Spinney Trees

This lovely May morning I took a small sketchbook and a pen up to the Spinney to make some quick notes about the tree shapes. Most of the trees have their leaves now so I can identify which is which. I am looking for characteristics of each species which I can use for some prints. They are the trees I see, very possibly not typical of the species, but ones I know and can place along the route..a young beech, the tall alders and a cluster of limes etc.

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Field maple, Larch way up at the top of the canopy and the Limes with my bike 🙂

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The lovely tall Alders down by the bird hide, Wild cherry, Sycamore with its big drooping leaves.

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Pollarded willow, Poplars in the wind with floating willow seeds blowing everywhere, Elm with bunches of, now browning, seeds which are scattered everywhere.

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A small Beech growing under the Oak canopy, Birch, twisted from the prevailing wind, arching Bramble and a spindly Hawthorn again growing up towards the light under the canopy.

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Ash just coming into leaf with its tipped up branch ends, Blackthorn up on the old railway line

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A5 sketchbook and pen. It’s all you need.

April Sketchbook: Days 22 to 30

The last week of the April sketchbook, making notes about what I see on my route through the woods.

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22nd April: Some bird notes. A few shapes of birds that I see regularly in the wood.

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23rd April:
Leaves from trees. Most trees are getting their leaves now. My tree knowledge is a bit sketchy so it seemed a good idea to make some notes from the leaves I have collected.
24th April: Tree shapes. I am thinking about some prints so a few thumbnails of possible designs. The weather had suddenly turned very cold so it was an opportunity to do some thinking inside rather than freezing outside.

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25th April:  Bugle, wild crab apple and groundsel. There is Bugle on one of the rides through the wood. I love these pretty plants and have the cultivated form in my garden. The hairyfooted flower bees love it!
26th April: Alder. Alnus glutinosa I knew very little about the alder tree before this week.Now I know a lot more now. There is a small grove of very tall and stately trees by the bird hide. Lovely tree.

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27th April: Pendulous sedge. Up in the wood there are clumps of this  growing by the path. They are in flower right now with very attractive nodding heads which scatter yellow pollen.
28th April: Piece of bark with accompanying woodlouse. I brought a piece of wormy bark back to draw. It had a resident woodlouse so I drew that too.
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29th April: a Snail and some moth notes. Busy bank holiday Saturday so a few quick sketches of a large snail and some moths associated with the trees from the Spinney. I really like moths and have a moth trap which is due to come out as soon as it warms up a bit more.
30th April: Beech, an old twig with leaves and a new twig with emerging tiny concertina folded leaves waiting to unfold. I have learnt today that the name for trees retaining their leaves in winter, as the beech does, is called ‘marcescence’. Fascinating. These beech twigs, one very new and one old, with last years twisted dried leaves, are from the same tree. And that’s it for April!  I have a really busy May coming up, so not planning a daily notebook. But its a good and useful habit. Maybe…

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A4 Sketchbook.. with a convenient 32 pages. Nice to finish a sketchbook for a change !

April Sketchbook: Days 15 to 21

More sketches from my woodland route.

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15th April: a young oak twig with oak flowers Quercus sp and the very strange and sinister shoots of the black bryony Discorea communis. In the spring their long swaying heads emerge from the ground like searching snakes.
They wave about until they can find something to support them, sometimes each other, and then continue skywards unfolding handsome spear shaped leaves as they go. They drape themselves over trees and shrubs have small flowers but beautiful strands of red berries in the autumn.

!6th April: A fallen larch Latrix decidua twig with cone. The larch branches are too high for me to reach in the wood. They tower up into the sky on spindly trunks, their main leafy branches held right at the top in the light. The larch flowers are red…pretty…and develop into the rosette like cones.
And below the larch a single elder leaf. Sambucus niger

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17th April: Field maple Acer campestre spring with small flowers and the start of those twin seed pods and charming little trotty wagtail Motacilla alba, ever present along the waters edge.

