Somerset walks No 2. - Post Christmas walk. 28.12.16

The period between Christmas and New Year was bright and cold here, a change from the mild, murky grey of Christmas itself.  This day there was a wonderful cold frosty morning with none of the fog that had been forecast.  A good walking day.

Puddles on the path were frozen and turned opaque with the ice.

This is West Sedge moor, an area that lies between the village of Stoke St. Gregory and the Fivehead ridge in the distance. It's flat and crossed by rhynes and includes an RSPB reserve which is an important site for breeding wading birds as well as for over-wintering wildfowl.  The area is a designated SSSI.

A lot of surface water across the fields.

This area is part of the Somerset Levels and Moors.  The water-filled ditches are drainage channels, known locally as rhynes, which drain the land making it usable for pasture - mostly in the summer.

Swans nest along the rhynes and feed in the fields.  In winter there are often dozens around.

The sun stayed out and the light was bright and clear.

Pollarded willows are very much THE tree of the Levels.  Here they are growing in the field-boundary hedge, enjoying the damp and wet.

This is a withy bed alongside the path we were walking.  Withies are young willow saplings, cut every few years at about 5-6 foot and used in basket making, fencing, hurdles and many other woven uses.

Mistletoe for next Christmas.........