The millpond near Vasse, Netherlands

We went exploring closer to Ruaraidh's home today, after I asked if he knew of any older woodland landscapes in the local area. The region he lives in is primarily agricultural and most of the farms are quite small, with small fields and little 'wild' land seems to be allowed to exist. There is a mixture of pasture land, on which cows predominantly graze, and arable crops, with some small copses of farmed woodland. We did see pigs, sheep, goats and even deer grazing in one small enclosure.

But Ruaraidh gave us a map and pointed out a wilder area which was only a few kilometres away, which we drove to early in the afternoon. There was general cloud cover, rain was occasionally felt and the sun did breakthrough later on. I was delighted to find that the woodland he suggested was far more like the traditional woodlands I prefer, with remnants of old woodbanks and signs of old coppice stools amongst the mixed oak and birch trees, on a sandy soil. This heathland is typical of the wider area where the glacial deposits from the more northerly regions overlay everything.

There were well marked footpaths, as well as cycle paths of course, with interesting use of old sections of timber in the construction of fences and gateways. We even found a small rise to a higher point from which we could sit down on a bench to admire views out to the horizon from across the tops of the woodland trees. We found interesting berries, small but very large leaved oak trees and huge fungi, in the shape of field mushrooms that strangely were growing from the trunks of trees.

After completing a large circuit of the woods we returned to the car and drove back along the small access road to where an old disused water mill was sited beside the lane. Ruaraidh had mentioned that there were two of these mills, but they are only opened by volunteers on occasional weekends. We wanted to have a look at the mill near Vasse, and weren't disappointed. The wooden building had obviously been extensively restored and looked in very good condition. The water wheel set beside the mill would turn every few minutes when a small part of its bucket system received enough water from the dripping chute that normally would feed the wheel. The wooden chute was tied up horizontally and the sluice from the adjacent mill pond was obviously shut, so only a trickle of water was running.

Woodpeckers and I both set off to explore the area and I went to the back of the mill pond to see the view from there. I could hear the overflow running away in the opposite direction and went to see the stream that was formed by it. It had formed a deep incision in the land with big beech trees overhanging the frothy water and forming a dark cavern, which inhibited my photography.

When I returned to the higher bank of the pond the sun suddenly appeared between big dark clouds and I was able to take some picture back towards the mill. I am pleased with this result from a less than promising start.

We headed back to explore another village close to Geesteren, which Ruaraidh had mentioned was of a completely different type to most of the agricultural communities. He was right, and it was very interesting to have his understanding of the area, its people and the socio-economic conditions of another country. We had yet another long talk into the evening combined with good food, wine and whisky; a ver enjoyable stay indeed. Tomorrow we are off to Belgium for a couple of nights and somehow the fact that Halloween is approaching didn't seem to be making much impact here in Holland.