The Bory Tucholskie
One great nature reserve, the land of wooded quiet, rid of almost all which flavours of the tumult of today's world. Two beautiful rivers - the Brda and Wda, do not, of course, embrace the whole area of the Bory Tucholskie, one of the biggest stretches of compact forest in Poland. They do, however, mark out the most attractive area, they themselves consulting the most convenient and frequently use tourist routes, leading to the centre of the dense forest, where for the tourist, every hour is as useful lesson in nature study. The area between the rivers is out off from, those parts which reach out to the bare patches near Chojnice and Tuchola, the more densely populated district of Skorcz, and embraces only forest areas with clearings here and there, cut into by narrow roads, small hamlets lost in the forest, among which Czersk, lying at the meeting point of the railway and main road would seem to from the capital. The forest area of the Bory Tucholskie is not uniform. Here and there remain relics of the old Pomeranian primaeval forest, the greater part, however constitutes pine forest, the work of human activates - not always well thought out or successful in the past, and often over exploited. The primaeval forest was thinned out by the "Great army" which, treading along the "Napoleonic route" cutting through the Bory from Tuchola to Osie, pushed its way through to the Princedom of Prussia. The Prussians also thinned out the forest, as did the Polish "starosts" and leaseholders in the XVI-XVIII centuries, compensating the mass felling with primitive afforestation. Hence the monotonous pine, the melancholy of the "Bory". the Prussian settler wrested away the best plots of land. There are rare spot where one can find specimens of primaeval flora, post-glacial relicts - dwarf birch, service-tree, yew. Here and there the uniformity is broken by oak, beech, hornbeam or a broader patch of deciduous primeval trees, protected as part of the nature reserve.
In this forest world once ruled by the aurochs, bear and wolf, one only finds the smaller animals to-day. Wild boar, fox, fallow, deer, red deer, fitchew, woodgrouse in the more inaccessible thickets, heron, black stork - are the greatest ornaments of the forest fauna. Form man, the Bory Tucholskie constituted a source of work and earnings, and in the not too distant past an escape and shelter from danger. The last war transformed men into hunted and hunter. The boundary between Wielkopolska and Pomorze the barrier and powerful obstacle against the German thrust eastward, ling remained a no-man's-land, the kingdom of bee-keepers, wood-distillers, log-rafters, hunters and an asylum for all at variance with the law. The austere law of the forest ruled more powerfully than the princes, kings, margraves and commanders of various Orders. This was enforced by the iron law of the poachers and deserters, brigands and peaceloving settlers, who in these serve conditions began to build the future of the forest land. 300.000 hectares of forest set the economy of the region. The bee-keeping and wood-distilling have disappeared, modern times have eliminated the importance of hunting and fishing. The wood has remained, however, hence the saw-mills with their semi-products of sawn timber, pit-props, pulp wood - and from these furniture and household utensils. A traditional feature of the Bory is the gathering of forest products. In Brusy, a large factory produces preserves from bilberries, rowan-berries, blackthorn, raspberries, cranberries and mushrooms in various forms. The forest also decided as to the development of a modern pearling mill at Klosnowo, where several tons of pine seeds are obtained each year.
