A walk in the woods

There are three areas of woodland that make up Ecclesall Woods and there's plenty of scope to explore them, but on our recent visit we parked in an area where I could walk along a familiar path down to one of the ponds.  We visited earlier in the year when the English bluebells were in flower, but a walk at this time of year is just as interesting, although everything is still green and the deciduous trees have not yet turned to Autumn colours.

Ecclesall Woods are considered ancient because they can be traced back to be seen on old maps of the 1600s.  Evidence of boundaries and stone formations are thought to be from the Iron Age and Roman period, but over the centuries the area has had many uses from deer park for the leisure pursuits of Robert de Ecclesall to a working wood where 'white coal' (dried wood) was used to smelt lead. Many pits where white coal was made are spread throughout the area. Charcoal burning was another activity and ganister (a hard sandstone rock which was used in the manufacture of special bricks to line Bessemer Converters was quarried). One such ganister quarry has been turned into a pond and named by schoolchildren as Collier's Pond after a charcoal burner whose memorial and probably the spot that marks his grave is located somewhere nearby.

In the 19th century new trees were introduced, but these have had to be managed well after the council bought the woodlands in 1927 to be used as an amenity wood. A bird sanctuary was fenced off in 2018 to give the birds a chance to breed and increase, but there are ample pathways where visitors can take a walk.  The natural regeneration of silver birch, oak, rowan, sycamore, sweet chestnut and other trees can be appreciated as well as the ambiance of the woods in every season. It's good to see the diversity that is being managed and created from trees that are still standing to the fallen branches and the boulders that are being left undisturbed so that nature can thrive.

The Woodland Discovery Centre

Every so often we take a drive to another one of the interesting areas that make up the city as we go to a specialist shop that sells brewing equipment so that Mr P can get his wine kit to make his home made wine.  It also gives us an opportunity to visit the small businesses and charity shops in this particular local high street before returning home through the ancient woodlands called Ecclesall Woods.  Last Thursday we stopped for a coffee at the Woodland Café in the J. G. Graves Woodland Discovery Centre and I took a brief walk in the woods. 

The Woodland Discovery Centre is in the middle of several hundred acres of mature, semi-natural deciduous woodland previously used for timber and the making of charcoal and hosts many activities related to the woods. There are parking spaces along the main roads with a dedicated car park at the Centre and so it's accessible for us to take a break and be in the heart of the woods. It's an education centre so there are occasional demonstrations of woodworking, woodcraft courses, social events and, of course, the opportunity to walk in the 15 km of public footpaths to find landmarks such as an old mill, remains of the charcoal burners' trade, streams and ponds.  Indoors there are viewing areas with binoculars provided for bird spotting, logs for sale as well as the refreshment area.

There were quite a few robins and also great tits who were at the bird feeders and the café was a pleasant place to have our coffee and watch them.

There are signs of the transition from Summer to Autumn.

There are many areas around the centre, for example a sunken area of grass, where a visitor can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet of the woodland surroundings.