Missing Yew

Well, maybe not yew trees, but definitely pines and silver birch.
Hubby is home safe and sound from his travels, but found nothing to suit.
Today we did a few drive-bys of properties, covering a total distance of some 176 miles. We’re shattered, but so wound up, we needed to relax and sitting in front of the box just wasn’t cutting it.
Maggie has been so good, stuck in the car with us all day apart from a few potty breaks in lay-bys on the main roads, so we decided even though it was quite late, to have an evening walk in the woods before it got too dark.
Hubby says he’s missed the woods.

Having parked in our lay-by, we walked down the first path heading towards the centre where all the trees had been cleared last year.
He pointed to a semi open space and said he could happily pitch a tent there and fall asleep listening to the birds and the breeze in the trees.

Further on, he picked a spot between two tall silver birch and said he could sling a hammock between them and let the wind rock him to sleep.

He loves these woods. There is just something about them, and the bird song this evening was wonderful, our feathered friends in full chorus as they flitted from tree to tree. Even the crows seemed to be in full harmony, giving the melody a three-dimensional tone from nature’s ‘a capella’ voices.
Maggie got the scent of a rabbit. We saw it hop away out of her peripheral vision, but her tail was wagging, her nose was pinned to the ground and she was in her element as she circled, sectioned and quartered in pursuit.

She tracked it to a relatively new burrow entrance, then raising her head,  checked to see where we were and put her nose back to the ground, tail going all the time.
She tried to turn, but something was wrong so we told her to stay.
As we approached, I could see that she had become entangled in some rogue brambles. She waited until I could get to her and unravel the thorny creepers from her hind legs, then once free and checked for injury, it was all bounces and pocket nudges, the rabbit forgotten as we rejoined the path.
Passing the Des Res on the inner lower route, we noticed it had been demolished and a more imposing effort was in the process of being erected nearby. In the summer, these debris shelters pop up in various places. We have never seen any evidence of anyone staying in them or any embers from a camp fire nearby though.
We find it a little amusing to see these structures when just around the corner there are brick ruins which would provide more shelter from the elements than branches, twigs and greenery.

Photographs from official archive

We know these woods quite well. We are confident of following tracks and pathways without fear of getting lost, even in the fading light. There is nothing here to hurt us.
In fact, there was no-one there except us and the dog, and so we were disappointed not to see either deer or any of the bats, even though we were out for over an hour and a half.

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