i saw it from space

not been there for a while....but its good to leave it to the elements once in a while. it keeps it fresh, it keeps it in nature...i sometimes wonder what the nature of the area thinks of the fact that a mad dreaming human decided to create a shrine in the middle of it!anyway, earlier i decided to take a look on google earth...and had a nice surprise. Google must have refreshed their sattelite imagery, because when i zoomed in..down to the golf course, the river...i found my wood and meadow, beyond the ring of dense undergrowth and trees.....and there it was! my little path weaving thru the grassland:) ha ha!...along and round...up and into the clearing... and i can see the clearing too!!!! with a tiny blob for my structure...so glad it wasn't taken when i was having a fire! or any local inhabitants may have checked it out! so, i can see it from space, i look forward to the next google earth update, when my structure is larger, and finished!

If I had to survive there

Theoretically speaking, if I had to survive at my secret nature shrine how would I go about it?..how would it be possible? Well, the way the need to survive came into existance would have a bearing on the outcome. If there was a sudden apocalyptic event which led to a breakdown of society then it would be a case of grab what i can and head there fast, however, if it was through choice, this would be different, it would allow more time to prepare, gather and store..it would make life a lot easier. There is one thing I would definately take with me though, and that is the amazing book 'the new complete book of self sufficiency' by john seymour. Full of hints and tips and practical advice, it is an essential part of kit for an urban dweller with very little practical experience of self sufficiency. Packets of seeds would come in handy...ok, it takes time to grow crops, but worth a start, and for fairly fast growth, vegetables like radishes are super fast! so get planting!!! i have already planted a few blackcurrant bushes which are doing well...but its early days yet, they have years before they are fully grown. I think i will plant some gooseberry bushes at the weekend. Actually, lets talk the wild stuff, thats already there...ok,,there is a wild apple tree in the lower meadow, and another down in the public area..the apples are eating apples too, a bit odd tasting compared to what u buy in the shops, but fresh and vitamin filled straight from tree...there are elderberries everywhere, as they make up one of the main 4 or 5 tree types in the area. hawthorn trees abound (leaves and berries), and birch trees do too (sap)nettles are everywhere (brilliant blood tonic and alternative vegetable)and there is wild garlic too. Ok, so we have a bit of salad, and natural growing veg..but what of meat or fish? well, the river is minutes away and is stocked with all sorts of fish. being tidal there is a mix of sea and freshwater fish. sea trout, salmon, flatfish,eels,perch, roach, rudd...and pike. plenty there. one could catch and cook them there and then, or make a rack and dry them out in the sun thus enabling supplies for the future. On the land there are rabbits...more potential food. The big problem is water! every time it rained i would have to catch as much as possible, otherwise it would involve a walk, or boiling and treating of the river water!!! the only natural stream i can think of in the area is 6 miles away...a bit of a trek, but if i had to do it, i would do it! obviously, the way water was collected would depend on what happened to bring the survival into practice..if it was a personal decision then i could easily walk into public toilets and fill my water bottles from the sink taps, but if there was a disater and there was no water from any taps, then it would be the rain and the stream option! think i'd better get in some water treatment tablets! So, survival could be achieved..food, water wise. I have my shelter, so thats ok, and if i wasn't prepared to spend ages rubbing sticks together, i would need matches for fire..but the main thing is, it could be achieved!

Other Edgelands People

The vicinity of my retreat is an area that is accessible to the public..there are the wild meadows, leading to the riverbanks.A public footpath leads alongside and thru the middle of the meadows and then continues on alongside the river. My place, betwixt a golf course and railway track, is not accesible in a conventional way. i.e. a footpath, so it is left to nature, and to me. Luckily for me, not many others share my desire to create a little shrine in the midst of a wild area and tend to stick to the paths..but what of the other people i see and meet on the public areas..the other people that frequent the edgelands? The area attracts some people, but in the big scheme of things not too many. It has no shops or outlets down there, no paid activities, or boats for hire, so people go there for other reasons. In the main people go there to walk their dogs, they love the place, i know many of them, and the whole attraction for them is the wildish nature of the environment, the all important 'green lung'..some of these dog walkers trespass on the golf course in the morning and evening, when the golfers are not around, and i don't blame them, for the golf course is a visually pleasing place, with plenty of trees about.A few fishermen can be spotted now and then, but fishing must be dying out, as there are no where near as many now as there were down there in the 1980's. One can catch flatfish (known locally as flukes), eels, salmon and sea trout, roach, perch, too now and then. It is tidal here, the river , so has a mix of salt and freshwater fish. I have met geocache fanatics, metal detectorists, youths by fires drinking, homeless people, i have seen all these and more over the years down there. But what of other 'edgelands people' in the same vein as I? About ten years ago i chanced upon a teepee in a reaaly hidden away area at the back of one of the wild meadows, i only found it because i explore and roam, often off the paths themselves, there it was, with an axe on a wood chopping block, the smell of firesmoke...i caught a glimpse of the fella thru the flapping entrance, and recognising him as someone to avoid..( a dangerous sort that lived right on the edge, and who i had once witnessed at an illegal rave in the early 1990's hitting someone with an axe)..so i crept away as silent as a mouse...he lived there for about 8 months and moved on. Recently i discovered a 'camp in use' and had a look around. The occupants were not there but sleeping bags were spread about, a deck of cards, a couple of pans, a few tins of sweetcorn and kidney beans, the remains of a fire and a structure made from various tents stretched over bent willow poles...home made tools had been made and attempts had been made to hide the area with high mounds of undergrowth piled up all around. i was silent, careful, had a potter, but didn't linger, the vibes didn't feel good. But i have found no 'shrine ' as such...so, we each go down there for our own reasons..some for exercise, some to be in nature, to walk dogs, to fish, or to set up a temporary home as in the case of the teepee man. We are edgelands people, we like the bits outside of the box, the plans and the concrete, we are in every town, village, city the world over...

