Letter VI
Gilbert’s Letter VI talks of a fairly extensive forest adjacent to Selborne. The Forest of Wolmer. Now, I am not aware of a forest of equivalent size near Gosport (the New Forest is too far away), but what we do have is the Alver Valley. This is a lovely nature reserve with a number of walks through it. Sited within the Valley, one of Gosport’s oldest sites, the Mott and Bailey, is near the quaintly named Apple Dumpling Bridge that is over the River Alver that flows through the Valley.
Definitely, I can say with confidence that, unlike the Forest of Wolmer, it has never been used as a hunting reserve for royalty.
Let’s talk briefly about hunting, which was done extensively in Wolmer Forest, bearing in mind that this was the 18th Century. In terms of today, we would condemn people from those times for hunting species to extinction, but we would view activities then through our lens. In truth, there is little point in doing that, as that was how things were – then!.
What I can tell you about are the delights of the wildlife that visits or lives in and around Gosport; Annual visitors include a large flock of Canadian Geese that gather at various points around the town. I love hearing them talking as they fly over us in their V-shaped formations and decide upon a feeding ground, and then small numbers break off to circle down and land. It really is a delight.
There are so many Starlings in the town. I have bird feeders in the garden. They will descend en masse, devour the contents of the bird table and fly off to look for the next meal. They squabble and fight amongst themselves, and occasionally a grey youngster will get control of the table and fight to keep all others off. I know it is because they are hungry, and I am sorry for them for that, but they give me much delight when they eat the food I put out for them.
Titchfield Haven is another place nearby, well worth a visit, many waterbirds visit through the year, and the hides there provide excellent platforms to watch their activities.
The Foxes abound around town, and they are getting more daring. The one fox that sleeps in our garden was put off today because Elayne was pottering out in the sun for most of the day; it looked most put out as it slinked away upon realising that there was a human about.
Gosport is by no means perfect, but there are some seriously delightful natural experiences to be had here.
All the Best
Bill.
Bills Posts 