Frost in the valley

I experienced one of the coldest mornings I can remember a few weeks ago, when I rose before dawn and went to the Bristol Avon at Claverton, near Bath.  The sky was clear, the stars were out and there was a hard frost over everything, even on the inside of the car windscreen. Touching anything metal was painful. 

The colours of the river valley were washed out in the dawn and further muted by the covering of frost.  Mine were the first and only footsteps through the white meadow.  The weir at Claverton threw water droplets up into the air and these settled on the willows as a heavy hoar frost, so striking that a group of canal enthusiasts spent an age admiring the scene later that morning.  Willow branches trailing in the slower parts of the river had round fat icicles on them and the water froze into droplets on my braided line and in the rod rings.   Pistol shots rang out from ice settling in the frozen leat and mill pool, as water levels dropped.

The valley at Claverton is steep sided and clad in ancient woodland.  The sun barely reached the river bank by eleven, so preserved the wintery scene until long after the hill tops had thawed.   The woods remained in dark shadow for the entire morning.

I love these hard winter days, so long as I can get into the open air.  Most of the time the river banks are deserted and the veneer of frost transform’s dry vegetation and bare trees, albeit temporarily.

Commercial projects

We have just launched the new Commercial section on our website.  Check out the latest projects at:
http://www.afla.co.uk/CO/lockleaze.html

Website updates

It has been a very exciting time in the AFLA office; lots of new projects from parks and open spaces (Nether Stowey recreation ground in Somerset), elderly care (Lynwood in Ascot) and housing (Bouncers Lane, Cheltenham).  Our website has now been updated with project information - you can check these projects out by clicking on the following links:

http://www.afla.co.uk/HO/bouncers.html

http://www.afla.co.uk/CH/nether.html

http://www.afla.co.uk/EL/lynwood.html

and you can also download our most recent postcards too:

http://www.afla.co.uk/download.html

If you would like to receive a mailed postcard, please forward your contact details to:  kim@afla.co.uk

Severn cliffs

A couple of weekends ago, we visited Sedbury Cliffs in Gloucestershire. The cliffs are on the west bank of the River Severn, a mile or so north of the old Severn Bridge. The landscape encompasses all that one could wish to see, with natural, semi-natural and man-made elements of interest.  The Severn is tidal at this point and when ebbing or flowing, gallops by rapidly.  The swirls, currents and rips can’t have changed much ever, though change may come about if a barrage is built.  The cliffs are also relatively unchanged, eroding slowly into the river but clad now in Holm Oak as well as our own native oak and hazel.  On the bank, there is much evidence of the hand of man.  Ancient rotting timbers mark a jetty.  The Severn Bridge dominates the view to the south.  The east bank is dotted with large buildings, including nuclear installations at Oldbury and Berkeley.

Underfoot and overhead, the plants are interesting, even in the dead of winter. We walked over a grassy field, which looked green and firm but was in fact very heavy going, full of water filled pock marks from cattle. It was more marsh than field and more sea than marsh but the girls enjoyed skating along a silt path.  The grass gave way to reeds at the water edge and on that clear winter’s day, the tall stems shone yellow in the low light.  The reeds contrasted wonderfully with the dark green of the oak clad cliffs.

If the scenery was not enough for the senses, we also found many fossils in the limestone blocks that tumble down sporadically from the cliff.  Many of the ammonites we found were so worn and smooth that there was barely a suggestion of the spiral structure.  The ancient shells were more rewarding, bigger too, the size of a good Satsuma.  The fossils were not enough to keep the kids interested for long but they were pleased to find an excellent climbing tree stretching out over the beach.  Leaning but still alive, the tree had that wonderful springy quality of green wood, great for bouncing on.  I suspect that this time next year, the whole tree will have been ripped from the base of the cliff by the tides.

Winter sky

For a while, I thought that we might miss winter here in Bristol.  It has been fairly mild due to warm air pushed up from Africa and Southern Europe.  Out on the river banks I have noticed all the birds going bonkers, chasing each other, singing beautifully and generally behaving like spring is next week.

The other day, winter arrived again, with a cold wind and frost in the morning.  I snapped the photo below one evening, from the loft window.  A proper winter sunset, full of colour and taken in late afternoon, before the children even got home from school.