18th April: Lichen possibly Hypogymnia physodes blown off a tree in the wood in the recent strong winds. It’s curiously spiky and a lovely faded grey green. Some old sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus keys from a last season, fallen, spray.

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19th April:  Elephant Grass. Miscanthus sp The elephant grass which grows in a large field by the reservoir has just been harvested. The harvester scatters bit of straw and grass heads along the road. It’s curious stuff with these very attractive fluffy seedhead.

20th April: Spring blues and pinks: bluebell, ground ivy, dog violet, red dead nettle, campion.

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21st April:
Deconstructed dead mole Talpa europa. Back in 2015 I had found a very smelly dead mole on the track in the wood and made some sketches.

moles-2[3]   mole-sketches-bg[3]

I then buried it in the garden in a pierced plastic tub in the hopes that worms and bugs would clean it up for me and leave a pristine skeleton. However when I unearthed it after two years it was just a slimy mass of black fur and many tiny bones all mixed together. Ah well. Maybe the compost heap next time. But it was worth digging a few out and I found a couple of jaw bones and some ribs and leg bones but the strangest I discovered are the 2 huge, (relatively  speaking) criss-cross shaped humerous bones from the front legs. See mid left on the sketch. Big strong digging bones. Very interesting!

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And I am past the middle staples in the sketchbook now!

April Sketchbook: Days 8 to 14

Continuing April sketches to record what is happening up in the wood.  Lots going on out there now. I have started noting the Latin names now, which are often illuminating and explain much.

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8th April: A neat little fly that I see everywhere. It is elegant and attractive with spotty transparent wings. Hence its Latin name Syvicola fenestris otherwise known as the window gnat. Like most flies it has some grubby habits but is very pretty non the less.

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9th April: Shepherds purse, Capsella bursa pastoris, from scrubland.( more heart shaped seeds ). The pretty silver backed silverweed leaf, Argentina anserina, and a sprig of already flowering cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris.
10th April: Pussy willow aka goat willow, Salix caprea, catkins and stems.

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11th April: A page of yellows. Pretty greeny yellow of the celandine, Ficaria verna, which opens and closes with the sun.
Delicate pale yellow of primrose, Primula vulgaris, with a darker flash near the base of the petal, buttery yellow of dandelion, Taraxacum officinale, and the daisy, Bellis perennis, centre.
The gorgeous marsh marigold, Caltha palustris, and my phone, Objectus irritatus, which was on my desk at the time.

12th April: Sadly not all bees make it.  I found a little early bumblebee, Bombus pratorum queen on the track. Shame. They are so very attractive, with silky long hair and that slightly blunt ended ginger rump. Another small grey and white female mallard feather, Anas platyrhynchos, from the execution scene. And a tiny creeping weed, the ivy leaved speedwell, Veronica hederefolia, whose flowers and leaves are neatly arranged opposite each other all the way up the stem.

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13th April: At the top a sturdy ash twig, Fraxinus, with its black leaf buds and contrasting little fluffy spray of flowers which have red tips. You can see old “keys” still hanging onto some of the trees. A little group on the right. I have never noticed these flowers before. Here they are sprouting either side of the leaf bud, looking like mad sort of ears.
14th April: Below two more willow catkins from the grey willow, Salix cinerarea, on the left and the elegant arching crack willow, Salix fragilis, on the right. All sketches in A4 32 page sketchbook. I shall be in the middle soon.. hurahhh!

April Sketchbook: Days 1-7

Up in the dark wood, the plants are starting to grow. Blossom is out on the blackthorn, primroses and bluebells are starting to flower. I wanted to make some sort of record of the developments for my work about the Spinney and I had also suggested to my painting group that a daily drawing sketchbook would be a good way of getting back into observed drawing before our first meeting at the end of the month.
So it seemed only fair that I should do the same and I really need to get back to this essential bit of looking and seeing. So here are the first 7 days of sketches. I try to limit the time and not be precious. It’s just a bit of daily practice but also a really good ideas generating process. A4 super cheap sketchbook with just 32 pages perfect for a month. I collect a bunch of single leaves and other bits and pieces from my route. Some leaves are small, just emerging, some already well on their way. I keep them in a plastic bag in the fridge. Easily mistaken for salad apparently.

