The Woodlands in Ballyyahoo is known as the Witchy Woods.
It’s a magic place that the Witch of Ballyyahoo loves to visit.
You can find this special place where the border of Ballyyahoo meets the border of Ballyuseless.
In the daytime, the Witchy Woods is just like any other woodlands.
There are lots of beautiful moss-covered rocks and tree stumps.
As well as tall trees, short trees, shrubs, ferns, natural ponds, mushrooms and all kinds of berries and lots of wildflowers too.
You can click here to see some wildflowers.
And of course, there are also lots of woodland creatures like rabbits, hedgehogs and frogs.
Click here to see the frogs of Ballyyahoo.
There is also a very shy herd of beautiful deer.
They like to hide away from people, but you can click here to see our gorgeous Ballyyahoo deer.
CROOKED LITTLE PATHS
If you walked through the Witchy Woods you will find lots of little trails and paths.
These little trails wind through the woods and around the trees.
The paths are often covered with fallen leaves.
If you walk through the Witchy Woods or any woodlands in winter or Autumn you can often hear the leaves crunching under your feet.
Following these trails often lead to lots of other little trails some might even lead to the bog of Ballyyahoo.
That’s part of the fun of walking in the woods: following trails to see where they go.
Sometimes the trails might seem like they are never going to end. But, of course, they do.
It is a great idea to visit your nearest woodlands and see how many trails you can follow.
LOGS AND TREE STUMPS
In the Witchy Woods, there are lots of unusual logs and tree stumps.
These can be hiding places for tiny creatures.
If you look closely you can see many crawlies such as ants, woodlice and centipedes.
Sometimes hedgehogs might make a little home hidden in among a pile of logs.
You have to be very careful not to disturb them in case they are hibernating.
WHO’S HIDING IN THE WITCHY WOODS?
In the picture below you can see a gap or a hole that has formed between two intertwining tree branches.
Many of the trees are covered with a fine green moss as in the picture below.
Touch the moss gently and see for yourself how soft it feels.
You can often see all sorts of things when you look through the gaps in trees.
Can you see a face between the trees in the opposite picture?
There are lots of hiding places in woodlands, especially in the Witchy Woods.
In fact, you never know who, or what, might be hiding among the trees, or under the rocks in the Witchy Woods.
In fact our own cat lady, Maggie-Many-Cats found some kittens.
Click here to read a story about how Maggie found baby kittens in the Witchy Woods.
There are rumours that Biddy, The Witch of Ballyyahoo, goes walking, or more precisely, flying, around the Witchy Woods on a regular basis.
But that’s a whole other story and you can read about that by clicking here.
Anyone in Ballyyahoo will tell you that some of the best hiding places in Ireland are in the wonderful woodlands of the Witchy Woods.
But, if you went looking in your own nearest woodlands, or forest, I’m sure you found some great hiding places too.
Have fun when you visit the woodlands but remember, whenever you are walking in woodlands or nature be very careful and don’t leave any rubbish behind.
Ballyyahoo – encourage your children to love nature.
THE WITCH OF BALLYYAHOO
You will love this wickedly funny adventure story from Ballyyahoo.
Gerry discovers a magic stone and learns that there’s a villain on the way.
Something terrible’s going to happen in Ballyyahoo and only Gerry can save them
Praise for The Witch of Ballyyahoo
“A great read – another great story.” – Paul Watters
“A great read for all ages. Easy to read again and again. Can’t recommend it highly enough.”- Chris Coyne
“Inventive and clever, I can’t wait to see what Gerry is going to get into next!” – Heather G.
“Anyone who believes witches ride broomsticks and boil toads in a cauldron should read The Witch of Ballyhoo and meet a real live witch whose travels everywhere on the back of her hoover and is determined to keep the people in her village safe from harm.’” – J. Considine
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