As we are all being very sensible and following government advice about non essential travel, many of us are discovering the delights of out local area. I live in Scunthorpe, which may not be the number one choice of many people to live but, when the town began to grow rapidly between the wars, the local councillors adopted a very sensible approach of interspersing housing with parks and green spaces. No-one was far from an area of open space. Nearly all of these have remained open during the present Coronavirus crisis.
Within 15 minutes walk of my house, I can be in a large area of semi- natural woodland called Brumby Wood. From the flora, this was ancient woodland and has probably been there for many centuries. There are a series of well made tracks through the woods and it is a wonderful place to walk and recharge batteries. The grandsons love it as there are trees to climb and fallen tree trunks to fall over, They can play at being Robin Hood and enjoy all the games boys used to love but rarely play now. It also has the advantage of being fairly quiet, so there are few problems about social distancing.
Walks are accompanied by bird song. The bluebells are now past their best, but the ground is now covered with swathes of wild garlic. The smell is so strong it clings to clothes and hair even when I get home. The hawthorn in the shrub layer is covered with blossom. Along the paths are cowslips, Jack by the Hedge and the lovely yellow archangel, as well as Cow Parsley. I much prefer the old fashioned name for this of Queen Anne’s Lace. There are a variety of different suggestions how the plant got its name but I like the one that Queen Anne noticed it while out in her coach and was convinced it had been planted specially for her benefit. The delicate flowers and leaves reminded her of lace.
Brumby Wood is easy to find. It is at the bottom of Central Park, between the A18 and Brumby Wood Lane, near North Lindsey College. The nearest post code is DN17 1AH and grid reference is SE881104.
