OUTING

SEEKING
WINTER
DESPITE THE SCENES
ON CHRISTMAS CARDS,
WE SELDOM GET A
BLANKET OF SNOW.
BUT STEP OUTSIDE AND
YOU’LL FIND MANY
BEAUTIFUL WINTRY
SIGHTS AT DAWN,
DUSK AND DARK
Words: JENI BELL

ne of my favourite ways
to spend a midwinter
afternoon is walking.
Especially on the hill
above my home, where
the crisp air forces me to
huddle deeper into my thick woollen scarf.
It’s a good vantage point for seeing how
the season has settled across the landscape:
leafless woods, shallow puddles topped
with thin layers of ice and hedgerows
decorated with trailing tufts of traveller’s
joy (also called old man’s beard). Seemingly
empty fields offer up wintry gifts: roe deer,
given away by their bright white rumps,
grazing happily in the fading light. And
I often flush out flocks of fieldfares, with
flecked chests and iron-coloured heads,
from the hawthorn. These thrushes travel
from as far as Scandinavia to avoid biting
temperatures, and their chuckling calls
are a welcome soundtrack to my strolls.
Up here, as dusk starts to edge its way
in, I can watch the lights of houses in the
village below start to flick on: warm orange
squares glinting in the distance. And as the
scent of woodsmoke from chimneys drifts
in my direction, thoughts of an evening
curled up on the sofa with a good book
are never far behind it. »
 OUTING
Walking in woodland,
whether alone or
with a four-legged
friend, is always a
relaxing pastime and
offers a whole new
perspective in the
winter months
For many people, snow defines the
season – Christmas card scenes covered
in a blanket of white. But snow isn’t a given.
For some parts of the UK, winters pass
without so much as a single flake falling.
However, in the hushed silence of a
midwinter afternoon, among the fieldfares
and winter winds, it’s obvious there’s
much more to this season than just snow.
F R O S T FA I R
After a clear, cloudless night in winter,
when temperatures have dropped close to
or below 0°C, there’s a good chance you’ll
wake to a frosty scene. Valley bottoms,
the north sides of hills or anywhere slow
to get the sun are good spots to find frost.
68
Parklands, such as London’s Richmond
Park, are particularly atmospheric on these
fresh mornings. But any expanse of grass
can offer up a frosty view as it doesn’t warm
as quickly as surfaces like tarmac. Hoar
frosts, formed when water vapour in the air
meets a surface already below freezing,
really sparkle. Arboretums, such as Sir
Harold Hillier Gardens in Romsey, Hants,
showcase this frost’s feathery fronds as they
cling to bare branches and frame leaf edges.
Ice is another great winter find. Is there
anything more satisfying than staring at
the patterns of ripples trapped in puddles or
finding the perfect icicle dangling from the
eaves of your house? If you happen to be in a
broad-leafed woodland, you may even come
across the thin, wispy strands of aptly
named hair ice. It’s quite rare, requiring
specific conditions and the presence of
a particular fungus in moist rotting wood
to form, so any sighting is a special one.
Both frost and ice are at their best
first thing in the morning, so an early
walk, perhaps to a nearby café for
something warming, is a good excuse
to take in these glistening scenes.
I N TO T H E WO O DS
There is something enchanting about
winter woodlands, with the sun low in the
sky casting long shadows on the forest floor.
Lindsey Death, who runs Dorset Forest
Bathing, loves the atmosphere among the
trees at this time of year, and how it can
provide a moment to stop and notice.
“Find a spot where you feel comfortable
and sit down on the ground or a log,” she
suggests. “Notice your surroundings, look
up, study the ground around you, focus
on any movement you can see or sounds
nearby. Just sit. It won’t take long before
your breathing and heart rate slow down
and you feel relaxed. I always think that
if you sit like this in nature and observe,
something magic will happen! It won’t
always be a scurrying shrew or a hopping
frog (both of which I’ve encountered
 recently), but it could be the way that the
light glints off a leaf or a soft moss that
you notice beneath your fingertips.”
Different types of woodland will spark
different sensory experiences. Thetford
Forest, the largest man-made lowland pine
forest in Britain, is filled with the sharp
scent of pine needles and offers the chance
of sighting a fallow deer between the trees.
Whereas a visit to the ancient oaks of the
New Forest will be drenched in an oak moss
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY, NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY, PLAINPICTURE
aroma, with a soft carpet of leaves underfoot.
And everyone knows that a winter walk
isn’t complete without a visit to a country
pub. That warming mulled wine in front
of a roaring log fire will be even cosier
after exploring the woods.