A Worrying Trend

If I was writing this in the 70's or 80's then I would probably be announcing that my den had been found, trashed,burned, or taken over by kids..but it is 2013 and it is safe...why? because whereas in my childhood/youth the river,trees,meadows,scrapyard,railway areas were frequented by little bands or tribes of kids...but today they are nowhere to be seen! Good for my nature place but not good for the kids...it is a worrying trend..a combination of parental paranoia and the mass use of playstations and x boxes has ensured a whole generation of youngsters are bound in cotton wool and know very little of the real and natural world. this does not bode well for them and their health, but also it is not a good sign for the care of the ecology of the planet in the years to come,how can they protect and nurture nature if they are oblivious to it? We need the wild brought into the schools...take them out to it, teach them of it..but education, alas seems pre-occupied with ensuring the continuity of the corporate empire, teaching the kids powerpoint presentations and how to be and act in business....yawn! if i was a kid i would have been bored to tears with it! so parents! wake up! let out your kids...conquer your own fears about lettin your kids run wild and let them be healthy. I remember in my 20's i went thru a phase of nightclubbing (i was so into dancing and trance techno) and after the club i started going with a few friends into the woods where we would carry on the party by having a fire and climbing trees. word spread around and soon 30 or 40 people would attend these bacchanalian gatherings...i remember going mad at some of them as they thought the idea of collecting firewood was to break branches off living trees.!!! I pointed out all the dead wood on the ground, and explained that l;ive wood not only destroys the trees but doesn't burn well anyway...EDUCATION! we need to re-connect the kids to the great outdoors and we need to teach them how to respect it! SOON!

Meditation by Fire

I don't always have a fire when i am gaining peace at my nature spot, but when I do it is always a special occasion for me. I have loved fires since I was a child and my dad used to make them on beach holidays. Over the years I have enjoyed them on camping trips with friends, at festivals and other times such as when i spend a long time at my bower. Every part of the fire process is a ritual for me, from the collection of the wood , to the lighting itself, and then to the enjoyment of the fire in progress, and the keeping it going...until finally, the putting out of it.When i decide to have one i take my old trusty daysack with me and head into the wooded areas to the north of my bower. Here i walk and pick as I move, suitable small dry sticks and twigs which will form the base of the fire. Once the sack is full I return, drop it off and head back to the bigger pieces. I don't need too much for a few hours worth of fire, I keep them small when here, its not, after all a beach bonfire with loads of people round it, its just me, and i want to keep it safe, and not burn down my retreat area!! When I am happy with the wood, I arrange the twigs, from the smallest upwards, like a small structure,which awaits the flame. Then i offer a blessing, something along the lines of , 'May the spirits of kinship,healing and protection be with me around this fire, may this be a fire of peace, of reflection and all for the highest possible good'...i may burn a little sage if i remembered to take some with me.Then I light it, nurture it, tend to it, until i can add the bigger bits and start to relax. I read somewhere once that ancient mystics used to stare at the flames of a fire to balance the energies of their heads, and they noted how cats seem to sit close to fires in what appears a meditative state. Well, I find cats quite a wise species of animal and i find fires have a hypnotic effect, so i softly stare at it, and relax...let the natural energies work their magic on my westernized head....and feel all the better for it:)

I couldn't find any new fire pic from my bower so here is one from the coast a couple of months ago...larger this though, than the ones i have for meditation.