|
Due to other commitments we lost the entire summer break without
an expedition. Many explorers seemed keen to go out, but when
we finally fixed a Saturday it turned out to be absolutely
awful. We ended up with as many adults as explorers: David
John, Robert and Robin with David and Mairi with Quincy putting
in a rare appearance.
There had been an expedition to the block last year but it
was recently announced that felling was to begin soon so this
was our last chance to see the big trees and a lot of the
historical features before they get covered in branches and
tyre tracks.
We started at the forestry car park off the Salen Road and
moved off up the hill in steady drizzle and very dark conditions.
We left the main path and took an old path through the forest
towards the lochan. John Pointed out some young fern plants
growing on the root plate of a fallen tree and the explorers
found a lot of 200-year-old charcoal along the path. We passed
the lochan and moved on through the forest until we came to
an old stone bridge which was once part on an ancient track
through the area. Robert claimed to have been involved in
putting branches into the water here and blocking the flow.
Then we fought our way up a steep path into the centre of
the plantation, during the climb Robert and Robin found a
strange rock which seemed to have eyes but John was too far
ahead to hear. In the middle of the wood we looked at a place
where three tracks crossed under a canopy of huge spruce trees.
Then we followed the ancient dyke which crosses the wood to
examine an old field system of lazy beds and the base of a
house, miraculously surviving under a group of larches. Finally
it was back to the old Salen road through the wood and a look
at an ancient pollard oak before we hurried over the hill
to reach the cars just as the rain was starting to get really
bad.
The Pictures
It was a shame I didn't see the 'rock with eyes' since it
clearly made a big impression on Robert and Robin, who featured
it in their drawings. David John did a nice picture of the
old house in the wood surrounded by lazy beds and with the
family in residence. Mairi showed one of the great oaks overhanging
the path, which are almost certain to disappear when the path
is needed for timber extraction.
John
Dye
|
|
 |
