Brown(e)'s Folly

Nasty attack of inertia this Sunday - nothing of course to do with a very late night? Well maybe

However I remembered that I've never posted these pictures taken late last year high above Bath.

 

 

We started the walk near the bottom and it as a nice climb up past caves and woodland. Remains of the quarries used to source the local Bath stone are everywhere. These are the remains of ancient woodland and home to woodpeckers - not that we saw any mind you!

 

 

 

 

It wasn't hard to spot faces in the rock. This one looks a little stern and forbidding.

 

 

 The quarries were closed in the 1930s and the Avon Wildlife Trust which now runs the nature reserve has closed off the entry into the cave system which now provides a home for the Greater Horseshoe Bat which is now getting very rare. They can be seen in the summer at dusk leaving their roosts. 

We resolved at the time that we should go back at an appropriate time of day - maybe now is the time to consider planning an evening picnic up there with some friends.

 

And the Folly itself - named after it's builder Wade Browne and built in 1848 to provide work for local agricultural workers during a period of hardship. It was later modified to be used for hunting.

 

Like the quarries it is blocked off so it isn't possible to go in. There is some talk about restoration but I guess there isn't the money for it. The views of Bath from the top must be spectacular.

 

Wayford Woods

Wayford Woods has been much in the news.

Fairy Control

Another report

I'll admit I'd never heard of the place until this week but as it isn't far my curiosity was piqued so why not. We were expecting it to be busy after all the publicity and it was. Fortunately we parked elsewhere and made the woods just a small part of a much longer walk.

It wasn't what I was expecting. The woods were clearly originally a garden with lots of non native plants and specimen trees. Plenty of rhododendron and camellia, some of which was in bloom and looking very decorative even if they play no part in the native ecosystem.  Nice ghost gums though. Fortunately there is no money to keep the garden maintained and the natural plant life is starting to try and make a comeback. I was interested to see that they had cut through a lot of the ivy stems. Normally this is now left as it provides an important habitat and contrary to popular belief doesn't harm a healthy tree.

An attempt has been made in one place to introduce some other plants.

Very pretty hellebore but it's a shame they've chosen some fancy double hybrid.

And so on to the famous "fairy doors". The cull has obviously started as many trees sported hinges but no doors.

This was a nice use of a tree stump.












 Others I'm afraid just look like litter

 
This is probably not going to make me popular but the "cull" is well overdue.

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus

Had to be a trip to Wales now didn't it!

Having heard the wind in the night trying to strip the tiles off the roof it was rather a releif to be greeted with a bright sunny morning. The forecast wasn't great so we didn't want to go too far.

It's been a few years since I visited Blaenavon.  It was once one of the most important producers of iron in the world and along with the mines a hotbed of early industrial activity - at a huge cost to the landscape. However since the ironworks closed, nature has gradually crept in and reclaimed the land, although the marks are still there to be seen.

Blaenavon is now a World Heritage Site thanks to its  geological features, industrial relics and nationally important wildlife habitats. Good place for a walk then.

 We parked the car by Pen-ffordd-goch pond ( Keepers Pond)  which was built to provide water  for Garnddyrys Forge. The forge was dismantled in the  1860s but the pond remains.

Nature has done a superb job in reclaiming the spoil tips - when I was young there was little green in places. Now the areas of spoil are only visible where the piles are too steep to be easily colonised.

 Fabulous views of the Skirrid. Look at that blue sky

This is the Sugar Loaf taken from the same vantage point as the Skirrid at the same time - typical Welsh weather closing in fast!

Of course face in the other direction and it's all good. Plenty of remaining  scars from the mining. I wonder what they'll make of all this in 2000 years time when the true origins are forgotten. A 20CE hill fort perhaps?

The rain was starting to hit now - with some hail and sleet mixed in so it was time to turn back and head for the car. The most direct route was across the bog and over the rocky summit. So that's where we went.




The bad weather had cut short the walk so it was a quick drive down in Blaenavon and lunch at the Red Lion.



It would have been nice to take a leisurely trip around the Iron Works after lunch but the weather was now completely foul so we saved it for next time.