I don't know. Nothing from me for months and then 3 blogs in less than 2 weeks! But I have been trying to enjoy as much of the beautiful Spring woods, between poor weather, and work, when I can. And when I can be arsed, of course.
This time it was to scratch a spiritual itch that needed to be scratched with a visit to the wooded northern henge of the Thornborough Henge complex, in North Yorkshire. You can do an internet search on it if you want the details, that is not what I will be doing here today. Needless to say that over the last few years I have regularly attended the Beltane and Mabon pagan gatherings in the central henge (around May 1st & September 21st); the biggest gathering of pagans in the north of England each Spring and Autumn. Sadly, due to the Covid pandemic, this is the second year there will be no gatherings here.
As part of these gatherings, a highlight for me is a walk up to the northern henge (when I have the time and energy), which is covered in woodland, and generally has a lot less human activity in it. It is at it's best when the bluebells are in full bloom and the leaves are bursting out. But a visit in the early autumn is interesting, to see the contrast, with the tired leaves, still green, but getting ready to change colour and fall. I like to make my trip to the wooded henge a bit of a spiritual journey, and go and play my medieval bagpipes or recorders there; preferable on my own, or with a select group of friends who have wanted to come with me. If someone is already there doing 'their thing' I will shy away from interrupting them (generally, depending on who they are and/or what they are doing), and I feel uncomfortable if people turn up while I am doing 'my thing'.
So last year I only managed to get one visit to the henge, last July, with a friend and we played some music in the woods, but all Spring I have been wanting to get back and enjoy the wood in full bloom. With the cold weather delaying things, I knew that the bluebells would be displaying later, so I was fairly confident there would be a good show.
I knew that today would be the last chance to visit the henge between rain bands, but with a chance of getting caught in a heavy shower, but the weather was good in between, and I was lucky with the weather when I was there.
So here goes!
What lies behind this screen of vivid green?
As I ducked in under the branches, I was hit by a wonderful wall of birdsong and the smell of wildflowers.
This is what was behind the green screen.
I made my way along the path around the inside of the henge bank and crossed over into the centre of the henge from the north side.
And of course I did some playing of my Russian Tank/Tongue Drum too, and some recorder playing too, but to be honest the natural sounds of the birds was far better than anything I did.
A nice variety of plants here.
I left the central area from the south to re-join the circular path that runs along the berm between the outer bank and the two inner ditch sections.
It is because the ditch sections are inside the banks (created by digging out the ditches) that archaeologists knew that these were not defensive structures.
Sections of the outer bank.
These yellow flowers shone out among the mostly greens and blues. I thought they might be oxslips, but on closer examination it turns out that they are the more common cowslips. One hopes they are here naturally, but these days with so many people and organisations reseeding woodlands with plants like this you never know.
A last view before leaving, Although I know I will be back.
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