A train trip to Beverley and walk to the Westwood and Burton Bushes

 

It has been a while since I've visited Burton Bushes. It is the easiest ancient woodland to reach by public transport, just a short train ride away to Beverley. This is a pocket of ancient woodland, 13 ha, on the NW corner of Beverley Westwood Pastures on the foothills of the Yorkshire Wolds. It is a misty, cool morning and the mist actually becomes a disorientating fog in the afternoon. From the station, I walk to and around the Minster, three Stock Doves sat atop the roof, the Jackdaws and Feral Pigeons flushed, but no sign of Peregrines. I admire the monumental beech on a corner of the Minster.

A view from the south yard.

After, I walk west and pop in the Treasure House garden. A Goldcrest is singing from the conifers. I take the green lane by Beverley Minster primary school, and emerge at the Westwood. A Skylark flies away from a pool on the pastures, Rooks feed on the grass.

The mist view towards the Burton Bushes.

Rafts of Redwings fly off from the hawthorns. I think that I should have packed a snack, but then I find a Wild Apple on a hedge, rescue a couple of fallen apples from the brambles underneath and pop them in my backpack.

Redwing.

A magnificent Hawthorn.

Oak

I eat my foraged elevenses by a bench at the entrance of Burton Bushes, is very sharp!

More Redwings are inside the Burton Bushes, gorging on the Holly berries.

I have to stop several times to try and capture in photos the autumnal beauty of this woodland with its magnificent Oak trees and carpet of russet leaves. There are some clear paths, but secondary paths are often blocked by fallen branches, and it is exhilarating to get lost amongst the vegetation. I come to a clearing where several Great Tits and Coal tits are feeding, and I hear Nuthatches. A Great Spotted Woodpecker is also feeding high on the canopy. The light is not great, but it is a great wood to explore.

Candlesnuff Fungus.

Nuthatch.

Holly laden with berries.