilberries, Cedar, Danebridge, drystone walls, enchanter's nightshade, eyebright, ferns, fir cones, foxglove, Gradbach, grasses, Hanging Stone, hart's-tongue fern, heath bedstraw, heather, JW Lees beer, landslip, Lud's Church, marsh thistle, moss, mouse-ear hawkweed, pink purslane, River Dane, sheep, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, spear thistle, stiles, The Roaches, The Ship Inn, tormentil, walking, Welsh poppy, Wincle, Wincle Brewery, wood sorrel

After a gentle day in Buxton (see Days 1 and 2) and another good night’s sleep we felt ready for a little exercise.  We decided to go on a circular walk in Back Forest alongside the River Dane to Danebridge and then back.  We had done this walk before, a few years ago, and had gone in a clockwise direction.  This time we went anti-clockwise and it is amazing how different everything looks coming at it from the opposite direction.

We drove a few miles from where we were staying to the Peak National Park car park in Gradbach.  The day was bright and breezy with not too much strong sunshine – ideal walking weather.  The car park was full – about ten cars – which disappointed us, but once we had got past Gradbach Mill and into the forest we hardly saw a soul.  There is a short walk down the hill to the mill from the car park.  Last year the Mill had still been in use as a Youth Hostel but this year it had been taken over by Newcastle under Lyme University and a lot of renovation work was being carried out.  It is in the process of being made into a Field Study Centre and there were groups of students setting off on walks and school children on field trips having noisy picnics all over the place.  We followed a path away from the mill and down to the river going over and through a couple of stiles on the way.  One of the stiles was a squeeze stile and from a distance this looks an easier option than having to clamber over a wall or gate using wooden or stone cross bars.  Up close one can see that the gap is very narrow, in fact no more than 25cm/9.8″ wide to stop livestock escaping from fields either side of the wall.  There are stone pillars on each side of the gap to protect the structure of the wall.  The dry-stone walls are at least 4.5′ tall and as I am 5’4″ tall and not exactly skinny they are very difficult for me to manage.  I have to put my arms in the air, breathe in and force myself through inch by inch with R standing watching and smirking.  Anyone larger than me would not be able to get through at all.  R is nearly a foot taller than me at 6’3″ and takes longer strides so, though we walk the same distance, I do about two paces to his one.  I also wander about taking photos and lag behind and have to trot to catch up with him.

We crossed the river by a narrow bridge and started to climb up into the forest leaving the river some way below.

011Back Forest (640x480)

Back Forest Wood looking down from the path towards the River Dane.

012Back Forest (480x640)

Back Forest Wood

014Ferns and wood sorrel leaves (640x480)

Ferns and Wood Sorrel leaves

We walked through the woods for about three-quarters of a mile eventually descending back down towards the river again.

015River Dane (640x480)

River Dane

Dane is a Celtic river-name meaning ‘trickling stream’.

016Bilberries (640x480)

Bilberries

018Mosses (480x640)

Mosses

020River Dane (640x480)

River Dane

Walking further on we saw that there had been a landslip which may have been caused by all the rain last winter.

022Landslip into river (480x640)

023Pool caused by landslip (640x480)

A new pool caused by the landslip

024Tree roots on path (640x480)

Tree roots on the path

We then left the wood and started walking along a grassy path through a valley.

028Tormentil (640x480)

Tormentil – potentilla erecta

In wet weather or at night, when the petals close up, the tormentil flower has the ability to pollinate itself.

030Eyebright (640x480)

Eyebright – euphrasia nemorosa

This bright little flower was thought to be good for poor eyesight and an extract from eyebright and the herb golden seal is still used as an eye lotion.  The 17th century botanist William Cole recorded in his book ‘Adam in Eden’ that eyebright was the herb used by the linnet (a little finch) to clear its eyesight.  My source book for this information says ‘Since short-sighted linnets are not easy to identify, few could argue with Cole’s reasoning’.  It is a semi-parasitic plant, only growing where its roots can attach themselves to other plants like clover and plantain.

032Thistle and buttercups (480x640)

Marsh Thistle with Buttercups

We then followed the path alongside a drystone wall.

033Foxgloves and dry-stone wall (480x640)

Lots of Foxgloves were growing by the wall

034Bedstraw (640x480)

Heath Bedstraw was growing in the grass

035Mouse-ear Hawkweed (480x640)

and so was Mouse-ear Hawkweed

036Mouse-ear Hawkweed with flies (640x480)

which was popular with the flies

We passed by a farmhouse with some sheep.