Meadows are becoming another pillar of the Bory Tucholskie economy, those between the Brda and Wda covering 1,945,4 hectares. The well-known "Czersk meadows" embrace 5 water systems forming an irrigated area and fodder base for a wide region. Then finally, there is the "white coal" from the dams on the Brda and Wda rivers with fast-running streams and relatively substantial descent, afford energy for the hydro-power stations at Zur, Grodek, Koronowo and may be on other cascades in the future. In the northern part of the Bory, the rivers Zbrzyca, Mlosienica and Brda form a unique water junction, through which one can pass from Chojnice to the Cashubian lake systems. It affords tremendous pleasure to jump onto a canoe and... now what - the Brda or Wda? We shall tramp across the area in zig-zag and in the thick of the Bory, through the land embraced by these rivers. Brusy, neither village nor town, a tiny mushroom and wild fruit capital, squats down on the railway line from Chojnice to Koscierzyna. There again Niechwaszcz clearly demonstrates a rare example of bifurcation, separating near Brusy (through the Mlosnica and Zbrzyca) into the Brda and Wda. Czesrk, whose rural history goes back as far as the XIII century, now gains its livelihood from the saw-mills and timber works. It is an interesting little town with no market place, the centre constituting the old street system. At Rytel, a charming dyke between the Brda and canal constitutes a starting point for an excursion to the Czerska Struga (Czersk Stream) and the broad forest section between the rivers, Czersk trunk route and the "Napoleonic route". From Tlen the River Wda forms the first overflow arm to become a very busy river, as it is transformed into "white coal" at nearby Zur. One of the biggest erratic boulders in Poland - Wielki Kamien (The Great Stone), also called Kamien Diabelski (the Devil's Stone) 25m. in circumference, is to be found not far from Grodek and Leosia. The Wda is nearing the end of its course, it twist near Bedlenki, turns the bend towards Terespol and through industrialized Przechowo with its huge cellulose factory, the flows to the Vistula which broadens out at Swiecie, one of the oldest fortified settlements in Pomerania. Already in the XII century, Swiecie castle was the capital for the Princess ruling the southern part of the land of Pomorze. To strengthen the defences, Swietopelk II transferred it to the holm at the fork of the Wda and Vistula. The town itself, initially lying on the hill, shifted to the foot of the castle in the middle of the XIV century. Captured by the Knights of the Teutonic Order in 1460, it returned to Poland in 1461 following the Polish storm helped by the Torun townspeople, faithful allies during the struggles of the 13-yeard war. Overrun by the Swedes and the armies of Napoleon and frequently ruined by floods, the town was once more transferred to the hill at the close of the XIX century. On the Vistula holm, the remains of the town walls with a fragment of the Chelmno Gate, ruins of the parish church and castle on the water with its round tower and impressive walls, 3 meters thick, from which there is a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside. Westwards along the Swiecie road, first through country bared of forest, than near Bladzim afforested once more we arrive at the region of the Wierzchlas forestry inspectorate where we find one of the greatest features of the Tuchola Forest - the yew-tree reserve. The remains of the ancient Pomorze primeval forest, 37 hectares of relict yew forest, 4,000 specimens of here. The oldest yew, called "Chrobry", maybe even remembers the times of the great king whose name it bears. This beautiful reserve in the "Leon Wyczolkowski" Cisy Staropolskie (Old Polish Yew) Reserve. This is commemorate the great painter for whom this corner of the “Bory” constituted the source of inspiration and who offered us a permanent monument to the yews in his art. Just how valuable was this wood, particularly for crossbows and long-bows, is illustrated by the fact that in 1423 King Wladyslaw Jagiello prohibited the cutting down of yews, thus establishing what was probably the first Polish nature conservation act. The road takes us through Rudzki Most and after crossing the Brda we find ourselves in Tuchola from which the forest takes its name. It is worth while viewing the river from Rudzki Most. It is here that it leaves the open to flow into the fantastic verdure of the Piekiełko range. The river begins to chase through the forest, over the rapids, each of which was given a name of its own by the old raftsmen: Owczarz (Shepherd) and Czerwony (Red), Ceglarze (Brickmakers) and “Sokoloki”, The Fat One, The Thin One, “Wartoka”, “Kierda” and other water pitfalls. But now, here we have Tuchola, the birthplace of Bartłomiej Nowodworski, a Maltese Knight and courtier of the kings Stefan Batory and Zygmunt III. Lavishly endowed by the king, he bequeathed part of his fortune to the Krakow Academy. The 700-years old town in which Jan Sobieski held office as the “starost”, played an important role in history, although there are now no material traces of this. We have thus wandered through the Tuchola Forest, but seen only some of its charms. This part of the country is only apparently unvaried, in fact, it hides many charms and is highly diversified. Here, each season has its own particular colours, its own specific music… We would encourage everyone to get to know the “Bory” by taking a canoe trip along the Brda, which is said to be the most beautiful river for this type of sport, in Europe. Taking a trip along the Brda, it is best from Chojnice, as from there it is only a short distance to Charzykowy, the most frequent starting point and also because this is an old town in the southern Cashubian region, which still boast the remains of Medieval moats and town walls with the Człuchowska Brama (Czluchow Gate); as a town it is wellknown for its patriotism and regional pride. It was in this town the Cashubian writers and patriots Leon Heyke and Jan Karnowski, Aleksander Majkowski, Jan Łukowicz and many others from near and far left their mar. Another interesting place of information is that the Chojnice boat works produce the well-known regatta boats, thus sealing the tradition of the Charzykowy craddle of Poland’s yachting and ice-boat sports, which are still reckoned among the world’s best.
See also: The Tuchola Forest National Park
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