Because of a shift swap the first weekend in September 2014 was shorter than normal. Not only that but it was the last weekend before the Cologne Marathon. All in all not the best of combinations time wise. With all this in mind I decided on a shorter walk than normal and, having perused my satellite maps, I thought I’d found somewhere local to explore that might be interesting.
7 September 2014
On the map there seemed to be a kind of cutway or footpath I’d not spotted before leading to West End Copse and, if I was right, it would mean I could walk there without too much recourse to roads. Of course I could be wrong. Sometimes things that look like paths turn out not to be. Anyhow it was worth exploring so, as Commando went out for his last marathon training run, I set off towards Hum Hole.
The weather wasn’t the best, overcast with a slight morning mist still hanging about, but I strolled down into the dip with high hopes. Memories of walks to school with my sister Alex assailed me. It seemed so much bigger then. Actually it was much bigger because the new road of the bypass cut through the top edge of it. Back then we walked from the wasteland on the Big Hill down into the woods, now there’s a whole new road to cross.
After the decent came the climb. At the top the sun seemed to be trying to break through and I felt as if I was walking through a green cathedral filled with birdsong. Since the new road was built the woods have been spruced up a bit with a circular path all nicely paved. At the top though it was off onto the crunchy leaf litter trails that criss cross the wood. There are blackberries here and it looked like someone had got to them before me, human, squirrel or bird is anyone’s guess. Right at the top, just before I came out onto the road, a squirrel ran across the path and dashed up a tree. I was too slow and missed him.
By the road, at the top of the trail, a spectacular group of mushrooms caught my eye. They put me in mind of Alice In Wonderland, all they needed was a caterpillar and a change of colour. They were huge and very pretty with speckled fawnish scales. It did look as if someone or something had been eating the larger, mature one but I don’t think it was Alice. As far as I can tell they were parasol mushrooms, Macrolepiota procera, which are not only edible but very sought after. Even so I left them where they were.
Out on the leafy little road the maples were covered in black spots, a little like green Dalmatians. This is tar spot fungi from the genus Rhytisma. The fungus loves cool, wet springs and we certainly had one of those this year. Thankfully it’s unlikely to kill the trees. Close by there was another kind of fungus altogether, another mushroom of some kind, and this one was heart shaped. The clematis vitalba is beginning to go to seed, revealing why it’s often called old man’s beard. Somehow a small yellowish snail had made it right to the top and was sitting on a leaf.
From there it was onto the road for a while on the hunt for the cutway I’d seen. At least this is a pleasant leafy road, lined with trees so it was no real hardship. When I got to the point where the cut seemed to start though there was disappointment. The place I’d thought I could get onto it seemed to be fenced off and, even though I could see the path beyond running behind the houses, I couldn’t get to it. A quick check on WalkJogRun showed me there might be another entry point further on so on I went. Thankfully this one didn’t turn out to be a dead end and I was on the path at last. Making a mental note to check out the top end on my way back I started off towards West End Copse.
Mostly the cut ran behind houses and there were lots of little side paths running off. It wasn’t quite what I’d hoped but better than walking along the road. Towards the end it got greener and more meandering and soon I was on the road again facing the entrance to the copse. My first walk through the copse was back in March. Then I’d had the company of the Military Preparation College Training on exercises and I’d seen some ground bees. I was hooping I’d see the bees again but maybe not the training group.
The first thing I saw was fluffy knapweed seed heads. Then I had to choose one of the many paths. Last time I entered the wood in a different place but I seemed to remember taking a high path so this was the one I chose. Before long I came to a gate I didn’t remember. Maybe I wasn’t on the same path at all. It had a sign about a big copse clean up next weekend. I wouldn’t have minded joining in but I’ll be watching Commando run his marathon then.
Last time I visited the copse I found a few fungi so I was on the lookout from the outset and I wasn’t disappointed. A fallen tree was smothered with small sulphur tuft mushrooms, Hypholoma fasciculare, at least I think that’s what they were. These are poisonous and have a very bitter taste just in case you decide to try to eat them. Obviously I wasn’t about to eat one to find out. Close by another rotting tree was sporting a small crop of what I think are wood mushrooms, Agaricus silvicola, although I could well be wrong. Mushroom identification is a tricky business and I’d never eat anything I found for fear of being wrong.
The first fallen oak leaves littered the path, soon there will be so many leaves it’ll be hard to see the soil beneath. When I came to another fork in the trail I decided to take the lower of the two paths. Right on the edge of the trail a small bracket fungus was growing on a fallen birch, possibly birch polypore. Ahead was a clearing and, as I got closer I could see a table and chair looking quite incongruous in the middle of the wood.
After a few more steps it was obvious this was no ordinary table and chair, well, not unless I’d unconsciously eaten the parasol mushroom without realising and was having an Alice in Wonderland moment. Either the table and chair were really big or I was shrinking. I walked over and climbed up onto the chair then looked around for something I could use for scale to take a picture. My rucksack was all I had and it didn’t do a brilliant job so in the end I stood under the table which was taller than me and took a photo through it. I’ve seen some odd things in woods in my time but this has to be one of the oddest.
Beyond the odd sculpture, if that’s what it was, the ground dipped down steeply and, as I seemed to remember the ground bee nest being at the bottom of a dip, I cautiously made my way down. There were no mounds of earth buzzing with bees to be seen but I did find Trametes gibbosa or Lumpy Bracket growing on another fallen branch. Gingerly I made my way up the other side of the dip.
When I got near the top I could see I was close to the edge of the wood. There was a gate and, beyond it, houses. As I didn’t want to leave the wood so soon I turned and made my way down another trail where I could see wooden steps in the distance. I seemed to remember there being steps like these close to the bees nest so I was quite hopeful. Sadly, either these were the wrong steps or the bees have gone because there was no earth mound and certainly no bees.
At the top the steps I turned back in the direction I’d come, or at least that was what I thought. It’s unbelievably easy to get lost in woods. There were more mushrooms, lots of clusters of small creamy coloured ones that I’m not really sure of. I found the stream that runs along the bottom of the gully and has carved out a deep cleft. There were ferns growing all along the bank but it was so deep and crowded with brambles and trees fallen right across I couldn’t get a good look at the water.
Eventually, after a fair bit of walking in circles and a few more bracket fungi I couldn’t identify, I found another gate. This was not the gate I’d come in through or the one I’d seen from the bottom of the dip but I soon got my bearings once I was out of the wood on the road and I was back on the cutaway in no time.
This time I wasn’t alone, a beautiful grey and white cat seemed to take a shine to me. She came up to be smoothed and then followed me for quite a distance along the path. For a moment I thought we might have a new pet but eventually she disappeared down one of the side paths. I did make it right to the top of the cut and found it turned sharply and seems to follow the woods behind Chalk Hill. Given the time, or lack of it, I thought I’d leave exploring it further for another day.
There may not have been as many miles as I’d have liked but at least I’d got out in the fresh air. Besides, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be rather a lot of walking in Cologne at the end of the week to make up for it. Best get my map out and start planning then…
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