040Sheep (640x480)

Just a little further on over the fields the views were very good.

043View (640x480)

Rolling countryside

We then re-entered woodland.

045Tree trunks (out of focus) (640x480)

I loved these tree trunks so had to include this photo though it is terribly out of focus

By this time we were approaching Danebridge and it was lunchtime.  We climbed over a stile and joined the lane that led to the village.

046Carved stone at stile (640x480)

This was the slab of stone we stepped onto when we got down from the stile. I wonder where it came from and what it had been in a former life.

I immediately noticed a little pink flower at the side of the road.  The photo doesn’t show how pink it was.

047Pink purslane

Pink Purslane – Claytonia sibirica

This is a plant introduced from North America and is widely naturalised.

We walked down to the river thinking we would eat our sandwiches next to it but we couldn’t see anywhere suitable to sit.

049Rock strata River Dane (640x480)

Strange rock strata at the edge of the river

050Rock strata River Dane (640x480)

This shows it a little more clearly

053Enchanter's Nightshade (480x640)

Enchanter’s Nightshade

053Enchanter's Nightshade

I like this plant’s name. It belongs to the same family as the Willowherbs.

Mathias De l’Obel, a 16th century Flemish botanist, in trying to identify a magical plant that Discorides (an early Greek physician) had named after the mythical sorceress Circe, eventually chose this plant.  Enchanter’s Nightshade’s botanical name is Circaea lutetiana – lutetia is the Roman name for Paris, which is where De l’Obel and other botanists worked.The Anglo-Saxons had used this plant as a protection against spells cast by elves.  Their name for it was aelfthone.  This is the only Willowherb that doesn’t disperse its fruit with the help of the wind.  Instead, it has hooks on its fruit that catch onto fur or feathers like burs.  It is pollinated mainly by small flies.  I find it fascinating that plants can adapt to their surroundings like this.

054Hart's-tongue fern (480x640)

Hart’s-tongue fern

055Yellow poppy, hart's tongue etc (480x640)

A yellow Welsh poppy has joined other plants growing out of this drystone wall

We stood on the bridge at Danebridge.

056River Dane (640x480)

River Dane

From the bridge we could see the buildings of a local micro-brewery.

057Wincle Brewery (640x480)

Wincle brewery

Wincle is a village just up the hill from Danebridge and a woman walking her dog informed us that there was a pub up the hill just beyond the brewery.  The word ‘pub’ worked as a clarion call to arms and R was up that hill before I or anyone else could say Jack Robinson.  As we powered up the hill I just had time to admire this door set into a wall.

058Door in dry-stone retaining wall (640x480)

I love doors like this. I imagine such a lovely garden beyond this one with stone steps on a winding path up to the house.

We found the pub as we neared the top of the hill.

062The Ship Inn (640x480)

The Ship Inn

064Ship Inn sign (640x480)

The Ship Inn sign

It seemed so strange for a pub, many miles from the sea or even a navigable river, to be called ‘The Ship’.  There was a little information displayed in the pub and I have also looked on-line to find out more about this.  There is a ‘History of Wincle’ site which has been very helpful.  Sir Philip Brocklehurst of Swythamley Hall (a couple of miles away) sailed with the explorer Shackleton on one of his expeditions to the Antarctic from 1907-9.  The pub sign depicts the Nimrod in Antarctic ice ( not the more famous Endeavour of the 1914 expedition).  Shackleton was also Sir Philip’s best man when he married Gwladys Murray in 1913.

Some say The Ship is named after another vessel, ‘The Swythamley’, which was owned by a friend of the squire and sank off the Cape of Good Hope in 1862.  As the pub is also said to date back to the 17th century it is possible that the name is linked with ‘shippen’, a local word for a sheep shelter.  Or the name could be linked with a much earlier boat.  In fact, so far no-one seems to know for sure why it has this name!

059Flintlock on wall of pub (640x480)

A flintlock displayed on the wall of the pub.

There are stories about royalist rebels visiting the pub in the 17th century and the gun belonging to one of them was displayed on the wall until fairly recently as well as a framed article from a Manchester newspaper of the day.  Both these items went missing at some point.  The flintlock now on display was acquired fairly recently and, if I remember correctly, it was discovered that it was made at the same time and by the same gunsmith as the original gun.

