The hope of spring. I spotted this Primrose coming into flower amongst the leaf litter.

 

 I have walked along Tatmore Hills Lane a good many times. So it's familiar territory but I like the way a place or landscape reveals more about itself with each visit. Clearly it's an ancient track. Sunken lanes -sometimes called hollow lanes or hollaways- are invariably archaic.

 The lane meets a tarmac road at Sootfield Green. I passed by this spot recently (see entry 8th. Dec) and mused that "Green" in a place name sometimes referred to a clearing within a woodland. Sootfield Green lies between Wain Wood and West Wood. It seems reasonable to suppose that the various woods nearby are fragments of a much wider woodland that once existed.

 I thought of the walk from Wain to West Wood via Tatmore Hills in Bluebell season (see entry May 4th. 2023). Both woods are noted for their Bluebells and the hedgebanks along the lane are brimming with Bluebells and other woodland wildflowers. Notably there is a damp dell carpeted with Ramsons which are unusual round here (see entry 28th. April 2024).

 There are open fields on either side of the lane. I imagine they were formed by felling the surrounding tree cover centuries ago. It was common to retain a sliver of the original woodland to define the boundary rather than planting a hedge. That might explain the profusion of Bluebells, Ramsons and other woodlanders along the lane.

 Researching Sootfield Green I learned that Tatmore Hills Lane was once called Wayley Green Lane. A thousand years ago Welei was a community of around 60 people who farmed 240 acres hereabouts. Perhaps it was they who created the fields? Local historians have speculated that Welei meant "sacred grove" in Old English, possibly with the connotation that it was a grove sacred to heathens. It has been suggested the dell is the remnant of that grove. Such things precede any records so we may never know for sure. 

 I rambled this way today with a local walking group. I've been on their mailing list for a while but this is the first time I've joined them. I had just posted my entry about Sootfield Green when I received the mail that this was to be the meeting point of their walk so it seemed serendipitous. 

 The group has a particular interest in the flora and fauna of the area and pool their knowledge as they go. Always very interesting to chat with people who have their specialisms as well as general knowledge. We saw some great sights- ranging from a large Barn Owl in flight to tiny fungi on a branch. And it gave me another opportunity to ponder the history and mystery of Tatmore Hills Lane.   

Apricity

 Stinking Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) in full flower a month or two earlier than usual.

 I often write about the botany and beauty of tending the gardens and grounds of the music school. In the interests of vérité I must note that today I had another task to perform: chucking out all the junk that's piled up by the shed over the years.

 Ostensibly there's not much to see at Sootfield Green. Basically a house on the road between Preston and Charlton in Hertfordshire. But it's marked on the OS map and is an ancient crossroads where the tarmacked road intersects with two lanes that are still muddy tracks.  

 Place names tell a story."Green" appears in so many place names in England. It might denote a village that has (or had) a green. Or it may convey another historical meaning: specifically, an area that was cleared within a woodland. Sootfield Green is now surrounded by large open fields. No doubt this whole stretch of countryside was once wooded. Some pockets of that extensive tree canopy still remain, for example Wain Wood is near here.

 The right fork as seen above also has a name that tells a story: Dead Woman's Lane. Evocative but it seems no-one really knows who she was or when she died. Directly behind me as I took this photo is Tatmore Hills Lane that was once called Wayley Green Lane. A local historian Philip Wray has written extensively on the history of the locality. He notes that "Almost a thousand years ago, Welie was a small community of around sixty souls near Preston". 

 He also quotes a reference from 1636 to "Sutefeild Green" and refers to a map of 1822 which shows Sutfield Wood close by, now a field. I had wondered if Sootfield might be connected to a practice such as charcoal burning but he states that -sut meant south in Old English.  

 

 The Pegsdon Hills in spring and Knocking Hoe in summer. I went for a walk yesterday and did my best to admire the bare trees, the fallow fields and the starkness of the landscape. But there was no getting away from it: we've reached that point of the year when it's cold, grey and bleak.

 I console myself with the thought that the wheel turns and spring will come.