Friday 1 April 2016

Stapleford Woods by Bicycle

Until last year, I hadn't been to Stapleford Woods since I was a child.

I remember walking through it with my parents as a child, past mysterious signs saying "Station 7" and these massive flappy things for beating out fires - they don't have those any more - and then suddenly we stopped going. I never went again for years and years.

It never left my life however. In my teenage years it became the venue for illegal raves my friends went to, but I never did. I was always hoping to get a secret invite, it would mean I was one of the cool kids. I so nearly did once.

Nearly. But never.

More recently, it became notorious, and still is, for dodgy evening "adult" activites. I'd rather have the raves, to be honest.

More recently, I wanted to visit it for my nature activities, but always thought it was too far away to run to, and too dangerous to cycle to. Luckily, I found that it wasn't, and resumed visiting last year.

It's not that big a wood, but it has a lot of memories, and I intend to explore it much more seriously this year. Even found a little cycle track to ride on yesterday!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 01.04.16










14 comments:

  1. Looks a nice woodland to visit - look forward to hearing more of the wildlife you see there on future trips.

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    1. There are roe deer, raptors, and lots of fungi too I should imagine.

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  2. With a bike like that you certainly qualify as one of the cool kids now! It's amazing where you can get to on a bike if you're persistent enough.

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    1. 45 quid from a roadside bike man! Good brand though Rockrider - they are made by Decathlon!

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  3. My oh my ... you've got some good pictures here.
    I especially like the third one.

    Have a good weekend

    All the best Jan

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  4. Oh Si, this brought back such memories - we used to go there many years ago when I was a child. It was a special outing at least once a year.

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  5. Looks like a lovely wander out, love those sun-flares too, makes me hopeful for summer! Lovely shots. - Tasha

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  6. Thanks Pat and Natasha, like I said I have more serious exploration to do there

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  7. Looks like potential for butterflies and interesting beetle folk there, Si.

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  8. Wonderful trees, it must be to walking in the forest.

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  9. Looks like an interesting wood, with promising habitat for butterflies and fungi :-)

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  10. I've been later in the year and the path margins and brambles bring in a lot of peacock. Dragonfly too. I've not hunted fungi yet, might have a go before it gets too warm

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