Holiday by the river Ouse

Back to nature in a shepherd’s hut

We always take our adult kids away during the summer holidays but this year was slightly different due to covid. Not wanting to commit to a large or foreign holiday, we booked a few nights just up the road from us in Ringmer. The shepherd’s hut was large enough to house the kids in bunks one end and us in the other. There was a separate composting loo, private outside shower, washing up facilities, fire pit and covered eating area. Everything we could need, set in our own paddock with views across the fields towards the river Ouse.

We didn’t do terribly much except cook, play games and walk, so it was very peaceful.

Walking along the river

Where we were, it was less a case of walking along the river as walking near it then popping down to have a look from time to time as vegetation allowed. Willows, Dock, Nettles and Indian Balsam grew up to the edge.

Indian balsam – Impatiens glandulifera

You can just see a clump of Indian Balsam in the photo above, on the opposite bank.

Thistles in the fields

Creeping thistle – Cirsium arvense

You can see the route of the river marked by the trees in the pic below.

Field margins

The farmer had left wide field margins for this arable crop – it’s fun to spot what had been grown there previously. The commercial Flax, also known as Linseed Linum usitatissimum was very pretty.

Flowering around our hut

Meadowsweet – Filipendula ulmaria

There was a damp area behind our hut where the Meadowsweet was very happy.

Burdock – Arctium

I do love a shepherd’s hut – previous trips include:

the New Forest in April

and Barnham Sussex in April