GREENWOOD
Nature and the neighbourhood
Field in Evening Light
Posted on July 19, 2022
When the evening began to cool, the sun going down cast a rosy glow over the heads of ripe golden wheat, and made lengthening pale shadows over the crop from the trees and hedgerows, before sinking from view behind Charminster Down.
Wheat Ripening in Lone Pine Field
Posted on July 3, 2022
The crops growing around Charlton Down are ripening and changing colour. Wheat in the field which has a solitary pine in the middle, beside the path to Charminster that goes up and over Wood Hill, is changing from blue green to yellow gold. It makes a lovely countryside view.
View from Wood Hill 4
Posted on September 17, 2021
Wood Hill overlooks Charlton Down to the north, Charminster Down to the west, Charminster village to the south, and Charlton Higher Down to the east. On the north side of the hill closest to Charlton Down, small numbers of livestock such as cattle, sheep, and horses are grazed on the slopes.
Click the image to enlarge and see the details.
View from Wood Hill 3
Posted on September 16, 2021
One of the two public footpaths from my village of Charlton Down to the next village of Charminster, that lies further south, passes over the top of Wood Hill. On the top of the hill is a group of trees called Wood Hill Clump. The path goes around the trees, and after navigating the stile (or ‘kissing gate’), you see a completely different kind of view across a field of ripe wheat towards Charminster, the developing town of Poundbury, and the hills beyond.
Click the image to enlarge and see the details.
Harvest 1
Posted on August 18, 2021
The farmers are busy harvesting the fields in the dry spells between the rain. The noise of the combine harvesters, trucks and tractors can be heard most days recently while they gather in the crops. Yesterday I saw people hard at work gathering the barley in the early evening. It was dull but dry and the occasional shaft of low sun transformed the view.
CD Country Walk (in the rain)
Posted on August 10, 2021
Pictures from a walk in the rain around the village last week, showing how fast the maize is growing in some of the fields, with the corncobs developing well. Difficult to get good shots with the lens getting wet and having to dry it constantly, but the rain did ease off now and again, and I did enjoy myself even if I got soaked.
Ripening barley
Posted on August 6, 2021
The barley is ripening in the fields and I think it will not be long before the farmers cut it. At least one field of the oilseed rape has already been harvested and that field has been ploughed ready for the next sowing. Our long recent spell of dry weather has turned to wet and windy, so that must be frustrating, as it could damage the standing barley with its heavy ears and delay the harvest. Some stands were already flattened at the end of July.
CD Countryside Views 3
Posted on July 15, 2021
It was a lovely July morning and I thought I would venture across the main road at the top of the village to admire views from the slopes of Charlton Higher Down now that the crops are all ripening and the colours so different since my last visit. When I arrived at the place I was aiming to explore, I was disappointed to find that the farmer was spraying a field, and it seemed unwise to be too close. I ventured a short distance in the opposite direction but the path petered out and I could still smell the spray. So I walked back the way I came.
Field of Peas
Posted on July 13, 2021
Pictures from a walk yesterday afternoon into the fields around Charlton Down, towards the River Cerne where it borders onto a large field on sloping ground where the farmer has planted a crop of Field Peas. I think that they are being grown for animal feed but at the same time will help fertilise the soil because legumes fix nitrogen from the air and store as a compound in the roots. I haven’t seen peas as a crop here before. This field had barley last year. I really like the way the skies seen so expansive over the fields, and the cloud formations were wonderful.
CD Field Walk 1
Posted on July 9, 2021
The barley is growing fast. The stalks and the grain are still green but the ‘whiskers’ have turned colour. Acres of soft golden haze cover the slopes. undulating like waves on the sea as the wind ripples through the crop. Clouds scudding-by create moving shadows to darken the fields, emphasising the vibrancy and golden glow when the sun reappears. It is such a pleasure to see all this – the wider panorama as well as the moving textures and nuances of hue on the smaller scale. We are privileged to be able to walk around the fields that surround Charlton Down and observe the changes to the farmed landscape from season to season.
Best appreciated full-size.
GREENWOOD 