Ashdown Woods

Ashdown Forest looking south from below Church Hill car park, 19 August 2018

Hot and dry weather has been kind to this part of the Ashdown, which I think must never be entirely dry.  Water runs down this slope into a stream at the bottom.  Here, the heather is in full bloom (this is Ling, Calluna vulgaris) and there is plenty of bracken, broom and young silver birches.  The larger trees are Scots Pine.

Path from Marden Hill to the Secret Lake, 19 August 2018

This path runs parallel to the stream.  Here the uphill slope is to the left, and lush Pendulous Sedges line the path on the damper side, where water tends to collect.

Part of the Old Mill, 19 August 2018

Some old stonework, overgrown with trees and their roots, is part of the Old Mill.  I mentioned that in another post with photos from the same pathway, here: Ashdown Woodland Track.

There are several areas where one type of vegetation seems to run riot.  The Pendulous Sedges above are an example.

Woodland grass.  19 August 2018

This is another.  I don't know what grass this is. The smaller clumps at the front are Wood Melick, but I'm not good at identifying grasses so the larger one has me stumped.  It is certainly doing well here, though.

Here's a photo from close by this spot, taken last year:

Hard Fern, Blechnum spicant.  Ashdown Forest, 20 October 2017.

To show that it's not just grass that can take over a section of woodland.  These are Hard Fern, and I have not seen this many on one spot elsewhere.

Track through the woods, Ashdown Forest, 22 August 2018.

Other inviting tracks lead off from this one.  Here's one - with a row of rushes in its centre, another sign of damp ground.