Woodland walks in Birmingham and the Black Country

-
Taken from the Birmingham Mail

Includes adverts

Number 1; Cannon Hill and Holders Woods

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/woodland-walks-top-ten-midlands-7987600

"The concept of ancient woodland was a radical one in the 1970s. The popular wisdom was that woods were human artefacts, and could only begin their lives by being deliberately planted." 
The Cabaret of Plants, Richard Mabey.

 This is rather surprising and I'm most intrigued at RM's claim, not that I'm disputing it in any way, but I've imagined Britain in ancient times as a more or less wooded land for most parts, broken only by marshland and mountain top, and even here, I imagined Alder and Willow carr and dwarf or wind blown trees up to the tree line. And whilst this, to some extent, may still be debated, RM's point is that the 'concept of ancient woodland' as a means of distinguishing wooded areas in ecological terms hadn't been addressed until the 1970's. 

 Wikipedia suggests somewhat later -
"The concept of ancient woodland, rich in plant diversity and managed through traditional practices, was developed by the ecologist Oliver Rackham in his 1980 book Ancient Woodland, its History, Vegetation and Uses in England, which he wrote following his earlier research on Hayley Wood in Cambridgeshire" (Wiki)

 Herbert Edlin's Trees, Woods and Man (1956) makes no mention of 'ancient woodland'

 My first edition contains an inscription from Herbert Edlin (1956)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brockley Grove - then and now

-
Image
Holders Woods and Fields east of centre with Brockley Grove to the south, road and turning circle Article from Birmingham Forum website -  My old mum and I moved into a prefab on Brockley grove just off dog pool lane (dads lane) in moseley in about 1959 and my old mum thought it was heaven, it had a "fitted kitchen" i.e a built in washing machine, she'd always had to do her washing by hand before and in both bedrooms were "metal" fitted wardrobes. As it was detached, standing surounded with a nice little garden we both loved it. unfortunatly it' now been demolished and  Brockley grove is now unsign posted and is a dog walking area but I will always have very fond memories of mom's little "bungalow". This map shows the layout of the Brockley Grove prefabs
Read more

Do you know your Christmas Trees? (part 2)

-
Image
Fir at Cannon Hill Park possibly Abies grandis Winter 'evergreens', a suitable and seasonal distraction in terms of identification, providing a rather more challenging activity than the now fallen broad leaves, although having said that, a tree with no leaves is just as challenging when only buds and bark are at play. Also, the language of evergreens is somewhat different to that of broadleaves, in both biological terminology and description, providing a continual monologue through the year, with a voice that changes less hysterically than its broadleaf distant relatives. The other challenging difficulty of course is the weather, standing with a field guide and key on a cold day is not everyone's idea of fun. The subject trees related to in this passage are mainly those found locally either at the Cannon Hill Park Tree Trail or at the Highbury Park Pinetum and Highbury Estate.  All of the trees have been introduced with various planting schemes over the past 80 years or so,
Read more

New Trees - Woodland Wednesdays at Highbury

-
Image
Highbury Park and neighbours - wooded Wooded Highbury The term 'replete' has recently been used in reference to the wildlife provision at Highbury, and whilst the park can boast a healthy list of trees and bird life and perhaps reasonable opportunity for invertebrates, there is certainly room for enhancement and improvement in this regard. The park is jealously viewed and guarded by its regular visitors and protest quickly develops as changes occur - for example recently planted hedges were met with anxiety and vandalism, new desire lines are seen as trespass and the recently announced proposal to improve the tarmac surfacing for cyclists was greeted with the following- https://www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/place/bcr3-highbury-park-walking-and-cycling-route Consultation  Politics aside, if that's possible, an overview of the wooded fabric of the park would probably indicate a net loss of timber over the past 5 years due to ageing, and the need to 'mak
Read more