We sat outside the pub and sampled their beer.  We asked if they sold the locally brewed beer but was told they didn’t so we had some JW Lees beer instead, which was very good.

060J W Lees beer (640x480)

I only had a few sips of my beer and had to give the rest, reluctantly, to R.  I am not supposed to drink alcohol as it reacts badly with the medication I am on and anyway, I try not to drink much of anything on walks because of the lack of convenient ‘conveniences’.  I have a horror of being ‘caught short’ as the saying goes, and being discovered by walkers, with a dog…

After a pleasant rest we continued on our way.  We went back down the hill to the bridge and found the path we needed which climbed up through more woodland very steeply at times.  I remember that for most of the walk we were listening to wonderful birdsong.  At the top of the path we came out of the wood onto fields again.  Here we rested again and ate our sandwiches.

065Fir cones (640x480)

Fir cones on a tree at the edge of the wood

066View over stile (640x480)

View over a stile

This is one of the many stiles we climbed over that day.  We followed a track by a wall belonging to Hangingstone Farm and then saw the Hanging Stone itself.

067Hanging rock (640x480)

The Hanging Rock

We didn’t have the energy to climb up to the rock to read the inscriptions there.  One plaque is dedicated to Courtney Brocklehurst, the brother of the aforementioned Philip, who was killed in the 2nd World War, and the other is to a pet hunting dog of an earlier Brocklehurst.  This dog was very well loved and when he died was buried under the Hanging Stone.  The dog’s name was Burke, because he was such a good hunting dog.  In 1828, Burke and Hare were accused of killing sixteen people and then selling the corpses to Dr Robert Knox who dissected them during his popular anatomy lectures.

068Thistle (640x480)

A rather lovely Spear Thistle

069Thistle (640x480)

070Tormentil (640x480)

A carpet of Tormentil

072Bedstraw (640x480)

A carpet of Heath Bedstraw

075Grass (640x480)

I liked the delicate grass heads with the heavy blocks of the drystone wall behind

We were now walking over more open moorland.

079Heather (640x480)

The Heather, or Ling as some call it, was beginning to flower

081Heather (480x640)

Little pink-purple bells

082Cedar (640x480)

A good-sized Cedar tree

The more open terrain here meant we could now see the edge of the Roaches, a gritstone escarpment which has spectacular rock formations.  The name comes from the French ‘les Roches’.

085The Roaches (640x480)

The Roaches

087View (640x480)

A gentler view.

089View (640x480)

The fields are all separated by stone walls

We then started descending slowly towards Back Forest again.

090Wall, grass, bilberries (640x480)

The walls are wonderfully constructed. Bilberry bushes are growing against this one.

092Back Forest (640x480)

In the woods again.

We diverted a little way off the path back to Gradbach to see Lud’s Church again.  This is a natural rift which is about 200 yards in length and varies in width from 12 feet to 50 feet wide and is about 59 feet deep.  We didn’t go far along it as we were both getting very tired.  We will go again some time,  walk its length and photograph it.

094Lud's Church (480x640)

It is a very atmospheric place; mossy,cool and quiet.

095Lud's Church (480x640)

The sides of the ravine are covered in ferns and other damp-loving plants.

During the 15th century, according to local legend, Lollards (followers of John Wycliffe, an early church reformer) used to worship here in secret during the time of their persecution.

Many researchers have identified this place as the Green Chapel in the 14th Century alliterative poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’.  The author describes this district well.  Gawain rides off searching for the Green Chapel ….

‘Then he gave the spur to Gringolet and galloped down the path,

Thrust through a thicket there by a bank,

And rode down the rough slope right into the ravine.

Then he searched about, but it seemed savage and wild,

And no sign did he see of any sort of building;

But on both sides banks, beetling and steep,

And great crooked crags, cruelly jagged;

The bristling barbs of rock seemed to brush the sky.’

Translation by Brian Stone.

Another legend is that a hunter was killed here and that he still roams about the cleft covered from head to toe in moss and leaves.  He is known locally as the Green Man one of many ‘green men’ to be found in Britain.

We joined our path again and soon reached the bridge over the River Dane and then Gradbach mill.

 

 

 

 

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I talk about what it's like living in a quiet part of Suffolk. I am a wife, mother and daughter, a practising Christian and love the natural world that surrounds me. I enjoy my life - most of the time!

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