If you go down to the woods today.....................

................you'll see the affects of Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum) infection on the larch trees. It's a fungus-like pathogen that is really catching hold in the Duchy of Cornwall woodlands around us.

I was doing my Footpath Warden's bit and walking 'my' stretch from home to Horsebridge, where, very conveniently, I was meeting up with some friends for lunch at the Royal. The route took me downhill to the woods at Old Mill and I was amazed by what I saw there. I knew that some diseased larch trees were being cut down but I was not prepared for the scale of the operation. As the photographs show, hundreds have been felled and logged, leaving

gaping holes where there had been a dense forest. It looks a complete mess at the moment but it will improve once the replanting gets underway and there's some regrowth. I wonder what species will be chosen as replacements? Hopefully, a selection of native hardwoods will feature.

 

One of the Duchy of Cornwall workers wielding a chainsaw looked strangely familiar. I can't quite put my finger on who he reminded me of. Maybe posting it will prompt someone's memory?

The rest of the walk was a treat. Along to Luckett, where it looked as the natives were getting back to nature! Perhaps not all - just the members of the friendly Howlett tribe.

From there it was splash, splash, splash on the path parallel to the river. It's wet at the best of times and I can't say that the recent rains have made it that much worse.

There was a pleasant interlude when I stopped to talk to someone rebuilding a dry stone wall. Mansell Grant from Caerphilly of all places! I'll remember him every time I pass Mansell's wall in the future. Thence to the pub for lunch and very nice it was too.