Wild Swimming in Eerie England

We have been on our holiday and we managed to spend a few glorious days on Dartmoor, one of my favourite places, with a seemingly limitless array of stunning locations to walk to. This time we took a  walk North, following a branch of the Dart river, from Two Bridges to visit Wistman's Wood.

Wistman's Wood is fairy small, and yet, it is a truly spectacular place; stunted dwarf Oaks, huddle together and cling to the sides of the steep valley amidst a chaotic carnage of vast granite boulders. The curious feature that makes it seem like a set from a Harry Potter movie, is that the whole place is positively draped in dense layers of thick green spongy mosses and ferns.

You need to be careful, as you clamber through the boulders, partly because it is slippery and dangerous terrain, partly because you want to preserve this unique environment and partly because there are various legends that indicate that the Devils ghostly Wist Hounds abide in the area, as well as nests of writhing vipers. 

We found it a truly splendid place and it fulfilled my slightly obsessive quest for English Eerie. After eating our sandwiches in the Druidic grove, we trekked back over the nearby tors to the Two Bridges Hotel for tea and scones. Finally, on our route home, we stopped off at Merrivale to visit the fascinating array of stone rows and circle there.

On another day we took a lovely woodland walk from the village of Holne, again along the river Dart until we found the legendary Sharrah Pool.

This idyllic spot is perfect for a picnic followed by a bit of wild swimming. The Dart has carved out a massive groove through the ancient granite landscape, which is deep enough to dive into in several places (if you are brave enough) and longer than 100 meters. 

There are several delightful places along the river, where it is deep and accessible enough to swim, and these natural Jacuzzis are becoming more popular with the recent trend for wild swimming in the UK but Sharrah Pool is astounding and an absolute must.

The dark peaty water gushes down-hill via boulder strewn white-water rapids and sluices into the main pool via a narrow waterfall and channel, "the Sharrah Shoot". The bold can plunge into the shoot and get swept into the pool for further swimming and frolicking. After exhausting ourselves in the pool, we hiked back to Holne for the best cream teas in Devon from the local community shop, the perfect conclusion to a brilliant day out.

Allotmenteering

We finally got the nod from the council, regarding our request for an allotment at the Witts Hill site. Lasts year we had helped out and shared our friends patch but it was right on the other side of the city and difficult to frequent as much as was needed.

Allotments are great places for the kids to get used to digging, growing and weeding, they enjoy the freedom and open air. Witts Hill is only a fifteen minute walk away from us, so we set off to see what we had been allocated.

Our space was on a slope at the bottom edge of the site. Plastic sheeting had been laid down by the previous owner, to suppress weed growth but this was mostly shredded to bits by the storms and largely unusable but at least some of the earth was fairly bare.

At our friend’s allotment, we constructed a rustic fruit cage, out of coppiced hazel. It proved quite a success, so we had already decided to replicate this plan on our new plot. We chose a suitable spot and got digging to define the edges and remove weeds, roots and grass.

The children were assigned an area to keep for themselves, they love the allotment and set to work keenly and with fairly few squabbles. The kids are also great for fetching wood chippings and water, not that we have needed much of the latter recently. Cucumbers and strawberries seem to be their favourite crop to plant – perfect for a summer picnic I guess.

Digging grassy ground over can be back breaking work and the official advice is to work in small portions. Many people watch too many TV gardening shows and think that it will be easy; they get a nasty shock when the hard work kicks in and often give up before they get any benefit out of the land. Cold and wet weather can also put off less determined and hardy allotmenteers.

Being walking distance from the house is a real advantage and I soon had the fruit cage plotted out and fruit bushes in the earth. I got some stout Hazel poles and, from a rather precarious perch, hammered them into the corners. Meanwhile, the plot next to the cage was being thoroughly dug over by Sarah who also planted some strawberry plants.

The children were busy planting onion-sets in their own patch and my son also planted his young apple tree; he has nurtured this sapling from a pip. I planted a pear and a nectarine tree that I found reduced and lonely in a store; Sarah assures me that the nectarine will never bear fruit in the UK climate, but it does already have very attractive flowers and the label says it will be provide plenty – so I guess we’ll wait and see.

My other jobs seem to be attacking the mass of bramble bushes and stinging nettles at the bottom of the allotment and collecting enough scrap wood to make a shelter/shed. I’m considering nettle beer and aim to train some of the brambles, so that we can collect a decent blackberry crop this summer. A compost heap is inevitable…

Tough Work All That Digging

On any allotment site, Heath Robinson rules; you really do see the best of British eccentric behaviour, inventiveness, cunning recycling and shear resourcefulness at work.

Mansbridge Community Orchard Funding News

We Need More of These

We are very happy to announce that the Mansbridge Community Orchard has received a generous amount of financial backing from the Southampton Airport Community Fund.

We Always Need More Funding and Volunteers

We will use the money to purchase tools, training and equipment for use in the orchard and other orchard related projects. Primarily we will buy fruit picking and processing equipment (like a shiny new apple mill and cider press) but we will also invest in tree pruning training and tools.

We Need More of These

Fruit tree renovation can be a lengthy process; this is because it can only be done by degrees and during certain periods of the year. Given the number of trees in the Mansbridge Community Orchard (around 50), we believe that five years is a fairly optimistic target, for returning the majority of the trees to good health.

We Need More of These

 Last year was spent clarifying our position, mapping the area as well as keeping most of the brambles and ivy out of the easily accessible trees. All the efforts culminated in a wonderful Apple Day event, organised by the Southampton Woodcraft Folk, who have taken on an active role within the orchard.

