ABtrees

Hi. I am certainly NOT 'landed gentry' - just very lucky ! 20 years ago I bought an old mill house in central France and Hornbeam was a necessity for the mill. We still have the mill gear but sadly no millstream ! When it was working, one of the gears on the mechanism is made of cast iron whilst the teeth on the corresponding cog were made of Hornbeam (as above - it's very hard). That way if for any reason there was a jam all the wooden teeth broke (rather than cast against cast). Replace all the teeth and it was up and running again in about 1/2 an hour with very little effort - genius eh? Very common round these parts. I can put some pictures up if you want ?

Agreed - definitely a lapsed Hornbeam pollard. I'm lucky enough to have lots (50+) of them (pictures if anyone wants some ?). Occasionally they fall over, at which point they do indeed make excellent firewood (more calorific than Oak, I think) and it dries relatively quickly but .... it is notoriously hard especially when dried. I always make sure it's ringed up asap.

Ok, you guys will need to cut me some slack here but ............ With my ignorance and simpleton's view (of life) can someone explain to me why a longer bar/chain reduces chain/ cutting speed so much ? You have the same teeth spacing (?) and therefore the same number of teeth (cutting) in a given diameter of log/tree at any stage of the cut. You therefore have the same load on the engine and (presumably) therefore a similar engine rpm which on any given sprocket is driving the chain at the same speed ???? So am i right in thinking the 'killer' is just the additional friction of an extra 2 inches ?!!!!

Quentin Wilson - Top (bloke) Gear Quentin Willson: Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter dies aged 68 WWW.BBC.COM The presenter and campaigner was described by his family as a "true national treasure" and "true consumer champion".

Wow - just WOW ! Got to be one of the best fungi ever.

Chestnuts,Sloes,Fungi, and Spindle tree - Just lots and lots

Thanks Mick - that looks to be bang on.

I've been for a wander this afternoon - got about 25 pics mainly of buttery brown fungi on tree stems and roots - all look a bit similar to my untraines eye. I can upload a few if anyone is interested ???? But the one i would like an ID on is this one please. It really looked pale blue. About 2 inches across.

Hi 42. It is actually on an old dead Oak about 6 inches off the ground - poor photo. No need to revise your notes !

And another one ! This is the same fungi that I posted in Sept 2020 - in the same place on the same tree - only much bigger (that's my size 9 glove) ! Beefsteak anyone ? Sorry to say that I don't have that many friends (or family!) 'brave' enough to eat it so i might just leave it where it is !!!

Haven't posted on here in ages - so here's a couple of nice specimens - hope you enjoy. And yes, this seems to be a special year (for lots of stuff).

To be fair the one in the photo on the Farming UK article looks a bit overwhelmed as well ! They do make the point though it is a long term solution which relies on numbers trampling the bracken as much as eating it .

Interesting thread. Cattle are the answer - Galloways and their cousins Belted Galloways are particularly effective - apparently. Farmers trial use of livestock to control bracken without chemicals WWW.FARMINGUK.COM Farmers are trialling the use of livestock to control bracken without chemicals, with an ultimate aim to save costs while restoring habitats. Cattle and Bracken contd. – Bog Myrtle & Peat GALLOWAYFARM.BLOG Having recently written about cattle and bracken control, a brief follow-up is warranted after a walk across the hill last week. In one area where the cows often linger, bracken has been badly... I know that they have used them to very good effect on the Malvern Hills

Don't know if this is relevant to your situation but...... I was having a similar issue with my TW150 and spoke to a really helpful chap on the TW stand at Westonbirt. We went through a few 'could be this or could be thats' but he said one of the very first things to check is the distance of the strobe/sensor away from the flywheel. Even a tiny bit too far and it thinks the flywheel is slowing, the machine is getting overloaded and won't reactivate the in feed rollers. It was exactly THIS. Tiny bit of adjustment off we went again - thank goodness. Hope you have the same success.

In France atm where it was a bit cooler this morning so lots of birdsong about 6.30. So i launched the Merlin app and got the following (in no particular order): Blackbird, Blackcap, Robin, Blue Tit, Wren, Song Thrush, Chaffinch, Greater-spotted Woodpecker, Pigeon, Firecrest,Woodlark, Golden Oriole, Pied Flycatcher, Chiffchaff, Goldfinch, Hawfinch, Short-toed Treecreeper, Crow, Nightingale, Grey Wagtail and Garden Warbler. Pleasantly surprised but have to say I probably only saw 7 or 8 of them !!!!