Monday 15 March 2010

Rhos Fiddle Nature Reserve





After a long and unforgiving winter it is time to get out into the empty wilderness of the Clun Forest Uplands and let the wind blow the cobwebs away. Taking the narrow country lanes up through the farmland we soon reach the forest and the Rhos Fiddle Nature Reserve.

Rhos Fiddle is a Shropshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve, little more than a mile from the Welsh border. The SWT describes it as one of the quietest places in Shropshire; I would go so far as to say that it is one of the quietest places on earth. There are buzzards, snipe and hares, as well as curlews and other birds which have become rare.

In spite of its name, 'Clun Forest' is actually an ancient, unimproved, upland heathland and bog, marshy and reedy, with many species of plantlife which are becoming ever more rare in this industrialized 'agro-business' world we live in. Botanists come to study mosses and grasses; the whole area is a rare surviving fragment of an almost extinct, precious, natural resource.


Yesterday, we had the many acres of windswept heath to ourselves. It is too early in the year for nesting birds. But for the mewling of a pair of buzzards lazily circling, the bleat of a distant lamb and the sound of the wind, the silence up here is absolute.




The only grazing here is by imported, tough highland cattle which do not damage the balance of the natural world,  sheep are allowed in only very rarely and then only on to the outer edges of the land. Trevor Wheeler and his family before him have farmed the land for years; their farm is wholly organic and instead of threatening the environment, Trevor looks after it.








             

21 comments:

  1. It looks a magical place. And the Highland cattle have a fairytale charm that fits right in!

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  2. Fascinating. I just saw a movie that was filmed in Ireland and it looked much like that. Very different from where I live.

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  3. magic! the large and the small of these pictures tell so much of the land. you lucky woman!!! steven

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  4. That sounds so very peaceful! I can't think of any land around here that has all those characteristics. How neat for you!

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  5. It's nice to know that such undisturbed places still exist in our rush to build on every square patch of land.

    I love your photography.

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  6. I love the name Rhos Fiddle....it looks like a wonderful place.

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  7. There are some of those highland cattle here on our island. They look kind of prehistoric in the ferns and moss and tangled branches. I tried painting them, but I hated the painting.

    Your photos are gorgeous.

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  8. Your pictures show the quiet beauty of this preserve. What a great area for a walk, for a walking meditation. I enjoyed it.

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  9. How lucky are you?!! Wonderful place to meander with Benno.

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  10. You've taken some stunning pictures again. I love the one of the highland cattle. Sheer magic to have somewhere 'not built up'. These places are getting harder and harder to find.

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  11. Experiencing such a quietness is hard to come by - I have had this privilege on a few occasions. It is something to treasure & how wonderful that you found such a place. Thank you for sharing your lovely day.

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  12. Allow me to take a deep bow in thankfulness for these wonderful images, which did leave me wordless, both in Heimweh and happiness, for knowing you living there.
    A wonderful Tuesday for you all.

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  13. This looks like a wonderful place, and you have given us beautiful pictures of it. I would love to spend a day (or a week, or a month) in this quiet and organic richness....

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  14. That animal has the same hairstyle as me at the moment, which probably means I should stop bloghopping and do something with my hair...Shame about the horns, though... I can't do thing with 'em.

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  15. Oh I want to move there, Friko! I love England generally, and the more you post of your lovely part of it, the more I am eager to see it. You're an excellent guide - wonderful descriptions and backstory too.
    The steer looks like something you'd find in Nepal! (BTW, what do Brits call a single male 'cattle' - he's certainly not a cow, is he?!!)

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  16. Amazing wildlife!
    Great captures.

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  17. One of my favourite places!

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  18. Great pictures. Highland cattle are just so impressive.

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  19. I wonder where the name came from - its a wonder it has never appeared in a Mary Webb novel like Beguildy and Vessons - I can imagine a wizened brown skinned shpherd with a lock of clun sheep named Rhos Fiddle - now what would his wife be called......searching for old maps now

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  20. Hi Friko

    I loved this walk into the wild...and the woolly mammoth cattle...
    How lucky we are to find places where we do not encounter others.

    Does the name Rhos Fiddle mean anything?

    Happy days

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  21. Everybody - yes, it is an amazing landscape, there are not many places like it.
    I don't know what Rhos Fiddle means, it's probably something celtic.
    SBS - how about Wem Moss?

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Comments are good, I like to know what you think of my posts. I know you'll keep it civil.