After many hours of torrential rain
we were pleased to be greeted with a beautiful sunny, albeit cold, day. A Song
Thrush sent us on our way across the open lawn of Millyford Bridge, site of a
sawmill during the First World War, operated by men from Canada and Portugal to
provide timber for the war effort. All that remains today are some concrete
blocks and the fireplace of a long gone building, now known as The Portuguese
Fireplace.
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| A beautiful morning for a walk! © Sue Skarstein |
On entering the Holidays Hill
Inclosure we quickly turned off the cycle track to the right and along a path
into dense woodland where we came across a variety of fungi including Yellow
Stagshorn, Bay Bolete, Fly Agaric, False Deathcap and many others.
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| Yellow Stagshorn © Sue Skarstein |
We made our way
through the wood, mostly with conifer on one side and deciduous on the other,
coming to a more open Beech wood where we found Amethyst Deceiver among the
leaf litter, Porcelain Fungus and Southern Brackets. A Fallow buck with an
impressive set of antlers came running through very close. Skirting the
boundary of Wooson’s Hill Inclosure we stopped for a break in a sunny glade
filled with Chaffinch, Blue Tit and a Treecreeper. More fungi followed as we
continued including Shaggy Inkcap, earthballs and various brittlegills.
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| Lichens, fungi, mosses and ferns © Sue Skarstein |
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| Cladonia floerkeana © Sue Skarstein |
On leaving the Inclosure at Wooson’s
Hill we found the King’s Mark, a slashed arrow, on several old Beeches, a mark
from the 17th century indicating that they were earmarked for use in ship
building for the King’s fleet. Crossing the road, we took the path
into Holmhill Inclosure where we found a further rich variety of fungi
including Coral Fungus more Porcelain Fungus, Purple Jellydisc and Oyster
Mushroom.
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| Purple Jellydisc © Sue Skarstein |
We retraced our steps across the wet
lawn near the car park with Common Darters dancing around us.
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| Common Darter © Richard Coomber |
All in all, a fungal extravaganza and
too much to identify in the time we had available. Indeed, two members repeated the walk
after lunch! RP
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| The walk's route from Robert Payne |
