The power of nature

[rancid badger]

We had a bit of a flood a few weeks back now, it rained persistently for three or four days and then rained some more.
we had a traditional wood working/craft weekend arranged and it was touch and go as to whether it would go ahead, we decided to continue and everything went pretty much ok.

Anyway, last Sunday, my son and I, took a wander down to the river Derwent, which runs for about a mile along the south side of Chopwell wood.

The signs of the torrent which had raged through the whole valley were quite evident;

you can see bits of plastic bags and vegetation hanging on the branches, this is approx 9 feet higher than the normal level of the water.

there were several large tree's blocking the river where now there is a completely open run.
you can also see the rock on the far bank which has been covered in silt and vegetation for as long as I can remember-now completely scoured.

The view below, is of where the gorge starts, again, completely scoured:

it used to look like this:

this was a large willow which fell over a few years ago, it just kept on growing, throwing up hundreds of wands, which I had intended to gather for replanting as a living fence around our outdoor classroom.
The difference is pretty startling

there were also at least three big old ash tree trunks and a massive oak carcass blocking the river-all now gone!
just around the bend, where the crags rise to about 200 feet, the cliffs themselves had decided to start their journey to the sea too:
this is a zoomed image.

this is just a standard shot from below the end of the gorge

I had fancied taking a walk down to the river during the storm, to see what it was like, I really truly wish I had done so!
Never mind.
best wishes
R.B.

 

[Mike Ameling]

Yeah, water can have a lot of force and ... alter ... the landscape.

The beginning of June we had lots of rain/flooding around here. They talked about a 500 to 1000 year flood! It really flushed out the creek running down through the pasture. And washed my footbridge out of the way. But I had one end cabled to a huge willow tree, so it just swung to the side - this time. A couple weeks later I put winched/pried the footbridge back into place (two telephone poles with boards/planks nailed on top). But several weeks ago, some punks out "fishing" messed around with it enough that they cracked/broke it in the middle. Half a dozen punks jumping up and down in unison can do that. (I hope they all got thoroughly soaked!)

But the flooding changed the creek enough that I now will need two foot briges to cross it. It's too wide in most areas except where there now is one "island" in the middle.

And then the next ... flood ... will change it again. So it goes.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[StJon]

Off topic a wee bit but check out a tune by Mark Erelli, A bend in the River. All about the cleansing nature of the river. Aways reminds me of the Cart in Paisley.
jon

 

[rancid badger]

The landscape in this part of the wood is indeed constantly changing and yet, it is also, perhaps the most primeval area too.
The crags above the river have never been planted and the area next to the river is the same, at least on the north side.

We have the opportunity to have a very high tech, aerial survey of the whole woodland carried out next year.
It uses L.I.D.A.R. -Light Detection And Ranging similar to radar but using laser scanning, as opposed to radio waves.
The system electronically "strips away" all the surface vegetation, including tree's, to reveal the true ground surface, hopefully revealing archaeology but at the very least, giving a totally accurate terrain map of the area.
The "boffins" then take the resulting images and enhance them using software to reveal all sorts of useful information.
The research possibilities are tremendous, with a lot of scope for university's both local and farther afield to benefit from this survey.
I for one, am convinced that our woodland has a history and heritage that reaches back thousands rather than hundreds of years, unfortunately, some of my fellow management committee members do not have the same imagination and it is these "nay sayers" who will need to be persuaded to back funding for the project

It's not cheap, apparently at least £5000, initially with potentially more spending later on but, with no more spending on large public events in future, there is certainly funding available.
Anyway, We'll just have to see how things pan out tomorrow night at the monthly meeting

cheers
R.B.

 

[rancid badger]

Off topic a wee bit but check out a tune by Mark Erelli, A bend in the River. All about the cleansing nature of the river. Aways reminds me of the Cart in Paisley.
jon

Cheers Jon, I'll do that
R.B.

 

[John Fenna]

Why is it that when I have people from this site coming down for some canoe coaching, the River Tivy (Afon Teifi) always goes into flood?
It aint the reshaping of the landscape that bothers me, it is what the power of the river can do to canoes/canoeists!

 

[rancid badger]

Why is it that when I have people from this site coming down for some canoe coaching, the River Tivy (Afon Teife) always goes into flood?
It aint the reshaping of the landscape that bothers me, it is what the power of the river can do to canoes/canoeists!

Tell you what John; before the wash out up here, there was virtually no possibility of taking a Canadian through, due to all the junk, trees, shopping trollies etc now......I'm not so sure:bluThinki
I'm certainly not up to it mind you (yet )
cheers
R.B.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

There was a kayak race last weekend on the higher than normal etive.

http://www.etiveriverrace.co.uk/pictures.html

 

[Shambling Shaman]

One of the Gilles nearly lost a pony crossing a stream last week, Any kind of water crossing should be treated with respect.

 

[John Fenna]

There was a kayak race last weekend on the higher than normal etive.

http://www.etiveriverrace.co.uk/pictures.html

Kayaks are for getting wet in - canoes are for getting places in!
Keep practicing, hire a good coach( ) and soon nothing will be too hard to paddle.



You might fall out still, but that ain't hard, merely "self -rescue practice oportunities"...

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Kayaks are for getting wet in - canoes are for getting places in!
Keep practicing, hire a good coach( ) and soon nothing will be too hard to paddle.



You might fall out still, but that ain't hard, merely "self -rescue practice oportunities"...

The photos are not of me or my site. Just to show the power of nature and a river up here, in spate. Canoes can playboat too.

Nick

 

[rancid badger]

The landscape in this part of the wood is indeed constantly changing and yet, it is also, perhaps the most primeval area too.
The crags above the river have never been planted and the area next to the river is the same, at least on the north side.

We have the opportunity to have a very high tech, aerial survey of the whole woodland carried out next year.
It uses L.I.D.A.R. -Light Detection And Ranging similar to radar but using laser scanning, as opposed to radio waves.
The system electronically "strips away" all the surface vegetation, including tree's, to reveal the true ground surface, hopefully revealing archaeology but at the very least, giving a totally accurate terrain map of the area.
The "boffins" then take the resulting images and enhance them using software to reveal all sorts of useful information.
The research possibilities are tremendous, with a lot of scope for university's both local and farther afield to benefit from this survey.
I for one, am convinced that our woodland has a history and heritage that reaches back thousands rather than hundreds of years, unfortunately, some of my fellow management committee members do not have the same imagination and it is these "nay sayers" who will need to be persuaded to back funding for the project

It's not cheap, apparently at least £5000, initially with potentially more spending later on but, with no more spending on large public events in future, there is certainly funding available.
Anyway, We'll just have to see how things pan out tomorrow night at the monthly meeting

cheers
R.B.

SUCCESS!
We had our monthly meeting tonight and the above mentioned survey, was put forward, it was passed unanimously!
I could hardly believe it, I think for once, the"what the hell" genes kicked in and instead of endlessly debating the issue over and over, the value of the project shone through.

to find out more about what lidar is and what it can do; have a look at English heritages website and look for lidar.
Cheers
R.B.