Gordon Crutchfield led a walk on Wednesday 18th December which started from the Black Horse at Checkendon. The route followed footpaths through woods and fields to the village church, then turned westwards to cross the grounds of Checkendon Court. A line of large fungi in the short parkland turf were probably Field Blewits, but their decaying state made identification difficult. At the end of the park, another footpath turned northwards into woodland. A fallen beech log had 2 different kinds of bracket fungi, Silver-leaf (notorious for damaging plum trees) and Bjerkandera adusta. After a short stretch along a quiet lane, the next footpath turned into the woods of Braziers Common. Pale leaves on the ground came from Whitebeam trees, which favour chalky soils. Some of the hazel coppice stools were very large and old. A conifer log had the orange specks of the fungus Dacrymyces stillatus. At the bottom of a steep stretch of path was a hazel which proved, on closer inspection, to be covered by a number of different fungi. Stereum rugosum had pale tan-coloured flakes which stained red when scraped. Hypoxylon fuscum formed small black lumps along a branch. The route back passed a massive ancient oak tree in the farm yard at Scot’s Farm. Most of the party then enjoyed lunch at the Black Horse, where there was a welcoming log fire and good beer.
