Today was the last day of the kids Half Term holiday, so we decided to go and have a wander. We didn’t want to travel too far because we only had the morning and the first part of the afternoon free.  And after the long day we had yesterday, a gentle stroll was in order. We decided to visit Selsdon Wood Nature Reserve, which is only about a 30 minute drive from our house. As we were driving there I suddenly realise, how I hate Purley Cross on way system. What a nightmare that section is. But we manage to work our way through it and out the other side and very soon found what we were looking for. When we arrived we changed into our wellies and off we went to follow the “Green” trail.

It’s always good to look at the map before you go walking, then you can work out where you got lost.

It was a cold morning, so scarves, gloves and hats were also needed. As we walked along, you could hear the birds singing in the trees and the wood peckers drumming away, airplanes in the sky and cars on the road (ah nature is wonderful). The field that we crossed early on wasn’t muddy at all, which was rather odd, but I was sure that we’d find some very soon. George found some lovely sticks that were perfect for walking. Most of the trees were leafless, but then that’s what you’d expect for this time of year. There are a lovely variety of trees in the wood, and I pointed out numerous Oaks and Silver Birches to the kids. The wind was a little on the bracing side as we walked along. The signs for the routes were very clearly marked out, so amazingly we never got lost, which is a miracle! We finally came across some mud. About time to be honest. What is a walk if you don’t come across mud? It was very slippery as well, so we all had to be very careful how we moved.

The mud made farty noises when we tried to remove out wellies from it.

The wood is very popular with dog walkers and we saw lots of happy dogs bounding around. Lots of trees had fallen down in various storms, some more recent than other. That’s one thing I would love to see and that is a tree being blown over. The sound must be amazing as it crashes to the ground. One tree however, had been felled by a storm, but had never actually made it to the ground. It decided to nestle itself between the branches of another tree, and is now a home for some wonderful fungi which is now growing up it.

This tree decided to nestle in the branches of a neighbouring tree.

We worked our way back to the car, and then home. We’d been wandering about in the Nature Reserve for a couple of hours. Just as we were crossing the field, heading back to our car we saw a gentleman walking his husky type dog. He asked us, “Do you have a dog with you? Will it jump out?” I replied and said “No we have a gold fish and 6 chickens!” I bet he wished he’d never asked. The kids and I then wondered if you could buy harnesses for the chickens so we could take them for a walk next time. But they must be able to flap their wings. Don’t think we could take the fish though.