Outdoors Les Davies MBE

West Countryman’s diary

IT’SNovember and the next stop is Christmas! I can’t help but pray the fine weather continues, because there is plenty of time for the rain and cold to inflict itself on us later. Writing this in the middle of October, as the autumn sun shines and the trees still hang onto their leaves, gives me hope, but in reality I know the weather will soon change. Once it does there will be no going back, so I’m enjoying every minute of this and look back on what has been a pretty good autumn.

If you managed to get to the Mendip Ploughing Match on September 29th, you would have had a great day out. We have been “starved” of days such as this and people made the best of it. With 113 ploughs booked in on the day, there were only a couple who had to withdraw due to breakdown or transport problems.

The dry-stone walling section had 11 entries, thanks to the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) volunteer rangers and members of the Mendip Society. This is possibly the first time that walling entries have been greater than the hedge laying.

Conditions for ploughing couldn’t have been better. The previous day a huge amount of rain fell on dry ground and was quickly absorbed; the softened top soil turned like a dream. As always the ladies from the society provided lunches and tea to every competitor on the field as well as stewards, judges and members of the public.

All of this happens every year from a tent in the middle of a field on Mendip! This is a true rural celebration, attended by people who want to be there, whether they’re a spectator, competitor or member of the committee who will have worked all year to make this happen.

In today’s high-tech world it’s a comforting thought that organisations and events such as this still exist and bring the message of a working countryside to everyone. Take a look at the pictures from that day in this copy of Mendip Times…. God speed the plough!

Winter walks will soon be with us, so check out your clothing and footwear. Boots are something that may only be worn occasionally and as such we take them out, using the old excuse “well they are so comfortable and I would have to break a new pair in”.

I did just that until my old boots started to leak and found out that modern boots ARE comfortable and you DON’T have to break them in. I also chose a pair one size bigger and found the extra room a real advantage. I could put some good quality insulating insoles in, improving comfort and insulation. It was a game changer for me and led to much less fatigue.

Kicking through the piles of autumn leaves was, and still is, an experience filled with child-like joy. It’s not only the sound, but the sight of the leaves scattering in front you. It brings back memories of bonfire nights and the preparation for them.

If they do take place these days, Covid allowing, they are group organised, being strictly controlled and delivered. There was a time families had their own small bonfire and fireworks in the back garden. A lot of effort was spent collecting leaves and anything that would burn to make this “beacon”.

With LES DAVIES MBE

I only remember one such case in my childhood when we had a bonfire. It was situated in an old quarry below the farmyard and my grandfather spent all evening worrying about the sparks reaching the hay barn. Suffice to say we didn’t have another!

Spare a thought however for those leaves and how they have reached the end of their working life. Digging way back into the memory vaults, many will recall school biology lessons describing photosynthesis and the green chemical chlorophyll that makes the process of food production for a tree possible.

These arboreal solar panels spend all year converting sunlight into food and sending it to the root system via the vascular system of the tree, just like a pipeline. As the temperature starts to drop, the tree realises it’s heading into winter.

Deciduous trees which drop their leaves and become dormant, will start preparations. Dumping the leaves no longer needed in the dormant season, will reduce the freezing effect on the tree and eliminate the wind resistance from winter storms. The tree also reduces the amount of water it holds to prevent freezing, reducing water uptake as early as July.

The tree will take back all the chlorophyll and sugars from the leaf, sending it down the trunk for storage in the root system until required again next spring. This results in the colour change we see when reds, yellows and other colours become evident. They have been there all along, but masked by the chlorophyll giving the leaf its green colour.

There is one final job for the leaf and that is to act as “toilet paper” for the tree. It pumps its waste into the leaf before settling down to sleep, similar to our visit to the bathroom. Thus the leaf has fulfilled its task on the tree and a corky layer of cells called the “abscission layer” cuts it free. Falling to the ground they become compost to feed the soil and complete their part of the carbon cycle.

You will notice not all trees have the autumn colours. Ash and alder are nutrient rich and flaunt their wealth by jettisoning leaves when they are still green. Conifers will pump natural anti-freeze into their needle-like leaves, so they can get an early start in the spring, which helps in the colder climates they are meant to grow in.

Finally, this month’s picture is the horse chestnut, or “conker”. There was a time when no small boy was complete without a satchel full of these, a metal meat skewer to bore holes in them and boot laces on which to string them… gladiatorial combat in the school playground!