Today we returned to Roydon Common and the grassland or fields next to the actual common itself.

The weather was cool, but dry. Any trace of Storm Amy long gone.

By the time we started our walk the car park was busier than usual due to the morning dog walkers.

Luckily we passed most of the walkers on their way back to the car. Meaning it would be easier to find a quiet spot to have a brew and chill.

At the end the car park was nearly empty waiting for the lunchtime dog walkers.

Despite having a bic lighter the aim of today’s brew stop was to keep my hand in with starting the fire using the ferro rod.

My go to every time for starting a fire or igniting a stove like a trangia or a BTS3000 is a bic lighter.

However there may be a time when the lighter fails for some reason, gets lost. You get the idea.

It’s in moments like that when you need to fall back to a back up option. Such as the ferro rod, or weather proof matches.

My fire starting tin contains a BCB ferro rod and striker (there is also a mini compass on the handle!), some British Army issue weather proof matches from an army ration pack, bellows, Waxed-Canvas Fire Mat, Parrafin-Infused Wick and micro bellows, plus a US military spark- lite.

This tin stays in a pouch on my belt.

In a second tin I have a selection of tinder. This is kept in a pocket in the rucksack that I can easily and quickly get to.

Today I used some birch bark as my tinder.

The majority of the wood I burnt was kindling I carried with me. A while back I bought a bag of kindling from a garage, and it now sits in the boot of my car.

Although the kindling I had in the bag had been “processed” into thinner bits for use with the Bushbuddy.

I did pick up the odd twig from the path that was dead and dry. Generally I don’t do this but I wanted to see if a harder wood would burn slower and longer than the soft wood of the kindling.

There had been a bit of a breeze which the little woods we took shelter in protected us from. And also meant no windshield was needed with the stove.

I have to admit I do love using my Bushbuddy.

After letting the stove and ashes cool down I emptied the ashes into a bag with my other rubbish, and carried them out with me. Totally leave no trace.

Another relaxing time in nature.

The decision was made Dolly and I would be walking in a woods.

There was a logic behind our thinking.

Storm Amy was hitting the UK.

Weather warnings were being issued by the Met Office for parts of the country.

I had no idea what the advice or forecast was for our part of the country.

There tends to be a trend that all these named storms sweep in from the west and the Atlantic.

Meaning the west coast tends to take the brunt of these storms. By the time things hit the fens in the east the sting has been taken out of the storm.

Walking round a woods would give us some natural protection from what storm Amy might throw at us.

When Dolly and I left the house it was wet. But no raging winds or driving torrential rain.

As we drove there was drops of rain which I couldn’t even call a shower.

The woods we ended up at was the Roydon Common woods.

Our walk round the woods was damp. If I said there was drizzle that would be over exaggerating what we encountered. The trees protected us. No wind, at best a fine wet mist.

The one draw back of the Roydon Common woods is that it’s not a great place for a brew stop. Very few suitable spots exist there. Fallen trunks well down the path of decay, unable to take the weight of me sitting in them.

So naturally even though I had a brew kit with me, we didn’t stop for a brew.

I did spot some fungi as we walked round the woods. Which I love seeing and photographing.

I really should take the time to try and identify the ones spotted.

Back at the car a damp Dolly was treated with some bilatong and a towel rub to dry her off.

In hindsight I think we had avoided the main part of storm Amy and just had a damp enjoyable walk in the woods.

Yesterday a much needed and overdue longer walk with Dolly at Roydon Common and Grimston Warren happened.

As we walked along the upper path round the edge of Roydon Common I could see the sister tower to the WWII observation tower on Grimstone Warren to our right.

I thought I wonder if we can get to it?

As we got to the fence delimiting the border of the common, it became clear we couldn’t get easily to the sister tower following the fence. More fences and bushes providing too great an obstacle.

However once we got to the bridleway running between Roydon Common and Grimstone Warren we decided to head off in the direction of the sister tower to see if it took us close.

The bridleway did indeed take us close. The sister tower is less looked after than the one on the warren. It sits proud in the middle of a field currently growing sugar beet, slowly being over grown by bushes.

It’s a shame.

Eventually the roots will erode the foundations, while the branches crack the brickwork.

I don’t like advocating cutting down stuff usually. But this is a piece of twentieth century history that I think we should be protecting.

This sister tower deserves the same love as the one on the warren.

We headed back towards the tower on the warren to have our brew stop.

As we walked along the ridge to the tower down below where the tramway once was I could spot fungi. I promised to double back to them after the brew stop to investigate.

At the warren’s observation tower while getting today’s brew kit (MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe, Fire-Maple Petrel Ramen Pot 800ml) out I spotted four deer in the bracken. Dolly was oblivious to their presence. Next time I looked they were gone.

My snack today was a British Army ration pack flapjack and digestive biscuits. For me they tasted ok. But! The flapjack was too dry and crumbly. Plus it could have done with more fruit (raisins). That ratio between fruit and oats is wrong for me. It’s too heavily weighted towards the oats. I get it, slow released energy etc.

The digestive biscuits tasted fine. But too thin and bordering on too dry and hard. Even dunking them in my coffee barely made a difference.

Now if I had these in one of the war zones our forces have been in, and these were in my 24 hour ration pack. I’d probably think these were the best thing in the world at that moment in time.

They were edible. I’d eat them (and did). Better eaten than having to carry around as extra weight.

As we walked back towards the car I regretted having my fleece on. The morning was proving to be a lot warmer than I thought it would be. But I soldiered on because we didn’t have that far before we’d get to the car. Plus I wasn’t sweating lots, just getting warm.

As we got to the edge of the common, horses had appeared where we had entered. Luckily we were leaving a different way, and our path did not take us too close. Dolly did really well and ignored them.

A great mornings walk in unexpected sunny weather.