B I R D S O F A F E AT H E R
With plummeting temperatures and harsh
weather, birds are often busy foraging
and flocking together at this time of
year, meaning they’re much easier to see.
One of winter’s most spectacular avian
encounters are the murmurations of
starlings gathering before heading to roost.
Through the skies above Brighton’s West
Pier or over the headlands of Dungeness
in Kent, they shapeshift in their thousands.
But there are plenty of other displays all
across the UK. No one can say for certain
why murmurations occur; it’s suggested
these gatherings help the birds avoid
predators like peregrine falcons or allow
them to swap information regarding
roosting spots. Whatever the reason,
these sky-dancing spectacles are worth
wrapping up for. Head out in the early
evening to your local reed bed, or the
coast, and keep your eyes on the skies.
Lakes, ponds and estuaries will also be
bustling with birds seeking winter refuge.
Swans glide serenely through winter mists,
while ducks such as mallards, tufted ducks
and teal gather in rafts on the water. On
“One of winter’s most spectacular avian
encounters are the murmurations of starlings”
crisp chill days, when it’s all blue skies
and biting winds, wooden viewing hides
at nature reserves, like Langford Lakes in
Wiltshire, offer shelter, close views and an
opportunity for an impromptu picnic.
SILENT NIGHT
Winter nights are notoriously long, dark
and cold. But when “all is calm” and “all
is bright,” they are otherworldly in their
beauty. The silvery glow of December’s
full moon, sometimes called the cold moon,
offers the perfect chance to witness the
landscape glowing in the lunar light.
It’s best viewed across an open landscape
where its shine can’t be obscured by
buildings: a high point by your home
would be ideal, or across an expanse of
water such as a beach or a lake, where its
reflection can dance across the surface. »
69
 OUTING
The RSPB Arne nature reserve in Dorset
runs women-only full moon walks, so
you can experience moon magic safely.
When the moon isn’t shining and the
nights are clear and cloudless, starry
secrets are revealed. Stargazing apps
such as SkyView Lite can help to take the
confusion out of constellations, making an
evening searching the sky for Orion’s Belt,
Cassiopeia or Ursa Major much easier.
For the best chance of spotting something
really special, head away from built-up
areas with lots of light pollution and to the
open countryside. Grab your biggest coat,
chunkiest scarf and best bobble hat – maybe
even dig out an old sleeping bag – and
spend some time under the star-filled skies.
Obviously, don’t forget the hot chocolate.
And, if you’re really lucky, you might catch
sight of a few shooting stars blazing across
the scene; the Geminids meteor shower
reaches its peak around 14 December.
S U N S A L U TAT I O N S
While it’s tempting to snuggle down
beneath the duvet on a chilly morning,
winter sunrises are another of the season’s
highlights. As the sun comes up much later
in the winter, it means you don’t have to get
“The pinks and purples, oranges and reds that dance
across the dawn are enough of a solstice celebration”
70
Winter sunrises are
well worth getting
out of bed for – pack
a hot drink, wrap up in
warm clothes and take
half an hour for yourself
before the rest of the
world wakes up
up at an unsociable hour to catch it,
although weather can put a dampener on a
good sunrise so check the forecast the night
before. If morning conditions look dry with
a smattering of clouds, it’s worth setting an
alarm for – just make sure you give yourself
enough time to get the kettle on.
The Winter Solstice, which falls on 21
December, is the longest night of the year
and the point at which days start getting
longer again. Traditionally, people have
celebrated this by watching the sunrise
at sacred sites such as Stonehenge and
Avebury in Wiltshire or Glastonbury Tor
in Somerset. But why not make your own
solstice traditions? Witnessing dawn colour
creep across the horizon from your local
beach, as the tide laps gently at the sand
and a salt-spray scent surrounds you, would
surely make for a memorable solstice. Or
it could be as simple as slipping out into
your garden, or watching from your front
door, as the world around you lightens and
the first robin breaks into a sweet-noted
song. Even if you can’t see the orb of the
sun breaking the horizon, the pinks and
purples, oranges and reds that dance across
the “rosy-fingered dawn” are enough of
a solstice celebration in themselves.
Sometimes on the coldest of days
or under the greyest of skies, we can lack
incentive to get out and explore. But there
is joy to be found in the sharp air of frost-
glazed landscapes, starry nights, swirling
birds and the realisation that snow doesn’t
make this season. Plus, your fluffy socks
will feel cosier, your bath will be warmer
and that hot soup will be tastier after
some time spent seeking winter.