Well its that time of year again,the kids are back at school and that always means an Indian summer,well my kids don't go to school we teach them at home and on this occasion the woods would be the classroom,bliss!
We decided to leave for Bradley woods just after midday as i had a few spoons to carve for a friend,so with bags packed all 6 of us and a visiting child who is having a long sleepover here set off,its a walkable distance but i didnt want 90 minutes of 'are we there yet?' so we drove to the woods and parked in a lane next to the vicarage,once there we set off on the 20 minute or so walk to the spot i had noticed earlier in the week when we were foraging hazel nuts.
About a half mile along the main track a deer track crosses the path and this is where we entered the woods towards the south,following the trail we noticed a variety of fungi,but what i was really after if we were lucky was some oak galls,we want some for making traditional ink as well as making some rather nice fishing floats for our natural resources lessons.
We soon arrived at a nice looking spot and settled under a Beech tree,a reasonably young one maybe no more than 50 years old,these woods have some huge Beech trees,some so big they cant support their own weight and so lose the odd limb giving them their unwarranted name of the 'widow maker',I have never agreed with the name,i have spent hundreds of nights in Beech woodland and have never seen or heard one go,never met anyone who has either let alone heard of any widows being made by one.
First task for the kids was running around climbing trees when they were asked to collect fire wood for the cooking and coffee,eventually they did find some nice dead standing hazel,great for a fire,and jack found some nice silver birch bark for lighting the fire, a few sparks on the tinder and the fire was going,much to the joy of baby Samuel who like the rest of us loves a good fire!
After an hour or so a good friend of hours and her son jet found us and joined in,she brought a gift for Samuel,a tree swing that hangs anywhere ,great for keeping a baby where he is safe and off the floor where sticks and leaves look good for chomping on!
After a brew i affixed a nice fresh wild duck onto the Camp Crane and spit roasted it over the fire,if you have never spit roasted a duck over a fire try it! it was the finest duck i have ever tried,crispy smoked skin ,from now on its the only way i am cooking wild duck!
Any how heres a few pics of our trip,comments and questions welcome:
Great Bradley wood 06/09/2014 by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Unknown fungi. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Robin in his hammock made by me by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Tireing work! by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Sammy and Mum in the woods. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Sammy and Mum in the woods. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Camp Cook Crane. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Wherever i lay my hat...... by fishfish_01, on Flickr
jack in the woods. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
roast wild duck on the Camp Crane by fishfish_01, on Flickr
roast wild duck on the Camp Crane by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Sammy's tree swing! by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Tender spit roast wild duck. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Early Autumn light. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
tasty duck! by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Friend in the woods. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
Evening light. by fishfish_01, on Flickr
All in all a great day out was had by us all ,we returned home,kids tired from all the running about,climbing trees and general mischief,on the way home they were already planning their next trip!
thanks for looking.
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Arguably the best way to teach the next generation 
. I've noticed the same thing with European Beech ornamentals here - half the tree may be dead, and yet not a branch is shed. It's a different story, though, with our native American variety, which seems to snap off twigs at every gust of wind. 
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