Wednesday 17 July 2013

A Very Very Green 'Woodhall Dean'.

Working night shift this week & today woke up to find the house was empty, wife & kids spending the day at the beach so what else to do than jump on the bike & go for a wee trip around the countryside. So I decided to go around Woodhall Dean which is a woodland loop around the Brunt area not too far from home but an excellent place to spend an hour or two. Woodhall Dean is maintained & looked after by the Scottish Wildlife Trust & what an excellent job they are doing preserving & enhancing the native species of tree, plant & bird life, around twenty years ago most of the woodland was soft wood trees for harvesting with the odd native hardwood tree here & there, but now after harvesting the soft wood crop the Scottish Wildlife Trust has regenerated the whole area with native species trees which are thriving, so let's jump on the bike & take a look...

En route along the quiet country roads heading towards the Brunt where the start of the Woodhall Dean walk begins.



Down the hill & arriving at the start of the walk, with a wee warning sign about the resident adder population & at this time of year with the grass & plants along the route path really long & bushy you need to keep your wits about you.

 Nice well kept single track paths.



 A cracking view from this bench when it was first installed a few years ago, but now with all the new tree's & shrubs growing so rapid it's kind of blocked the view however it is still a nice shady area to sit for a while listening & watching nature. 








A choice of way but this is where the walk loops, I prefer taking the left route as there is more downhill  tracks more fun on a mountain bike.


Two hill burns merge here under this wooden bridge runs the Woodhall Burn...


...& under this old stone bridge runs the Weatherly Burn where the two burns merge.


A bat nesting box there are dozens & dozens of various nesting boxes throughout the woods for birds, owls, bats etc.




 Crossing the Woodhall Burn at Tinkers Leap.



 Some Aberdeen Angus cattle grazing.





 Stone dyke built by Scottish Wildlife Trust volunteers in 2004.


An old Oak tree with fungus growing from it, a sure sign that this old tree's life is coming to an end.
 Wild roses.
 Delicious ripe wild Cherry's.


Beautiful foliage of the Ferns.
 Finished cycling the Woodhall Dean loop & now heading for home.
 Another Oak tree nearing it's end.


 Up this hill track to find views...




 ...like this.
 Torness power station through the Beech tree's.
& now back home in time for Tea. Hope you enjoyed the ride be back soon. Cheers for now. 












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