Chapel Wood, Spreacombe

This week we vistited Chapel Wood, near Woolacombe. This small RSPB reserve is a mixed woodland, mostly Oak/Beech. . The name comes from Spreacombe Chapel and Well, the ruin of which is just to the right as you walk through the main entrance.

Since the site is so far away from the usual places we work, that to get the most out of the day we started extra early, driving in the truck to Barnstaple along a route roughly following the Tarka line.

This was my first time going to Chapel Wood, and I enjoyed the change of scenery. I am a big fan of trees, and for me right now they are where the interest is as the season for flowers is mainly over. Instead we get to look at the changing colour of the leaves, and fungi developing in the undergrowth. Two species that stood out to me were Beech and Horse chesnut with the remains of some conkers still on the ground amongst the leaf litter. We didn't get a chance to go mushroom hunting, but apparently this is a good spot to look for the poisonous toadstool Fly Agaric.

A footpath runs round the perimiter, and when we got there we took a brisk walk around it, to check for any fallen or dangerous trees after the tropical storm that hit earlier this week. The circular walk is good exercise since there are lots of steps to climb up, and then lots to climb down again.

Staircase at Chapel Wood: Barrie Cann [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

In the morning we did some tidying up, keeping the footpath and clearings open, and repairing windows in one of the storage sheds there. For the rest of the day we put in a bench. This was a change also, as rather than digging holes in marshy ground, we were eating through mostly rock, a beautiful purlpe slate. During the day we saw a few people walking through, some with children and some with dogs.

Chapel Wood: Grant Sherman [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons