LandScape Christmas 2015

LandScape - Life at nature’s pace

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Life at nature’s pace

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Christmas 2015

Christmas snow | Holly | Festive turkey | Rosemary decorations | Crocheted wreath | Sleeping cats and dogs | Pine cones | Holly farmer | Partridges | Bath in winter

’TIS THE SEASON

Bottling the spirit of moor and loch

Christmas 2015

Rocking horses carved with love Nature’s spa in Somerset’s winter hills Issue 27 | Christmas 2015 | £4.25

Country lanes take on a different appearance when covered with a blanket of snow. As the flakes fall, a walk becomes an adventure in a peaceful landscape.

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DRIFTS OF WHITE VELVET Tiny snowflakes turn the countryside into a pristine wonderland of crystalline beauty

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ALLING SOFTLY TO the ground, snowflakes transform the winter landscape, creating an icy enchantment of irresistible beauty. This is a muffled world, the falling flakes absorbing sound while the snow-covered ground reflects light back into the skies above. Trees, hedgerows, buildings, hills and vales take on a new softened appearance.

Made up of billions of individual tiny crystals, a covering of snow is one of the wonders of winter. Seemingly frail and delicate, these crystals are responsible for shaping Britain’s landscape. More than 10,000 years ago, during the last ice age, they compacted into glacial ice hundreds of metres thick, which laid across the country.

Together these tiny crystals became a mighty force, carving out amphitheatre-like hollows across the Lake District, North Wales and Scottish mountains.

Falling crystals Snow’s creation starts high in the atmosphere. To form, a snow crystal needs a nuclei from a dust particle, for example, or air-borne salt spray. At heights of 6,500ft to 26,000ft (2,000-8,000m), the air temperature can be many degrees below freezing. Despite this, a snow crystal may begin as a water droplet, from the ever-present water vapour that surrounds the earth. These droplets may remain unfrozen in clouds well below the freezing point, because of their minute size, just a 100th of a millimetre. But once the temperature approaches -40°C, they finally freeze, forming crystals. Once frozen, each crystal gathers up more water droplets which freeze onto its surface, enabling it to grow larger.

Frequently, however, ice forms directly onto the crystal itself from vapour in a super-saturated state within a cloud. This process is called sublimation and happens when water vapour in the air changes to a solid without passing through a liquid stage.

All crystals have a six-sided symmetry due to the way hydrogen in a molecule of water (H20) bonds with its neighbours. The hexagonally arranged water molecules stack in sheets with sides that are perfectly straight and angled at 120° to each other, called facets. ›

From the top: A stellar snowflake has thin, plate-like crystals with six broad arms forming a star-like shape. Sectored plate snowflakes have distinctive ridges that point to the corners between adjacent prism facets. A fern-like dendrite, or branching, snowflake.

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RIDING HIGH In a rural workshop in Shropshire, Steve and Alison Smith’s bright-eyed wooden rocking horses are made using techniques that date back to the 1850s

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FESTIVE TURKEY THREE WAYS Roasted as a crown, wrapped in pastry or as a herb-crusted drumstick, this versatile bird is the centrepiece of the Christmas meal

Turkey crown with mulled jelly glaze Serves 6, with 10 stuffing balls turkey crown, plus meat and trimmings from remainder of bird 1½ bottles red wine 2 cinnamon sticks 1 orange 30g sugar dash of port whole nutmeg 2 bay leaves, plus extra for decoration 1 sheet of gelatine 500g apricots, prunes and figs, plus extra for decoration 80g cranberries, plus extra for decoration 300g breadcrumbs 3 eggs 2 tbsp allspice 60g butter plain flour, to dust salt and black pepper orange peel, for decoration

CREATING A TURKEY CROWN

In a large saucepan, combine 1 bottle of wine, 1 cinnamon stick, the zest and juice of the orange, the sugar and the port. Grate in 1 tbsp of nutmeg, then bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins.

With the turkey crown in the roasting tin, add the leftover turkey pieces, ribcage and fat to the simmering wine. Season with salt and pepper and add the bay leaves.

Simmer on a rolling boil for 1 hr, covered, and then a further hour, uncovered.

Remove the turkey pieces and discard. In a separate bowl, soak the gelatine leaf in cold water for 5 mins. Squeeze it dry and add to the mixture. Leave to cool completely before transferring to a bowl. Keep chilled.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5. To make the stuffing and stuffing balls, chop the apricots, figs and prunes roughly. Place into a bowl with the cranberries, breadcrumbs, eggs and allspice. Combine thoroughly and season.

Massage the bird with the butter, on top and underneath the skin. Pour over the remaining red wine and stuff the turkey with a third of the stuffing mixture at the top of the bird. Weigh the stuffed bird then times the number of kilos by 35 mins to find the cooking time. Grease a separate baking tray, then dust hands with flour and roll the remaining stuffing mixture into 10 balls. Place on the tray and set aside.

Cover the crown loosely with tin foil and roast for 1 hr. Position a third of the jelly on top of the bird, re-cover and cook for 1 hr. Add another third, then add the remaining jelly 30 mins before the end of cooking. Roast for the calculated cooking time, until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and turn the temperature to 180°C/gas mark 4. Cook the stuffing balls for 15-20 mins, until golden and cooked through.

Allow the bird to rest covered in tin foil for 15 mins. Decorate with the extra figs, prunes, apricots and cranberries, orange peel and the second cinnamon stick. Serve with roasted potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions, and stuffing balls.

To make the turkey into a crown, it is placed on a chopping board, with the legs facing forward. Each leg is cut off by cutting along the crease of the leg and then breaking the leg out of its socket by pushing it backwards. The legs are cut away completely, then half of the wings are cut away from the joints. The turkey is propped to rest on its wings, then the lower part of the ribcage is cut away. This is done by breaking it halfway down by folding it so it snaps, then cutting it away from the main bird. Any excess fat is trimmed away and the crown is placed in a large roasting tin and chilled until needed.

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SCENT OF THE SEASON Decorations made from rosemary fill the festive home with a full-bodied fragrance reminiscent of pine

Sprigs of rosemary are tied together with a piece of string and hung from a wooden door.

Rosemary stems are flexible, making it easy to bend them into simple wreaths, which are then tied with string.

SLEEPING BEAUTIES

Cats and dogs spend long hours sleeping deeply, regardless of the season’s festivities

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BLIVIOUS TO THE hustle and bustle of the festive season, the family dog or cat lies in comfort, fast asleep. Stretched out beside the fireplace or curled up on a cushion, these animals spend much of each day sleeping. Dogs may sleep for up to 14 hours and cats as much as 16 hours.

“Cats and dogs sleep for quite long periods compared with other animals,” says Professor Donald Broom, emeritus professor of animal welfare at Cambridge University. “Half or more of their life is spent resting and much of that sleeping, which is a higher proportion than humans. The amount of sleep and duration of periods of sleep depends on the individual, but the total time spent sleeping is usually the majority of each 24-hour period.”

Signs of slumber An animal is sleeping when it is lying still in a relaxed position. The eyes are closed and the animal is generally unresponsive to things happening around it. There are different stages of sleep, from superficial to deeper. These can be measured using an electroencephalogram, or EEG. This uses electrodes to record electrical activity in the scalp.

The voltage fluctuations are the result of ionic current flows within the neurons of the brain, with activity recorded in wave patterns.

“By looking at an EEG, it’s possible to identify a characteristic pattern called delta wave which is shown when sleeping,” says Professor Broom. “The different kinds of sleep show different patterns.” When an individual is awake the wave activity is very rapid, with many peaks and troughs recorded. In the initial stages of sleep, wave activity slows down, and as the sleep deepens it slows further again.

Functions of sleep “Most people think of sleep as having the function of recuperation from fatigue, specifically the body recuperating.

We believe, however, it’s more about the brain than the body,” he says. “In companion animals, brain recuperation looks to be significant.”

The exact reason for this is yet to be understood.

However, it is believed this need for brain recuperation is linked to the mental effort expended each day. “The brain uses a great deal of energy, much more than would be expected,” says Professor Broom. “It could also be linked to some of the processes in the brain such as consolidation of memory. When an individual learns something, it’s retained for a little while. However, if it is to be remembered for longer, it is thought that a period of rest facilitates retention.”

Time spent asleep has other vital functions, including the avoidance of predators. “Even as predator species, dogs and cats are still subject to predation in the wild. If they are still and have made themselves small then they are not making a lot of noise. This means they are safe, as even small amounts of noise attract predators. Also, the place where they are sleeping has been selected as a place that’s quite secure. So sleep helps to keep them safe.”

Physical effects When an individual is lying down or is in a resting position, their stillness means they use less energy than when awake.

Conserving energy like this helps them to hunt efficiently. ›

BRAIN ACTIVITY IN SLEEP STAGES Awake.

Stage 1: Light sleep. Slow eye movement, easily awakened.

Stage 2: Light sleep. Eye movement ceases, brain waves become slower.

Stage 3: Deep sleep. Very slow delta waves interspersed with faster waves.

Stage 4: Deep sleep. Only delta wave activity.

Professor Donald Broom is emeritus professor of animal welfare in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Cambridge University. The fifth edition of Domestic Animal Behaviour and Welfare, by Donald M Broom and Andrew F Fraser, is available now from CABI Publishing. www.cabi.org

Stage 5: REM sleep.

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Sheets of carols are rolled into cones and fixed to a circle of card.

A button is fastened with thread at the front. The thread is used to tie the decoration to the tree.

TUNEFUL ARRANGEMENT Sheets of Christmas carol music are used to create simple decorations

The casks of maturing whisky are stacked three high in a traditional dunnage warehouse. These are short buildings, with a slate roof, an earthen floor and thick walls made of stone or brick. The floor allows more moisture and higher humidity, believed to produce a better whisky.

WATER OF LIFE In the Highlands of Scotland, the country’s smallest distillery produces whisky in a manner unchanged for nearly 200 years

THE HOLLY ORCHARD A Norfolk farm is home to a unique family business, providing holly for the Christmas market

Nick Coller gathers in the holly harvest at Norfolk’s How Hill Farm.

A tunnel of orange-berried Ilex aquifolium ‘Amber’.

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UCKED AWAY DOWN a quiet lane stand rows of holly trees, clothed in glossy foliage and vivid berries, bright against the wide winter skies of the Norfolk Broads. Clusters of red, yellow, orange and amber berries nestle among leaves that come in various verdant shades. Some are entirely dark green, others are paler, edged with gold, cream or silver.

This is the home of Britain’s only commercial holly orchard. It was originally planted in 1938, by farmer Stuart Boardman on two acres of his 350-acre arable farm at Ludham. His son Peter took over the business before passing it to nephew Nick Coller in 2000. Now in his 80s, Peter lives in the family home, which is filled with holly china, holly pictures, holly glass and holly wood bowls.

“I don’t know why my father started two acres of holly, or where the idea came from,” he says.

“He was a fruit farmer, but decided to plant a holly orchard with half a dozen varieties, presumably for the Christmas trade.”

Before he started to develop the orchard, Peter wanted to learn more about growing and farming the holly. He journeyed to the US’s Pacific North-west, where holly had been farmed since the 1920s. “English holly, Ilex aquifolium, grows better there than it does here,” he says.

On his return, he found the holly trees had thrived on the well-drained medium loam.

However, lacking any expertise in holly, his father had only cut the trees for the Christmas trade.

Lacking a spring prune, they were not fruiting as well as they should each year. They were also getting too big, growing into each other.

Competition from birds “Another problem was that the birds kept getting to the berries before we did. There were migrating winter visitors, redwings and fieldfares, and starlings, masses of them. So one day I went to Yarmouth and bought some very big nets from the fishermen there. We threw them over the top of trees which had berries on. It was not easy to do, but it worked. I remember once, though, I took the nets off a fully-berried tree just before lunch.

