SPRINGTIME IN THE UNOFFICIAL COUNTRYSIDE.

The Coronavirus lockdown has limited peoples access to the outdoors. Outdoor leisure pursuits and contact with nature is now restricted to what can be found locally on ones own doorstep. Yet as author Richard Mabey said in a 1975 film based on his book The Unofficial Countryside...

The natural world won't be so easily dismissed. In waste patches and factory backyards, in gasworks and railway sidings, nature fights back. For without meaning to, we have created in our cities a vast fabricated reserve for wildlife; A network of green oases, makeshift feeding stations and barricaded hide-aways... a real and refreshing sanctuary.... an unofficial countryside. 

In the north-eastern region of the Dutch city of Haarlem lies the Waarderpolder neighbourhood. A former industrial terrain now converted into a business park with a scattering of residential addresses.
Amongst the new-builds and renovation sits an abandoned patch of land. Over the past few years it has began to transform itself from an unpaved carpark into an untouched wilderness for wild plants and small animals.

During a sunny spring afternoon I headed out on a short one hour stroll to see what sights there were in this overlooked patch of burgeoning nature.

Small note: Botany isn't high on my list of skills, so if I've made my mistakes in identifying any of the flora,  or if anyone can name some of the species unknown to me, then give me a shout or send a messenger pigeon.

An abandoned part of picturesque Haarlem in the Netherlands.

A birds-eye view of the site.

1. Rapeseed (Brassica napus).
2. Rapeseed (Brassica napus).
3. Blackberry bush (Rubus).
4. Seedhead of the common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis).

5. Ground ivy (Glechoma herderacea).
6. Bulbous buttercups (Ranunculus bulbosus).
7. Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium).
8. A type of coniferous cypress tree (fam. Cupressaceae).

9. Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale).
10. Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale).
11. Dove's foot crane's bill (Geranium molle).
12. Broad-leaved clover (Trifolium pratense).

13. Common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis).
14. Front left: Common mullein (Verbascum thapsus), center: Common sorrel (Rumex acetosa), back center: Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), right: Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium).
15. Some type of mullein or dock??
16. Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata). Also known as buckhorn plantain.

17. ???
18. Common sallow (Salix cinerea).
19. Common sallow (Salix cinerea).
20. Some sort of grass.

CITY TO CITY

After taking temporary sanctuary from the Covid19 virus in the relatively quiet city of Haarlem (population 235,000), I needed to return to my home in Amsterdam (population 822,000) to water my houseplants, check my mail box and check-in with housemates.

The weather had taken a sudden spring-time turn for the better (20°C), so rather than endure the suspicion and paranoia of strangers, which is what traveling on public transport has become in this virus stricken time, I instead jumped onto a trusted bike and peddled the distance.

I didn't follow the most direct course, but instead plotted a 20km scenic route where I could appreciate the subtle (yet sometimes sudden) changes between city and countryside. Along the way I hoped to discover new paths for myself through what has become a fairly well trodden area of North Holland and experience new approaches into the neighbourhood I call home.

Start time: Monday 6th April 2020, 12:36
End time: Monday 6th April 2020, 14:29