The Next Guided Walk at Hillhouse Woods is a Fungus Hunt
Following last months successful Autumn Fruits walk (report below), is the first Fungus Hunt for several years on 25th November.
Ian Rowing will lead the “fungus hunt” to seek out these elusive fungi. He will aim, with the help of those with him, to find a variety of mushrooms and toadstools in and around the wood, and explain something of their fascinating life cycles and why fungi are essential for a healthy woodland. We will also keep an eye out for visiting winter birds.
The walk will take in Hillhouse Wood and surrounding hedgerows. Strong boots or wellies should be worn, as we may encounter wet conditions underfoot! To join the walk meet at the Old Church ready to leave at 10 am.
The Autumn Fruits Walk – Steve Hallam Reports
It is always a challenge to decide what will be the best date to run this walk, to see the best balance of early and late ripening fruits and nuts. The weather this year has made it even more of a conundrum that usual – I had no idea what was going on and, as it turned out, neither did nature! As many berries were turning red in late August, I decided to select a relatively early date, on 23rd September. Overall, the quantities of berries and nuts were relatively low, but the variety was high – a total of 52 fruits and flowers were found.
Kind Weather
The weather was kind to us, with sun throughout and a gentle breeze. Twelve people came along – a mix of veterans and first timers. For the second year running we went round the route clockwise – radical stuff! This meant that we started by seeing a variety of coloniser plants (‘weeds’ to most of us) along the arable margins, such as
- Dandelion,
- Scentless Mayweed, *
- Bristly Oxtongue, *
- Yarrow, *
- Bindweed,
- Black Nightshade, *
- Burdock, *
- Fat Hen, * and
- Mugwort.
The variety reflected the mild autumn weather so far. (* pictured in the montage).
Confusing Times
We quickly came across the first evidence of these ‘confusing times’ – White bryony in flower, rather than the shiny red berries that it is supposed to have at this time. Also present, but in relatively low numbers, were the archetypal autumn fruit – acorns. Haws were more prominent along with, in places, hips. We then found another illustration of what a confusing year this is – a Holly tree with no berries but just one or two flowers followed, later, by a Holly tree covered completely in green berries. As I had anticipated, the berries of the Spindle tree were still far from ripe – and unfortunately the Spindle that normally has the most visible berries had recently been flailed.
Fewer Fruits
As usual, the wood itself contained far fewer fruits than did the surrounding hedges. We were able to find Sweet Chestnuts, Hazel nuts and Elderberries however. Having left the wood, walking alongside the stream produced:
- Common fleabane, for the second year,
- Guilder rose,
- Crab apple (which had had a good year),
- Hops,
- Dogwood berries, for the first time in several years, and
- One, very sad looking, Woody nightshade berry.
As we walked back up the hill there was more evidence of confusion from a Honeysuckle in flower. Beyond the main entrance to the wood, the track held more marginal flowers – Ragwort, Common agrimony, Scabious and Wild radish. It also provided good views of two Buzzards. Finally arriving back at the Old Church, the two Yew trees had good numbers of berries, and one final surprise, a White bryony trailing down one of them.
Friends of Hillhouse Wood
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood is a group of local residents who work with The Woodland Trust to look after this beautiful remnant of ancient woodland.