Between my town and the next, there is a small area of woodland; too large to be called a copse but too small for a forest. One part of it is quite popular with people to walk their dogs or to go for a run, but the other part is not as well frequented. The two parts are divided by the motorway. I walked in both parts, and here are the pictures I took.
The view from my kitchen window around lunch time, shortly before I set off:
In the woods. There was nobody about but me - and many birds. I could hear them and see them, and, rare for this time of the year, there was even a buzzard circling above and crying his heartstring-tugging cry.
This ruined building is part of a structure scattered throughout this part of the woodland. It was originally erected around the end or just after WWI, as shooting practice grounds for the military. German military used these structures, which were enlarged and modernized in the 1930s before the start of WWII, until the end of that war, when the US military took over and used part of the area for storage buildings and other purposes.
Such abandoned places have an almost irresistible attraction for me. In this case. what got my attention more than anything was the hole in the wall I could just about see through the bare trees. Zoomed in with the camera, the hole looked like this:
After leaving this part, crossing the motorway on a bridge and walking through the second part of the woods, the path leads out towards the fields through an orchard. There was more sun there, and people.
I walked for about two hours altogether, including photo stops. A chat over a cup of coffee and the very last Christmas cookies at my Mum's were my last stop before going home.
Beautiful photos Meike. We have similar woods near us, but strangely I would feel very vunerable on my own. Our housing estate was built on an old air field and those buildings are similar to the air raid bunkers we had here.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Maggie. I am so used to going for walks on my own. The only times I feel vulnerable about being alone is at night near the train station, where there often is an unwholesome kind of people about.
DeleteWish I had spell check on my phone. It makes me feel vulnerable!!
DeleteNever mind, Maggie, I knew what you meant and that it simply was a typo :-)
DeleteLovely photos and how nice to live close enough to your mum to be able to stop and visit. I wonder if she's begun my socks yet. It is a warm & pleasant thought to imagine a sweet lady in a faraway land making socks just for me!
ReplyDeleteMy own mom lives in my house with my husband, 25 yo daughter and I. My older daughter and my son share another house on our farm. None of my children have married but we enjoy our close family proximity very much.
Both my parents and my sister live only a 10-minute walk from my place (in different directions), so we can see each other as often as we like without getting under each other's feet, so to speak :-)
DeleteMy Mum is probably going to see your comment and will reply to it. She showed me the wool she bought for your socks when I was there on Monday, but she was still working on someone else's order that day.
Hello,
Deleteyes, the first sock is nearly done! I think I can send it to you next week!
Hello Meike's Mum!
DeleteHow wonderful, but do take your time! I don't want you to feel rushed! I've never learned to knit. I quilt,sew, craft and crochet, but sadly never learned to knit!
Such a pretty day! We've had a couple of nice ones, the rain is supposed to come back tomorrow, however.
ReplyDeleteIt was grey and wet yesterday, but that was alright - I spent it all at the office anyway.
DeleteThe beginning of this post reminded me of a time when Alice was very young, maybe five, and started to tell me a story....She began it, "Once upon a time there was a very small forest. Just one tree."
ReplyDeleteI think I would also feel rather vulnerable alone on such a walk. But with one other person, that feeling would vanish. I love reading about you stopping at your Mom's for a chat and the last of the Christmas cookies....I am up way too late tonight since my new kindle arrived and I'm trying to get it set up......
That sounds like a great story! A very small forest - just one tree... I like it!
DeleteI never feel vulnerable when there is nobody about. I am actually more worried in the presence of other people than in their absence.
Hope your new kindle is all set up and ready to go by now!
You live in a lovely place, thank you for sharing your winter walk!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU for stopping by and leaving a comment! Yes, I like where I live a lot, too.
Delete"There was even a buzzard circling above and crying his heartstring-tugging cry."
ReplyDeleteLet us translate that cry - "Trip over in the woods Miss Arian and I will descend for my breakfast! We buzzards are very partial to former librarians!"
There was another one answering the first one. Therefore to me it sounded more like "Hey! Hurry up! You said we were going to soar over that sunny field where the fat mice live... now, where are you? Still grooming your feathers?" - "Yeah, yeah, don't rush me! I'm on my way! The mice won't be all gone in the next two minutes!"
DeleteI sense the beginnings of a slim novel - "The Buzzards" but we will have to introduce extra characters such as "The Fox" and "The Chicken"which will be saved by a former librarian who was skipping through the nearby woods when she heard "The Chicken" crying for help - "Oh pray save me! The Fox is in my pen! I do not want to die like this!"
DeleteThe Librarian then befriends The Fox by promising to regularly supply him with pet food from Aldi's. He's actually a nice Fox, and after they start to trust each other more, the Librarian and The Fox confess to each other that they both secretly never really thought much of The Chicken because it is just so... brainless, has never read a book in its entire life and never will. Still, they remain friendly and protect it from other dangers such as squirrels and magpies who are known for stealing eggs.
DeleteBack to the Buzzards; they circle above and comment the goings-on, sometimes with much wit, sometimes like a pair of grumpy old men (Statler and Waldorf come to mind).
Ha!
DeleteHello Meike,
ReplyDeleteReturned to work already.....oh dear, that is rather dismal news. However, it did give you the opportunity to explore before the rest of the world surfaced for the day.
Your photographs really do capture the eeriness of your abandoned piece of woodland. We have to say that we should not, we expect, be as drawn to the place as you were. When you showed the empty building with the hole in the wall we were positively begging you not to go further!
Thank you for your kind comments. We wish you peace, joy and success for 2015.
Hello Jane and Lance,
DeleteWelcome back!
Getting back to work was no problem - I've had 2 1/2 weeks off, which was plenty to "recover" from what was not a stressful time before.
The main reason for me not going nearer to the hole in the wall was that I suspected I'd be very disappointed - I guess all there is behind that wall is piles of rubbish.
How nice, and then, it ended with a cup of coffee with your Mum, even better.
ReplyDeleteThat building looks quite large when I enlarged it on my screen!
It is a rather large structure, spanning more than half of the whole width of the woodland. Actually, I think I'll go and check how much of it is visible on google maps.
DeleteCould you walk through the woods as happily if they were coniferous trees? For some reason much as I love walking and much as I love tress and woods of deciduous trees wild horses would not be able to drag me into a coniferous forest on my own. Strangely I am perfectly happy - actually enjoy - walking in them accompanied.
ReplyDeleteHmm... coniferous trees would certainly make it much darker. But I'd still go there, I think. The sound the wind makes in such trees is very "homely" to me.
DeleteOh, a glimpse of sun and blue sky... I sigh after a weekend of snow, rain and storm, and forecasts of more of the same ahead... ;)
ReplyDeletePlenty of sun here yesterday, too, with dark patches in between, as the wind blew thick clouds across at high speed. Grey today.
DeleteIt must be lovely to walk in those deserted Woods, away from crowds and traffic. The sun is also shining here in Sicily these days luckily, today it was 19° C in fact. Happy New Year Meike!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you, too, Francesca! I enjoy walking there very much and think I will go back soon. I also love being in the woods very much when the first tiny green leaves start showing on the trees; that'll be a while yet.
Delete