Foto post 2: 07 August. 2018.

Domaine de la Ribiere:  approx 80 acres.  40 wooded, 20 lake, 20 fields, grass and buildings etc.  Enough to keep us all busy!

To the north of the lake is an amazing place (my favourite). As you can see from the picture it consists of stands or blocks of different types of trees some of which had been coppiced in the past.  Sadly the previous owners of La Ribiere did nothing with any of the forested areas and they are in a diminished state, this will now a major project for me (and others).
Heidi and I are working on building up the B&B business expecially for next year and as part of that I am working on reopening some of the woodland pathways and making some new ones.  The task is to provide walks for visitors that will in no way interfere with the anglers. To facilitate this I am going to embarke on building a bridge to enable access to east end of the woods north of the lake. The northern side of the lake has a ditch running alongside it leaving a wide bank for the anglers to use, but this needs to be as undisturbed as possible as it affects the angling. So visitors have to be shifted to the woods above the lake. 
The lake is in a valley and all the wooded areas north and south slope down to it.
In the following picture:
WHITE =  the ditch seperating lake from woods on northern bank.
DARK BLUE = Anglers only paths
LIGHT BLUE - Existing paths
YELLOW = Recreated paths
PINK = Proposed paths

 I am thankful for a professional strimmer - requiring goggles, ear muffs and protective vest and gloves - and the amazing Honda self propelling mower to hack my way through undergrowth to uncover or create the pathways.

This is an ongoing project and will take time as you will see from teh following fotos that the woods need clearing to enable the paths. But I am trying to follow either pre-existing but overgrown pathways or those made by the deer or wild boar.  At the same time preserving the hideouts and "secret" areas where these animals hide, live, breed.


There is a just decernable path here, which needs to be cleared and signposted.

 Old piles of wood need to be left as they are an important habitat for insects, small mammals and reptiles.

 This area had been coppiced many years ago and now the dead wood needs to be extracted.

 In other areas the amount of dead wood and fallen trees and branches means many happy hours of clearing so that old avenues and paths become usable again. 












Bringing the wood back under "management" is important as contrary to popular opinion once managed a wood will not return to a natural state; if just left, it just becomes an unmanagemable wilderness that doesn't benefit the trees, the undergrowth or the wildlife.

 This glade is completely hidden, surrounded by a fir plantation and thickets of brambles. It is where the deer hide and feel safe.  It will be left untouched.

 In the glade an unexpected food source, a plum tree or rather a whole group of trees.

Another section of the wood is more natural, not previously managed with piles of stones and also a stream, and a "wallow" used by the deer and the boars. Again an area where things need to be left as untouched as possible.  Given that wild boar can be quite ferocious it is also important that they be left undisturbed.

The area near to where I am planning my bridge and stairway up the bank is an area of coppiced beech and hazel.

I have started to clear the area of fallen dead wood.  

 The branch shows the location of the bridge over an almost dry stream - in the winter this is more like a small river and almost three feet deep in water. The span of the bridge will be about 12- 14 feet and I hope about 18 inches wide.

 The bridge will be made from a few birch trees which are growing nearby with very straight trunks.  A job for the chain saw. Then a small flight of steps will be sunk into the rather steep bank again made from tree trunks.

I hope that a few vistas will be opened up so that the absolute beauty of the trees can be fully appreciated and also to give some vantage points to look over the lake without disturbing the anglers.

The lake looking east at sunrise.

La Ribiere is part of a national forest and as such it beauty needs to be preserved and enhanced so that its biodiversity is maintained and the flora and fauna can flourish. 

You can imagine just how happy this work makes me - a far cry from Waitrose! And good to know that I am doing work that frees David and Heidi up to concentrate on the anglers and the guests in the various accommodations. So that La Ribiere develops as a biodiverse and sustainable resource for years to come as well as being one of the best carp lakes in France.

Hopefully the next blog will feature the bridge building.  My culinary exploration continues and I hope to also write about this in the near future.

Finally,  the chickens are becoming remarkably friendly even occupying empty chairs at dinner.