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Some of this weeks ‘salad’… Mmmm…delicious!

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1st April : Arum, 2 thistles..(ouch), burdock, fascinating agrimony with its additional leaflets, celandine, dock.
2nd April: Dog’s mercury, speedwell, ground ivy, primrose, wild garlic, goose grass, cranesbill, violet, dock with spots, field maple, dandelion, elm seed, ivy, cow parsley.

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3rd April: Pine twig, dock again showing how the leaves turn back on themselves, spurge laurel flower and leaf. This shiny leaved plant manages to survive under the canopy of the wood and has curious nondescript little flowers and the beginning of the berries at this time of year. Dogs mercury again showing more of the plant and the spray of tiny flowers. A cowslip. This one from my garden but they grow happily on the banks of the reservoir so included in the “route”
4th April: Goat willow stem and its lovely catkin which has a fascinating structure when you look closely. A twig of blackthorn which is beautiful, a long black stem ending in a few white flowers. En mass this is such a poignant evocation of spring in the British countryside.

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5th April: Common hogweed leaf. a young one and the very odd flower of coltsfoot with its long snaky stem with scale leaves. The flower has faded but again a fascinating structure.
6th April : Feathers picked up over the last couple of days. A big pheasant feather and I think an accompanying small one. A very beautiful spotted woodpecker feather and a mallard feather rescued from the little that was left of the bird on the waterline…only its head was intact. I know I should have brought it back to draw,  but….

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7th April : A page of deconstructed  little wych elm seeds. A small bunch had blown off the tree by the shoreline. I removed them from their twig to draw. There are  17 of them. They are neat,  heart shaped seeds with a red seed capsule. I missed the flowers which are tiny red-ish bobbles. It seems so early for a tree to already be setting seed. When ripe they will rain down like heart confetti all over the village and into our garden.

Bird Hide

Another small experimental book about the Spinney. This little book describes part of my route through the wood where the old oaks grow. Part way along the track are the remains of a fence, once for some limited purpose as there was only ever one strand of wire, now missing in parts. It’s another remnant of some other time, rather like the old oak trees.

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Initially I planned this as just a dense, tree filled, background with the fence, but as I worked on the block I thought it more apt to incorporate bird shapes “hidden” in the background. I am acutely aware that the wood is full of watchers, birds, squirrels and even perhaps the trees. You are never alone in a wood .. are you ? Also along the route there are signs to the Savages Spinney Bird Hide.

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First rough design based on my sketchbook drawing

Adding the reference to the nearby Bird Hide by the water seemed apt. Who is watching who I wonder?? So should anyone care to take time to look into the image, there are 16 birds worked into the background, some a little abstract but then how difficult is it sometimes to see the inhabitants in a wood?

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Two flying birds on the fold and the walking figure at the very end of the book.

The concertina form is joined by a thread of “wire” kept in place by two small twigs from the oak trees and is backed with linen, like the old maps which had that very satisfying strength and pliability. The covers are hard and quite weighty and the whole thing folds very nicely.. It is all hand printed so has a tactile surface so much more pleasing than the digital print.

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It’s a very satisfying thing to hold in your hand too, that is so important for a book.

It’s not often I am pleased, but, despite the many things that could be improved,  I like this little book very much.
It has taken a few weeks to work out and I have more prints to play with,  but at least one is actually finished.

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Hurrah!!  I am managing to stick, in part, to my 2017 resolution of finishing things!
More finished things soon.

