The woods are a source of interest at anytime of year, I was just remarking this morning how we always find something of interest, or even something exciting. It sometimes takes a bit of effort to find the motivation because the woods don't look as immediately inviting and attractive as they do in other seasons, but winter woods have just as much to offer. Just keep your eyes open, you never know what you might spot. It might be something familiar and recurrent, or something totally new and unknown to you.
We have walked this path through Yewdale woods more times than I could possibly guess, but yesterday I saw this view for the first time. It has always been there, I just hadn't seen it like this before.
There were a few small patches of sunlight, briefly highlighting small areas. They were hard to catch, some had gone in seconds.
I almost missed this patch of sunlight. It was just moving off when I managed to catch this image of Low Yewdale.
Low Yewdale is a small group of cottages, formerly a farm, that belongs to The National Trust.
February 9th 2017
Today was fine and overcast with just a few flakes of snow that were hardly noticeable. It was cold though, only two degrees celsius, so I had in the back of my mind that we might see some hair ice in the woods. Hair ice is caused when damp conditions suddenly freeze and tiny amounts of water are forced out of decaying pieces of tree that are lying on the woodland floor. It is not a common sight, but I felt that conditions were right. As we walked into the wood at Monk Coniston we were very soon rewarded with a fantastic display of hair ice!
It can curl into strange designs.
It is extremely delicate
The merest touch or breath can destroy it.
It doesn't last for long.
Forced out from under the bark in fine fibres of ice.
As the air temperature warms, the delicate filaments collapse and fade.
Monk Coniston woods are part of an estate that was owned by Victorian mill owner Mr James Marshall. As a plant collector and arborist he planted a great variety of trees in the area around his property, which included Tarn Hows. The estate now belongs to the National Trust, but Monk Coniston Hall is managed by the Holiday Fellowship organisation. www.hfholidays.co.uk
More information on woodlands can be found at www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
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