One of the meadows at Heartwood

Dear Readers, I was pining for the Alpine meadows of Obergurgl today, and so I was whisked off by my friend L to visit the largest new native forest in England. Heartwood is close to St Albans, and, at 858 hectares of woodland and meadow it represents an important habitat for all sorts of plants and animals. There is true ancient woodland here, including a bluebell wood, but over 600,000 new native trees have also been planted by the Woodland Trust’s army of volunteers. It is a magical place, and the meadows were expansive and varied – maybe not quite as varied as an Alpine meadow, but still absolutely full of life. 

On the way to Heartwood we passed through some fields full of horses, including one which was role-playing as a zebra, two who were grooming one another, and one magnificent heavy horse.

Then it was back to skipping through the flowers, while L stopped to say hello to many, many dogs. I told her that she should have a teeshirt with ‘dog-deprived’ on the front.

The weather was supposed to be dreadful today, but instead the sun shone, and the crickets sang.

And here was a real treat – a stand of Chicory. It is the most extraordinary shade of lavender-blue.

The variety of pollinators on the Creeping Thistle was extraordinary, with lots of different fly and bee species, and a lot of ladybirds, including some native Seven-Spot Ladybirds.

And look at the size of this queen bumblebee, she was about the size of a thumb-joint.

I really love Wild Carrot (Daucus carota) – it seems to also attract a wide range of pollinators, including the ‘bonking beetle’, though there was no bonking going on today.

Lots of the young trees are now full of berries, including these lovely Rowan.

And here’s the path into the new wood…

Lots of butterflies about today, including this Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus). This is a grassland butterfly, but it was taking a little break on the oak leaves.

Then, back past the horses…

…and past a barn where Barn Swallows were nesting. House Martins were also flittering about, and a lady in a wheelchair was watching them, enjoying the sunshine and the birds.

And then it was time for lunch at the Heartwood Café (highly recommended), and a leisurely 40 minute drive back to East Finchley. I had no idea that such riches were so close at hand – it goes to show how important it is to go on an expedition every so often, just to see what’s happening. And it also goes to show the sheer variety of animals and plants that will turn up if we recreate the right conditions for them.