Distant Cormorants

Today I went up to the hide in Savages Spinney. It looks over the inlet where many birds take shelter. Looking south there is a small spit of land which juts out into the water from the western shore, right now it is a more extensive sand bank, revealed by the low level of the reservoir. Here the cormorants gather in considerable numbers. They love being together. It’s too far away for a photo but I could see the birds quite well with some modest field glasses. Enough for some scribbly notes.

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I made a slightly bigger sketch at home. I love the way sit with their wings outspread, preening or with heads titled skywards as if expecting
something to happen. A few gulls had joined them.

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Distant Cormorants A4 sketchbook

One bird was standing on its own, right at the end, gazing out over the water.

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The tiny sketches are not much more than squiggles and dots but you get the idea! I am very fond of cormorants. 🙂

The Branch Book

One characteristic of the big old oaks in the Spinney are the long long twisting branches that seem to defy gravity. Last year in December I needed to make some quick prints to make a small book to bind as part of a great 2 day course with bookbinder Ina Baumeister. On the course we were making a simple book but more importantly making our own bookcloth which was a complete eye opener.

For the book I made a very quick set of 8 sequential collagraph plates based on a long branch, printed to make a ten page codex book. (Good practise to get pagination right). This is the result.

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Branch Book 200 x 130mm, approx 8 x 5 inches

I have returned to this to develop it more, to get more practise with both printing and binding. One of my aims this year is to get more books made and although it’s a slow process it is very satisfying… when it goes right. Today I printed 3 more sets on different papers to compare how they print, some thin, some thick…and hope to bind them slightly differently

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Yes, it’s very slow, it took me all day to print them but another good resolution this year is to try and do things properly, ie: take time to cut the paper correctly, make printing guides and TRY to keep my grubby fingers off the paper. This I managed, just, but only after quite a few reprints. Of course if I had made the plates all the same size exactly in the first place it would have helped!
It’s a learning thing…

The Spinney: Starting with Drawing

One of my projects this year is to make some work about the small spinney which I cycle through most days. I have already made some drawings and prints but it’s a wonderful place with so much to offer that I have decided to make more. A few days ago when it was sunny I took a small notebook with me and stopped to makes some scribbly notes.

It was very cold and the drawings are quick shaky lines but really useful to me. To stop and draw, however quickly makes you sort out what exactly it is that you are really interested in. Ignoring the muddle you simplify and isolate (I think intuitively) the things that are important to you in that moment. Another day the drawing would be very different and the added bonus of drawing outside is just the joy of being outside and those chance encounters with the natural world. It makes you stop for a while and in this quiet place, off the main track, there is little to distract other than the noise of the wind in the tree tops, squirrels, woodpeckers and a friendly robin.

Today I returned for more drawing and again the robin appeared and hopped around by bike.


Yes it is very muddy! Why Savages Spinney?
The Spinney is a narrow strip of fascinating woodland which contains some fragments of the ancient wood. It features on the old maps. On this scale it is tacked onto the end of Calpher (Calfe)wood. This one from 1643.

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This from 1687
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Here nearby Brampton wood is encircled. It was an important hunting wood, once part of the much larger Royal forest of Warbridge.

In 1889 the spinney is more clearly defined. I have highlighted it. There is the addition of the railway line, now long gone and Low Farm, lost under the reservoir in the 1960s.

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Then 1986 and the reservoir has engulfed Low Farm, the railway line closed and fractured and the spinney now has its feet in the water. This is how it is today.

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So it is an area which has seen development and loss. Settlement here dates back to the Iron Age. Roman remains have been found near Perry and the church here dates back to the early 12th Century. So there is much to think about.

The wood itself is very lightly managed by the Wildlife Trust. Piles of logs are left to rot and are overcome with moss and fallen and broken branches remain undisturbed. There are woodpeckers, owls, fungi, carpets of bluebells in the spring, orchids many many bees and insects and down the side track is the bird hide, looking out over Savages Creek. There overwintering waterbirds take shelter along with resident swans, coot, moorhens, herons, cormorants and egrets and delightful grebes.

Yes indeed, so very much to think about!!