The life led by smallholders is one of contrasts. Two nights ago I was walking over our hill in freezing April rain watched by our little Shitland while tonight I was walking in glorious May sunshine watching the magnificent seven, our dogs, career around the countryside in a vain attempt to supplement their meagre dog biscuit ration with fresh rabbit meat.
The dogs had no chance whatsoever of catching these superfit mountain bunnies but they delude themselves that one day they will. Perhaps if they went about the task with a bit more stealth they might raise their odds but as they crash about with all the delicacy of a herd of demented elephants their presence on the hill is obvious to all wildlife a long time before they are visible.
Two nights ago you couldn't see much of the wonderful countryside that we are lucky enough to live in, the cloud covering the surrounding hills, whereas today I could see for miles. From the hill you can see the Brecon Beacons, The Black Mountains, The Malvern Hills, Clee Hill and others whose names escape me. The picture above is my favourite view on the walk, our back yard so to speak.
As often happens on these little jaunts around the hill you see things that surprise and gladden your heart. Floating effortlessly above Poppy the Golden Retriever was a Red Kite, following her as she ran along the hilltop, presumably watching for small rabbits flushed out by the eager canine. Up on the ridge I could see ten ponies and four foals all enjoying the sunshine, they turned and watched our progress before deciding we had no food to offer so set off over the brow out of sight.
On the return leg of the walk I saw that two of the three holiday homes had signs of life, ours is the only house around the hill inhabited by real people, the other three are second or holiday homes. One cottage had all the windows open and judging by the smoke coming out of the chimney the owners were getting rid of the damp accrued over the winter by heating and airing the place.
And so I happily made my way down Sheep Skull Lane, along to the Troll's Cave and into the Cauldron. I saw the sun set, noting its moved a couple of hills to the right over its winter setting point. I wondered what the bundle of rags was in the stream before realising it was Faith the Gordon Setter who had thrown herself into it in an effort to cool down a bit. It was just along this path through the bog of the cauldron that I saw something that contrasted with all the feel good factors observed over the last hour.
There it was, innocent looking as it readied itself to unfurl. A green, innocuous looking plant. Now I had seen the reappearance of nettles over the last week or so and knew that I would soon have to get the brush cutter ready for action. But this plant was the signal that battle was about to commence in earnest.
The Bracken has started to grow.
It can grow several inches a day, its poisonous so nothing eats it and unchecked it covers the whole hill. It grows up to four feet high, prevents other plants from growing and when it dies it falls over turning brown and kills any plant it covers.
Years ago when there were thousands of sheep on the hill it wasn't a problem. Constant grazing kept it away. Now there are only hundreds of sheep and the Gorse Bush and Bracken has taken over much of the ground. Our small fields were overrun with the plant when we first moved in rendering the ground useless. It took hours, and I mean hours every week to go out and clear the Fields of the wretched plant. At one point I was out every other day cutting down fronds that had sprung up where two days before there was none. I got covered in green mush as the brush cutter chopped through it, you keep cutting it, it keeps growing, but eventually it tires out and starts to fail, the tubers under ground get exhausted, but until that happens you must not give in.
The fields were kept clear, our sheep grazed happily and all was well in our world late August having defeated the menace. But we knew it would return at the start of the new growing season. Looks like we are in it again. Fortunately for us it should be 50% less trouble this year and so on until its finally driven out. Long term we are going to train William to pull a roller to crush large areas on the hillside, if we do this twice a year it should seriously damage the plants hold on the grassland.
In the meantime, Bracken I'm ready for round two.
Bring it on!
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