Month: May 2017

We both like being amongst trees, Valerie more so than me but I love the peacefulness and tranquil quality of a wood its energy and how touching and embracing them is such a rewarding experience.

On Sunday we went to Hadley Wood, Again, which is an ancient deciduous  wood a remnant of the Royal Hunting estate that formed much of Enfield and its environs since the time of Henry II and frequently used by  Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.  There was a large Palace, Elsyng, in Enfield that Henry had for his children and from where he could hunt.  I like to think that Henry wrote many of his poems  here and perhaps even Greensleeves.

I think that being in contact with the Earth, grounding, is very important and we all too often drift away from this. Being well grounded keeps us balanced, strong and, I feel, optimistic.   Hugging tree trunks, thinking on the Earth, feeling the telluric energy helps us to ground  and crystals can also be used.  My favourite stone for this is black tourmaline

and I have a lovely lump which is wonderfully effective.  In the background you can see lumps of rose quartz which is perhaps my favourite stone but it is black tourmaline for grounding.

On Sunday we went for a picnic in the wood and as I was lying on my back looking up at the trees, listening to the birds, I was struck as to how beautiful the leaves and branches were against the sky.

I thought of the time last September when we were in another part of Hadley Wood where we saw swathes of Michaelmas daises.

It always a treat to see them in such large numbers.

It was a bit chilly this morning but we decided to visit the fete at Forty Hall and I am glad we did; of course it is sunny now!  The farm was open and we wandered through past the orchard and a lonely Punch and Judy but I bet it will be surrounded by children and curious adults soon.  I love the smell of farms, the animals, hay and feed.  It was good to see the chickens but I missed the pigs.  We were on our way to look at the vineyard.  We sponsor a couple of vines and hope loads of you do as well.  It t is an imaginative and worth-while project.

I think it has 10,000 vines and is cultivated, by hard-working volunteers with professional supervision, organically and using Steiner’s principle of biodynamics.  It something Enfield can be proud of;  I know that I am.

One disappointment was that the farm shop did not have any sausages, (all meat products are produced from farm stock) but we had bought some rhubarb on our visit last weekend.

The lake and planting of the mound at the end are coming on well.

Canada geese are a nuisance now but young are always sweet and lovely!  I remember how excited we used to be (in the 1950s) when a V of geese flew over honking their way to somewhere. If only they would stay in the sky.

The lead  in the troupe of Albanian dancers gave a short speech.  She mentioned how they are pleased to be integrating into London and Enfield but to do this they need to be aware of their roots ( I hope that I have accurately paraphrased).  I go for this sentiment though I am not sure what my roots are.

The cedar in the background was the one we were married under.  The huge branch we stood under still looks magnificent.

The grounds were looking particularly loved and cared for and we enjoyed our stroll to the kissing gate and so home.

We are lucky to have many parks and open spaces in Enfield, one is Forty Hall an early Jacobean manor house.  Sunday we decided to go there via the car boot in Enfield Town Market.  We parked in the little car park behind the Grammar and County Schools.  There is a rare Ginko tree in one corner, it is the small tree on the left.

A friend, whose green fingers extend to trees, helped the company move it here, not sure where from.

Walking to the market place along Holly Walk, I spotted a funnel spider in a wall of yellow London stock bricks.  It is always a shock to witness the speed at which the spider, lurking deep suddenly appears to capture any fly or other creature that lands on the stoop of its home.

The bricks were made from London clay. There were several brick fields in Enfield and much of Enfield was built using these bricks about 1890 to 1910. The clay has been all used up so they cannot now be made.  We passed another piece of history, a red brick building built by Henry VIII when he endowed the Grammar School.  A later memory is the upper floor of a building that had Boots on the ground floor.  Not sure what it is now though we walked past it!

 

So to Forty Hall.  The link to the web site gives details of this exceptional park and house, I am blogging about our walk there.  I’ve been going to forty Hall for over 50 years and Valerie for longer.  Her parents were offered accommodation there but didn’t take the offer up, the shops were too far I suspect.  Despite this we wandered into a part we had not been to before and found bluebells to boot!

 

It was secret with little tracks, quiet.  The path we followed led to one we had often walked on.

 

 

And then we came to one of my favourite trees, a huge sweet chestnut.

 

 

 

Henry VIII had a palace here, Elsynge, it is now thought to be a major one.  Archaeological excavations are carried out each summer.  The site is somewhere behind this small oak.

Edward VI was there with his sister Elizabeth when he was told of his father’s, Henry VIII, death and that he was now King of England.  It seems Henry planned much of the dissolution of the monasteries here and I like to think he wrote his hunting poems here maybe even Green Sleeves.

We walked where once walked Princes, Kings and Queens.