Web Of Wonder

Despite their perceived malevolence in popular culture, spiders are a magnificent and vital part of the ecosystem

- POLLY PULLAR

As far as the eye can see, the ground sparkles and glints, twinkles and blinks as a watery tangerine sun lifts lazily over the eastern horizon and throws out a spotlight. Myriad cobwebs lace the hill, adorning every stem and frond, their perfect forms stretching across a landscape painted in frost. Hundreds of gossamer threads drift in refracted light as they sway through the steaming atmosphere.

In autumn and winter, thousands of spiders are brought to the fore as the ethereal, otherworldly beauty of their spinning skills are unveiled, skills that go largely unnoticed for much of the year. Spiders swiftly make their webs at night, each requiring 20-60 metres of silk. I am sure that most of us never thought of spiders as we tidied away our Christmas trees and tinsel at the start of January. However, some believe their complex glittering winter webs provided us with inspiration for tinsel for decorations.

An ancient folktale thought to have origins in Ukraine or elsewhere in Eastern Europe, puts these extraordinary invertebrates - arachnids - at the heart of winter. Like most folktales, there are numerous variations, but the simple version I like best is the tale of the poor widow living alone with her children in a tiny woodland cottage.

In the heart of summer, a pinecone blows in and lands on the cottage's earthen floor. The widow leaves it to take root while her children nurture it, hoping it will grow into a tree. The tree thrives, but they have no money to decorate it. The children go to bed disappointed, only to awaken to find their tree laced with beautiful cobwebs that glisten and gleam as the sun pours through the cottage windows, transforming the webs into gold and silver. Not only is the tree more lovely than it could have been with bought decorations, but the little family now has enough money.