Hut

Want a cosy woodland shelter?  Here is a recreation of a Bark Peelers Hut at Hay Bridge Nature Reserve which looks as though nature is trying to colonise it.  In past times these would have been the summer residence of a bark peeler who would remove bark from oak trees before they were coppiced to supply local tanneries.  They would also make other woodland products to sell such as brooms, stakes, clothes pegs and baskets. We gathered around to admire the construction but some of those present disputed it was a bark peelers hut and suggested a charcoal burners hut (both occupations having used the Lakeland forests for centuries).

To give you some idea of  of the scale of the hut here is Bob bobbing down to enter.  Bark Peelers Huts had low circular walls and a central heath with a flue. Obviously the degradable material of the poles and sides of the original huts have long gone but the remains of the walls and hearths still can be found in the woods of Cumbria.  Charcoal burners huts on the other hand although the same shape were more temporary structures so their footprint can be harder to find.

Taking a higher view of the hut you can see that this is not the only piece of past woodland industries in this little corner of the Rusland valley for there is also a Potash Kiln.  These were usually built into hillsides and I think this one has been rebuilt by Hay Bridge Nature Reserve as part of their educational remit. Here is a front view...

Wood or more often green bracken would have been burnt in this to make potash for fertilisers but could also be mixed with burnt lime and tallow and boiled to make soft liquid soaps called lyes.  The other use was a combination of potash and alum which can fix the dye in the process of turning wool into dyed bolts of cloth.  About 15 miles east of here is the town that originally produced the colour Kendal Green, famous for being the colour that Robin Hood wore.  I have read that the last potash to come out of a Potash Kiln in Lakeland was about 1840.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at H here

Mushrooms

Perhaps one could imagine this mushroom bird feeder as a gnome or fairies high rise house.  It is peaceful surrounds, one of the trees among the ruins

of Kirkstall Abbey, once a Cistercian monastery now part of a public park by the north bank of the River Aire.  Everything was still green when this picture was taken in September however move on a month and the autumn colours are advancing with

mushrooms springing up in the woods, non more profuse than these Brittle Caps.  I'll stick to the common name so don't ask me what type they are but they all like the damp and growing on old tree stumps. One variety of brittle cap whose name I like, and perhaps it could be the one I show, is called Psathyrella multipedata, the Latin multipedata means 'many feet' because each grow on top the other 'feet' in clusters.  Little mushroom posies.

An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at M here

    

ABC Wednesday - Rusland

R is for the Rusland Valley
which lies folded between the lakes of Windermere and Coniston Water in the southern Lake District. The road in is lined down one side with over 50 beeches. We are blessed they are still there. The National Park Authority wanted to clear fell them all in the name of 'safety', but a local campaign sprang up to combat this vandalism and had the trees surveyed. Result, all perfectly sound apart from half a dozen. For the history of the trees see here
In the end the campaign was successful and only a few were chopped down (including the largest one) and new beeches were planted to replace them. A story with a happy ending.

The next destination is a small nature reserve which is designated an SSSI.
A raised bog, woodland, open low fell and lakes in between Rusland Hall and Hay Bridge
The Hay Bridge Nature Reserve has been established for about 30 years. In the past it did not have boardwalks as it has taken time for the ground to revert to its natural condition. Before the boardwalks water could be up to your fetlocks after long spells of wet weather and it is still
reet clarty in places, translation if you are not from the north of england, quite muddy in parts.
There is firm ground by the streams that run through the wood. It is a peaceful, magical place and the only sounds that can be heard are birds. There are red deer, badgers, brown hare, weasels and stoats.

Q How do you tell the difference between a stoat and a weasel?
A. One is weasely distinguished and the other is stoately different.

How did that 7 year old child get in here?
In spring and summer there are lots of flowers, but even at this time of very late autumn, there are still some in the streams. In summer there will be huge numbers of dragonflies and damselflies at this place.
There are also a few large sheltered ponds surrounded by trees, wonderful for of all types of wildlife, and beautiful when the water lilies are in flower. For an overview of the species at Hay Bridge Nature Reserve see here
But not all is wetness. If you walk on to the little mound only 125 ft above sea level where sits the Tissie Fooks memorial, and where you too can sit and contemplate, (the hills pointed out cannot be seen on this hazy day)

the surrounding woods and pasture are all in view.
Leaving the reserve behind us and walking on, the sheep at High Longmire stand to have their picture taken, the farm is hidden behind the trees. The valley has scatterings of farms and

Kirkthwaite Cottage

cottages,

some with immaculate lawns
and some with a river running by at the bottom.
Here I end my tour at Rusland church. Our car was parked outside and the heavens opened as we walked then ran down the road, but I could not resist this photo of the light in the church door. Unfortunately as you can see the photo gods were not smiling on me as, unknown to me, I did not manage to keep the rain off the lens.

Run Rapidly over to se a Range of Rs at ABC Wednesday