When I came back an hour later there wasn’t a berry left on that tree!” says Peter.

“In America I learned that the ideal is to plant holly trees approximately 21ft apart. In orchard conditions you need one male tree to 50 females.

Not knowing this, my father had planted male and female side by side, so half the trees had no › Peter Boardman and his nephew Nick with bunches of holly they have cut.

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THE FIRST BIRD OF CHRISTMAS Popularised by the carol, the grey partridge forages for grain in the stubbly fields of the winter landscape

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ATE ON A winter’s afternoon in the heart of East Anglia, a group of small, plump birds scratch across the surface of a snow-covered field. A family group, or covey, of grey partridges, they are digging down through the snow, searching for seeds and grains beneath. As dusk falls, they build a snow hole where they can hide from predators and keep warm.

The grey partridge, also known as the English partridge, is a pot-bellied bird with short legs. Its upright stance enables it to peek over the tops of grasses and crops to check out any potential danger. Measuring between 11½-12in (29-30cm) long, adult birds weigh approximately 14oz (400g). Male and female are superficially similar, though the female is slightly smaller than her mate. From a distance, both appear grey on the crown, upper back, neck, breast and belly. The face and head are orange-brown, the wings brownish and the flanks streaked brown. There is a dark brown, horseshoe-shaped patch on the lower belly with white on the under tail.

A closer view reveals the subtlety of what at first glance seems to be drab plumage. The ‘grey’ of the underparts is actually made up of delicate black wiggly markings. Sitting on a paler background, these are known as vermiculations, from the Latin

A covey, made up of adults and juvenile birds, feeds in a snowy field. They will roost in a huddle, occasionally with all the birds facing outwards. This is known as a jug or juk.

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vermis for worm. The ‘brown’ upperparts are scalloped patches of chestnut edged with paler white and interspersed with streaks of grey. They are designed to help the bird blend in with its background. In flight the birds appear mainly brown, with reddish-brown plain edges to the tail. The juveniles are much smaller than their parents, with a shorter neck, and streaked beige and brown, with a plain russet tail.

The cereal stalker Grey partridges, Perdix perdix, are birds of rough grassland and arable farmland, mostly in lowland areas. Their range has a distinct bias towards the east of Scotland and England, where the bulk of Britain’s cereal crops are grown. They are sedentary, with their breeding and wintering ranges overlapping closely.

Many grey partridges spend their whole lives within the same two or three fields where they were born.

In winter, they usually live in coveys, with between two and five older birds and their young of the previous breeding season.

At this time of year, partridges mainly feed on grain and the seeds of arable weeds. As the season goes on, and seeds become scarcer, they also feed on green shoots of winter wheat or barley. ›

Far from dull, the grey partridge’s plumage is a patchwork of intricate patterns of feathers.

NATURAL SPA SET IN GOLD

Visitors have been drawn to Bath for thousands of years, originally to bathe in its hot springs, then to admire the golden-glowing Georgian architecture

Nestled in the gently rolling countryside of Somerset, the limestone of Bath’s buildings glints golden in the winter sun.

Bring every season to life in your home with LandScape

8

issues a year

GORGEOUS GARDENING We celebrate the beauty and diversity of the British garden and its plants. You’ll find inspiration and advice as we invite you into gardens where nature and nurture flourish.

INSPIRATIONAL COOKERY Every issue has tempting recipes that make the most of the season’s produce. You’ll find new ways to enjoy traditional favourites for every meal.

EXQUISITE CRAFT Enjoy discovering how to create beautiful decorations using seasonal flowers and foliage. Follow our step-by-step guides to creating simple crafts for home and garden.

CELEBRATING HERITAGE

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Read about the craftsmen and women who are keeping Britain’s traditional skills alive. Visit towns, villages and countryside that encapsulates the country’s proud history.

CHANGING COUNTRYSIDE Learn about the animals and birds that inhabit our fields, rivers and seas. And we explain how there’s more to many of our farm animals than meets the eye.

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