Poulaphuca

Póll a' Phuca

"The Hole of Ghosts"

The dog went wandering off yesterday so I wandered after him, into this hidden valley.

In the towland of Drummin.

Two fields over from my house

Sheer valley walls drop into a gorge from an otherwise fairly flat landscape.

An accidental nature reserve.

Vertical gardening.

Mostly hazel, with Oak.

Willow dominated the sun starved south wall.

Gorse and blackthorn on the north side.

Winds from all westerly directions are channeled up here, likely restricting growth.

Like any deep hole worth its salt in Ireland, its full of rubbish.

I really think we should introduce a scheme whereby farmers are incentivised to allow these places expand (extra points if they can connect two woodlands).

Currently we incentivise the opposite.

You could be fairly sure that many of woodland plants, lichens, fungi, liverworts and mosses (that would take so long to colonise a new greenfield woodland) are already here and ready to expand.