We Need More of These

The Southampton Airport Community Fund has also promised us volunteers. We will organise another introductory Orchard Blossom Walk, when the trees come into flower (around April-May). Around this time, we will also set up a meeting for anyone else keen to get involved.

Delightful (Home-Made) Drinks

The British Government has made a proposal for minimum unit prices on alcohol. This legislation is not about abstinence but is designed to turn the tide on the reckless drinking culture that exists in some groups of people, for health reasons. Although this regulation is not designed to punish responsible drinkers, a new era of prohibition might persuade more people to try home brewing and start making their own country wines.

I have experimented, with making my own wine, beer and cider for many years; like a young boy with a chemistry set, I relish the alchemy of it all. So, I thought it would be useful to create a simple guide here, to show how easy it is to accomplish and also how entertaining it can be.

Cost-wise, there are obvious clear savings to be made; a basic starter kit is inexpensive and much of it can be found for free or will be available from your local recycling centre / Freecycle site. Always make sure all equipment is Food Safe.

Essential Kit List...

• Large Bucket
• Wooden Spoon
• Funnel
• Siphon tube
• Demijons & Bubblers
• Sugar
• Yeast
• Fruit/leaves etc for flavour

You may want to buy an inexpensive hydrometer, although this is not actually necessary, it does give you more control over the flavour and alcoholic content of your hooch.

A full demijohn will produce one gallon of wine, which amounts to about six bottles. However, as with home baking, producing your own drinks is not only about saving money, I simply enjoy the process. You will be unlikely to create something that tastes exactly the same as what is available in the shops but this is part of the fun. As well as being exciting, wine making is also easy, recipes and advice are readily available all over the internet, I tend to rely on the spirit of adventure as much as heavily stained archaic books.

Your friends and family may playfully mock your endeavours - mine do - but you can guess what I’m going to give them for Xmas!

Always Drink Responsibly J

Some strange and interesting drinks we have made are listed below...

• Plum wine
• Cider
• Perry
• Blackberry wine
• Sloe wine
• Elderberry port
• Apple wine
• Crab apple wine
• Medlar wine
• Beer
• Ginger wine
• Ginger beer
  
• Elderflower Cordial
• Elderflower Champagne
• Vin de Noix
• Walnut Schnapps
• Raspberry liquor
• Sloe Gin
• Sloe Wine
• Cherry brandy

Busy Bees

During walk in Hedge End today I very nearly trod on a lovely frog. He was crouched in some grass and I stopped to photograph him. When I paused, I realised I could hear the background buzz of busy bees.

I saw a bank of blackberry bushes and wondered if it could be covered in bees looking for nectar. On closer inspection, there were a few but not enough to make the noise that I could hear.

I glanced around and spotted a large oak tree with a small (about 10cm) hole in it, there were one or two bees flying around the opening. It looked to me like an old woodpecker’s hole.

Then, I looked further up the trunk and there was another, similar hole… A huge mass of bees were swarming around the aperture, zooming in and out and crawling all over the entrance. It looked like a very safe place to have a nest and I think that these wise bees are going to keep all their honey.

Blossom, Beltain and A Beautiful Game

Using up the last remaining apples in our store, the Head Chef knocked us up a lovely apple tart on Friday night. This set me to thinking that we should have a quick check to see how the new season’s fruit crop was progressing down at Mansbridge.

After watching the Saints go marching out of the Championship and into the Premier League, my son and I took advantage of a timely break in the relentless April storms.

The boy chose to go by scooter and this meant that I had to jog along with him, which gave me a good run about before the inevitable night of celebration.

On our way along the Itchen we paused briefly to have a chat with a family of friendly geese and three tiny fluffy goslings.

The Community Orchard does look delightful at this time of year.

Most of the fruit trees are coming into bloom now and are covered in the delicate white and pink flowers.

The blossom among the bright green young leaves is a splendid, heart lifting sight. I suggest people make time to get down there and appreciate the beauty this weekend.

As it was, the tree flowers stood out like stars against the slate grey sky; I think they will look better still when the sun eventually breaks through and we finally get the sunshine that we all crave.

Tracks of Deer Dog and Human

Maybe Mr. Blue Sky will visit us for the bank holiday weekend; we have fayres to visit and don’t want to our ardour dampened as we dance around the Maypole.

I know the rain is required but we all could do with a little respite from this wettest of droughts and I hope the Beltain bonfires will burn bright enough to bring on the Summer.



Hazelnut Chocolate Kamikaze

I thought it was about time that I got around to doing something with all the hazelnuts that we have accumulated over the last month…

10Kgs of Hazelnuts, Should Be Enough To See Us Through Winter
Last Year We Had Lots Of Walnuts

Making the Hazelnut-Chocolate-Spread, something I had promised the children I would do, seemed like an obvious place to start. I guessed that it might be a good idea to do it quickly, when they were not at home and then get the kids to clean the kitchen utensils using their tongues when they got back.

Get Shelling

I shelled the requisite amount of hazelnuts, I had the recipe, the ingredients and all the equipment lined up, everything was going according to plan.

Yum!

Then suddenly, the Head Chef’s kitchen blender started making a dreadful rattling noise and stopped spinning/blending. Closer inspection revealed the problem was that all the driving cog's teeth had sheared away. In my defence, they did look quite brittle beforehand.

I'm Sure That's Not Meant To Happen...
The Head Chef is Going to Kill Me!

Fortunately, the poor old blender had done just about enough work before it went into its Kamikaze tail spin of self-destruction. Although the finished spread was a little stiff – it tasted just how it should and went down a storm with the kids.