In the beech woods at Water Lane

After we’d eaten lunch Helena and I decided to go for a short walk along the canal near Frampton Mansell, towards the head of the /Golden Valley. On the way I went up to Bisley to buy some vegetables from the farm shop, but as we set off it started to rain and dark gloomy clouds took over the sky.

While we were in the barn of the farm shop torrential rain suddenly arrived noisily battering the roof which was rather off-putting. I suggested we just go for a wandering drive anyway and so we headed off through Bisley towards the Daneway pub near Sapperton. The single track road twisted through fields and woodlands and went up and down hillsides of various small valleys and combes. After we crossing the stream at Water Lane the road climbed the hillside through ancient beech woods which looked beautiful in the thin sunlight which had now broken through the clouds. 

I pulled over at a point where a track descended through the woods and crossed the road. I’d spotted this beech tree with its roots hanging out over the edge of some exposed limestone strata. This commonly happens in the local Cotswold wood especially where some of the stone may have been quarried.  The roots on the right side have now collapsed after the trunk has obviously been cut down, probably for safety reasons, as these trees are right beside the lane. Beech trees often have a very shallow network or lattice of roots like this and tend to fall over when the roots are exposed.

We drove on past the Daneway crossed the canal and the river Frome and ascended the far side to drive to Frampton Mansell. By the time we got there it was bright and dry enough for a shirt walk along the old abandoned canal near Baker’s Mill, which was very peaceful and gave us at least a little exercise.