I have explored different parts of Ruislip Woods this year and have now covered all of the different parts of the woods that form what is known as "Ruislip Woods". Ruislip Woods covers 730 acres of woodland located in the north of Ruislip, and each part of the woods has a distinctive name. Directly above Ruislip Lido is Copse Wood, which is on the highest point and known as Duck's Hill, and on the far eastern side is Poor's Field (see Copse Wood and Poor's Field); the southern part is known as Park Wood. Mad Bess Woods is another part of the woods, located at the top with a main road separating it from the larger part. Off of Breakspear Road or on the other side of Mad Bess Woods is Bayhurst Wood. My final exploration of Ruislip Woods concluded this month with a visit to Bayhurst Woods.
The woods is surrounded by farms and farmland such as the view seen below with horses. There is a bridlepath through Bayhurst Woods and the other woods. Bayhurst Woods is partially on a hill with some gentle climbs and walking downhill in places, and with the bridleway, this means that parts of it can be very muddy and slippery. I fell once on the mud down part of the track that descends down a hill.
I started with the walk from the parking to an almost-circular walk around the woods starting from the northern part of the road. Bayhurst Woods is not a large area, so it is easy to walk around.
I came across the remains of some old vehicle that has become to turn to dust and be reclaimed by the earth.
On the northern section of the woods are a little patch of bluebells. There is a ridge here and some sort of pond of stagnant green water that looks man-made.
After seeing the bluebells, I continued my walk through the woods and found a very large and old beech tree that had fallen.
And this bench is near where I fell as it is down a hill almost in the middle of the woods.
Along one of the trails in the middle of the forest was a tribute to Captain Tom who was 100 years old and raised over a million pounds for charity last year.
There were also bridle path signs and various trail signs through the woods. Bayhurst Woods is part of the Hillingdon Trail.
I think Bayhurst Woods used to do something with scouts. There were quite a lot of picnic benches (most of them rotted) in the middle of the woods in various locations, and part of the woods in the middle appeared to be a clearing at one time.
In addition to the rotting picnic benches, I came across this little building and shipping container. I am not sure what purpose it served, but perhaps it was for refreshments and events.
When I was leaving the woods on one of my visits to Bayhurst Woods, I came across a man who was feeding the birds. He said that he often feeds them and people like to photograph them. I tried my luck, but the birds were so quick and did not stay put. They would flitter down, take some seed, then rush away. I got a few photographs, but they were not very good. I am not a bird expert, but there were some with yellow and blue markings and some black/grey or brown with a bit of white (not magpies) and robins. The robin turned out the best.
For more posts about Ruislip and Ruislip Woods on this blog:
Bluebells in Ruislip Woods
Ruislip Woods - Park Wood
Ruislip Woods - Copse Wood and Poors Field
A Wintery Walk in Mad Bess Wood (Ruislip, West London)
A Snow Day in Ruislip
Visiting the Battle of Britain House Ruins in Ruislip Woods
Ruislip "Summer of 1939" Vintage Car Show
Ruislip Fairy Village
Easter in Ruislip (Easter Eggs & Duck Pond Markets)
Ruislip Lido Railway & Ruislip Woods Open Day
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