{"id":4430,"date":"2019-07-25T15:06:08","date_gmt":"2019-07-25T14:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/?p=4430"},"modified":"2019-07-25T15:06:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-25T14:06:09","slug":"the-chase-and-great-pen-wood-17-july-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rdnhs.org.uk\/blog\/the-chase-and-great-pen-wood-17-july-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chase and Great Pen Wood – 17 July 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rob Stallard led a walk at the\nNational Trust\u2019s The Chase and the Forestry Commission\u2019s Great Pen Wood on Wednesday\n17 July, starting from the Rampant Cat pub at Woolton Hill, south-west of\nNewbury. On a hot, sunny morning and after more than 3 weeks without rain, the\nwoods provided welcome shade. The walk started out through woodland at The\nChase. Yellow Pimpernel, Slender St John\u2019s-wort and Wood Sage were seen beside\nthe first stretch of path, which led to an open meadow area. Here Meadow Brown\nbutterflies were abundant, and Small Skippers darted around, particularly on\nthe flowers of Greater Bird\u2019s-foot-trefoil. The next section of the route was\nacross an open area of heathland with Heather not yet in flower, Dwarf Gorse, Sheep\u2019s\nSorrel and Trailing St John\u2019s-wort. A Lizard was glimpsed here. The walk\ncontinued to the main stream which runs through the reserve, a tributary of the\nRiver Enborne. Three Green-veined White butterflies were down on the mud by the\nwater\u2019s edge and a Holly Blue flew nearby. There was an interesting collection\nof plants in a damp area by the stream, including Skullcap, Ragged Robin,\nCreeping Forget-me-not, Square-stalked St John\u2019s-wort and Creeping Jenny. The\nwalk continued down the stream valley through Alder Carr woodland to a big pond\nwhere the stream had been dammed. The pond was fenced to protect the waterside\nvegetation, which included Cyperus Sedge, Orange Balsam, Wild Angelica and\nGypsywort. White Water-lilies covered part of the pond surface and a Kingfisher\ndarted past. The route led back through woodland on the other side of the\nstream. The smell of a Stinkhorn alerted the group to its presence near the\npath. Big clumps of pink Bog Pimpernel were in flower in a damp area on the way\nto the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After crossing the busy A343\nroad, the walk continued through Great Pen Wood. The track led through Beech\nand conifer woodland to a stream valley, where Yellow Loosestrife, Common\nHemp-nettle, Common Valerian and a Broad-bodied Chaser dragonfly were seen. It\nthen climbed up the valley side. An Alder beside the path had extensively\nchewed leaves, the work of a team of shiny black larvae. These were later\nidentified as the larvae of the Alder Leaf Beetle. On the other side of the\ntrack was a big Alder Buckthorn bush with ripening berries. The next track was\nwide with flowery margins. Butterflies seen here included Large Skipper,\nSpeckled Wood, Ringlet and Gatekeeper, while flowers included the yellow spikes\nof Tall Melilot, Common Fleabane and Hemp Agrimony. The track crossed an open\nsunny stream valley with big flowering bramble bushes, where Red Admiral,\nPeacock and at least 4 Silver-washed Fritillary butterflies were seen. Further\nup the other side of the valley, the track was bordered on one side by abundant\nCrown Vetch. The final part of the walk led back across the A343, through the\nwestern section of The Chase and back to the Rampant Cat for lunch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n