Our Trip to Apedale Country Park / La nostra escursione al Parco Rurale di Apedale
Last week we went for a trip to Apedale, a very nice and typical Country park near our town Chesterton where you can visit an acient wood called Watermills wood.
As the name, Watermills Wood, suggests - there were, at one time, mills in these woods which ground things such as corn or wheat into flour. Later, coal mines were dug here using water from the stream running through the wood. We can tell that the opencast mine did not dig into the wood by the age of the trees, we know they are very old from their size. The path is where the narrow railway lines were and a steam engine at the top of the woods would help pull wagons up to collect the coal. When the hole left by the opencast mine was filled in, trees were planted in some places but some parts were left as open grassland. This was to encourage certain wildlife to live here. (e.g. skylarks and lapwings, known as ‘peawits’, who nest on the ground.) Water and heat is needed to make steam. Burning coal provided the heat and water was drawn from the pond. Silver birch trees grow very quickly and so that explains the number of them here. When all the industry stopped, these trees would have been some of the first ones to grow. The Brickworks can be seen from here. 50 years ago several ovens could be seen with black smoke coming out of their chimneys. Chesterton High School, the site of an early Roman fort, can be seen on the hill opposite. There are clues there was a coalmine. For example, they had to separate the stuff they did want (coal) from the stuff they didn’t want, such as a rock called shale. As they dug, the rocks from Watermills Colliery were dumped onto a heap. As the rocks got higher, the materials became squashed and the gas contained in them burned. (spontaneous combustion) Sometimes these fires can last for two years. In the wood we can see red ash which is the name of the rock after it has burned. Traditional British trees such as oak, elm and beech take a long time to grow. So, to avoid the park looking bare, fast growing trees such as the willow, alder and silver birch were planted. Oak, elm and beech were planted in between. The plan is to remove the ‘fast growers’ once the others are established to a reasonable height. The limestone path from the Heathcote tower to the gate leading out of the woods, was laid by Churchfields schoolchildren some years ago. We can see the base of the old tower, there would have been a tall chimney above this. Cages took the men and coal up and down and steam was needed to power the engine for the railway. Water was taken from nearby pools for the steam. The chimney was to carry away the smoke from the coal being burned. Richard Heathcote owned the mines. He had realised the valley had potential for profit and so he purchased the land. At the base of the tower he had religious messages engraved : “live and let live” and “regard the end”. (this last phrase meant : prepare for when you die).
La settimana scorsa siamo andati a fare un'escursione ad Apedale, un bellissimo e tipico Parco Rurale vicino alla nostra città Chesterton , dove si può visitare un antico bosco chiamato Watermills Wood ( Bosco dei Mulini).
As the name, Watermills Wood, suggests - there were, at one time, mills in these woods which ground things such as corn or wheat into flour. Later, coal mines were dug here using water from the stream running through the wood. We can tell that the opencast mine did not dig into the wood by the age of the trees, we know they are very old from their size. The path is where the narrow railway lines were and a steam engine at the top of the woods would help pull wagons up to collect the coal. When the hole left by the opencast mine was filled in, trees were planted in some places but some parts were left as open grassland. This was to encourage certain wildlife to live here. (e.g. skylarks and lapwings, known as ‘peawits’, who nest on the ground.) Water and heat is needed to make steam. Burning coal provided the heat and water was drawn from the pond. Silver birch trees grow very quickly and so that explains the number of them here. When all the industry stopped, these trees would have been some of the first ones to grow. The Brickworks can be seen from here. 50 years ago several ovens could be seen with black smoke coming out of their chimneys. Chesterton High School, the site of an early Roman fort, can be seen on the hill opposite. There are clues there was a coalmine. For example, they had to separate the stuff they did want (coal) from the stuff they didn’t want, such as a rock called shale. As they dug, the rocks from Watermills Colliery were dumped onto a heap. As the rocks got higher, the materials became squashed and the gas contained in them burned. (spontaneous combustion) Sometimes these fires can last for two years. In the wood we can see red ash which is the name of the rock after it has burned. Traditional British trees such as oak, elm and beech take a long time to grow. So, to avoid the park looking bare, fast growing trees such as the willow, alder and silver birch were planted. Oak, elm and beech were planted in between. The plan is to remove the ‘fast growers’ once the others are established to a reasonable height. The limestone path from the Heathcote tower to the gate leading out of the woods, was laid by Churchfields schoolchildren some years ago. We can see the base of the old tower, there would have been a tall chimney above this. Cages took the men and coal up and down and steam was needed to power the engine for the railway. Water was taken from nearby pools for the steam. The chimney was to carry away the smoke from the coal being burned. Richard Heathcote owned the mines. He had realised the valley had potential for profit and so he purchased the land. At the base of the tower he had religious messages engraved : “live and let live” and “regard the end”. (this last phrase meant : prepare for when you die).
La settimana scorsa siamo andati a fare un'escursione ad Apedale, un bellissimo e tipico Parco Rurale vicino alla nostra città Chesterton , dove si può visitare un antico bosco chiamato Watermills Wood ( Bosco dei Mulini).
Come il nome, Watermills Wood, suggerisce, in questi boschi,c’erano un tempo dei mulini che trasformavano prodotti come granturco o grano in farina. Più tardi, furono scavate qui miniere di carbone che usavano l’acqua del ruscello che correva attraverso il bosco. Possiamo dire che lo scavo delle miniere non si è spinto nel bosco dall’età degli alberi, noi sappiamo che sono molto vecchi dalla loro grandezza. Il sentiero si trova dove era la stretta linea dei binari e un motore a vapore in cima al bosco aiutava a tirare i vagoni per raccogliere il carbone. Quando il vuoto lasciato dallo scavo della miniera fu riempito, in alcuni posti furono piantati alberi, ma alcune parti furono lasciate come radure aperte. Ciò per incoraggiare alcune specie di vita selvatica a vivere qui (allodole e pavoncelle, conosciute come “ peawits”, che nidificano sul terreno). Acqua e calore sono serviti per produrre vapore. Bruciando carbone producevano calore e l’acqua veniva presa dallo stagno. Le betulle argentate crescono molto rapidamente e così ciò spiega il loro numero qui. Quando tutto il lavoro si fermò, questi alberi devono essere stati i primi a crescere. Le fabbriche di mattoni si possono vedere da qui. 50 anni fa spesso si potevano vedere i forni con un fumo nero che usciva dai loro camini. La scuola superiore di Chesterton , il sito di un recente forte romano , si può vedere sulla collina opposta. Ci sono indizi della presenza di una miniera di carbone. Per esempio, si doveva separare il materiale che serviva da quella che non serviva come una roccia chiamata scisto. Mentre scavavano, le rocce della miniera di carbon fossile di Watermills venivano scaricate su un cumulo. Man mano che le rocce divenivano più alte, i materiali venivano compressi ed il gas in essi contenuto bruciava (combustione spontanea). A volte questi fuochi duravano per due anni. Nel bosco possiamo vedere cenere rossa che è il nome della roccia dopo essere sata bruciata. Alberi tradizionali britannici come quercia, olmo e faggio impiegano lunghi anni per crescere. Così per evitare che il parco sembrasse spoglio furono piantati alberi a crescita rapida come il salice, l’ontano e la betulla argentata. La quercia, l’olmo e la betulla furono piantati in mezzo. Il piano è di rimuovere le piante a crescita rapida una volta che gli altri siano giunti ad una ragionevole altezza. Il sentiero calcareo dalla torre di Heathcote al cancello che limita il bosco e stato tracciato dagli alunni della scuola di Churchfields alcuni anni fa. Si può vedere la base della vecchia torre, ci dovrebbe essere stata un’alta ciminiera sopra. Gabbie portavano uomini e carbone su e giù e il vapore serviva per far funzionare il motore della ferrovia. L’acqua per il vapore veniva presa dal vicino stagno. La ciminiera serviva per condurre via il fumo del carbone che veniva bruciato. Richard Heathcote possedeva le miniere. Aveva capito che la valle aveva un potenziale di guadagno e così aveva comprato le terre. Alla base della torre aveva inciso messaggi religiosi. “ vivi e lascia vivere” e “ considera la fine”( quest’ultima frase significava: preparati per quando morirai).
Here are some photos of our trip / Ecco alcune foto della nostra escursione:
Here are some photos of our trip / Ecco alcune foto della nostra escursione:
Philip and the class 4
Etichette: IMMAGINI DEL NOSTRO TERRITORIO/IMAGES OF OUR TERRITORY
postato da Phil @ 13:20
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