‘Back to work’ a three word phrase perhaps as dispiriting as ‘replacement bus service’? (see the comments a couple of posts back!). But all good things, including long summer teaching holidays, have to come to an end I suppose. To add insult to injury, the weather in the first week of September usually takes a turn for the better after the damp squib which has been August. Certainly our first Monday at least was lovely. Starting how I meant to go on, I got out that evening for an ascent of Arnside Knott. The following evening I was out on my bike, after that my resolve seems to have crumbled – or probably the weather returned to our new norm of rain, rain and more rain.
A pair of Roe Deer in the woods, Heathwaite.
During a recent visit to ours, The Sherpa and The Prof were speculating on how many times I’ve climbed the Knot. To be honest, I don’t have a clue, but I think that they estimated, I don’t know how, a figure of around a thousand times. That might be a fair guess. This particular ascent stands out from the many not just because of the lovely evening light, but because of this pair of Roe Deer which stared at me for a while, but then went back to browsing the woodland floor seemingly quite unconcerned even when another walker passed and threw us all a cheery greeting.
Kent Estuary post sunset.A pair of Roe deer in our garden.
My guess is that this pair are siblings, although I couldn’t tell you why I think that. I’ve noticed that the deer are occasionally more brazen in our garden these days too, particularly when we are in the house when they seem to have no qualms approaching quite close.
Addendum: I’ve found some more photos, which I took on my camera and hadn’t downloaded, and this is in fact three deer – a mother and her two fawns, so I wasn’t so far off with my siblings guess.
Here’s the mother:
Roe deer close up.A very hairy caterpillar, possibly a Ruby Tiger moth.
Whilst I remember both sets of deer, I have no recollection at all of photographing this caterpillar. I hope that it was in our garden, I once found a very colourful Garden Tiger Moth in a spider’s web on one of our window ledges, but it would be nice to think that we have resident Ruby Moths too. One day I’ll get around to making or buying a moth trap and then I suppose I’ll find out.
What with Harrop Tarn being my new favourite swimming spot, after my visit last June, I was keen to share it with my nearest and dearest, so when A asked about a potential swim when her boyfriend L was visiting, that was the first suggestion which sprang to mind. The small parking area at Stockhow Bridge was already jam-packed when we arrived, but we were lucky to find some roadside parking close to the junction of the currently closed road around the western side of Thirlmere and the main road.
Thirlmere Reservoir.Helvellyn.
It was a beautiful day, quite warm, so the views back across the reservoir to Helvellyn and its satellites gave me frequent welcome excuses to stop for a breather and take photos during the steepish ascent.
The rocky bowl which holds Harrop Tarn.A and L racing each other on the stepping stones.
There’s a bridge across Dob Gill near the outflow from Harrop Tran, but A insisted on a race across the stepping stones. And then again with a headstart. And again with a more generous headstart, but L is a triathlete and clearly very agile, and no amount of leeway was going to get our A across first.
L was ready and into the water before I’d even undone my laces. Then out again even faster. Apparently the water was cold. He wasn’t wrong. I guess triathletes are used to the luxury of a wetsuit. A is undeniably much hardier than I am: she and her friend S (the Tower Captain’s daughter for long-suffering readers) have instigated a new ‘tradition’ of going for an open water swim on S’s birthday. In March! This year that was in a stream up by Alston in the Pennines (it looked lovely, but A was a bit vague about the exact location). Last year it was in High Dam, with snow still sitting on the banks. Brrr. Never-the-less, on this occasion she took her time getting in and didn’t last much longer in the water than L had.
Harrop Tarnpano.
TBH took an absolute age acclimatising herself inch by squealing inch. By the time she was fully immersed I’d almost finished my first circuit of the tarn (like a lot of mammals adapted to cold water I have my own built in insulation). I could see that TBH intended to follow my lead, so I cut a corner and we swam a circuit together. Or almost together – like most people, TBH swims faster than I do.
Black Darter.
Not the most attractive dragonfly perhaps, but exciting for me because I’m not aware of having seen one of these before and I certainly haven’t photographed one.
Another stepping stone race. Only ever going to be one winner.Fly agaric?Elephant Hawkmoth Caterpillar.
The first time I saw, and photographed, one of these, was also on a walk with A. And her friend S and the Tower Captain come to that, way back in 2009. One of the photos I took then somehow ended up high on the list of results of an internet image search and for a few years that post would get heavy traffic every July and August when people were trying to work out what it was they’d seen clambering on their Fuschias.
One of several sunflowers growing near Jenny Brown’s Cottages.
Out in the real world, spring is springing, whilst here on the blog, I’m still stuck in last August. Will I ever catch up? I’m beginning to doubt it!
Anyway, at the tail end of the summer holiday, I had several excellent local meanders. The first was around our usual Jenny Brown’s point circuit. I was surprised to see several sunflowers – presumably growing from seeds dropped by birds from feeders in the nearby gardens? These days, we have a number of feeders in our garden again and I’m quite looking forward to a few sunflowers popping up.
Caterpillar – Large Yellow Underwing moth, possibly.A view from Jenny Brown’s Point.
I didn’t take my camera on this first walk, so not all that many photos. It was a frustrating omission. because I thought I saw two Great Egrets in Quicksand Pool, but they were too far away to be sure – I could have really done with the large zoom available on my camera.
So, the next time I was out, for a mooch by Bank Well, Lambert’s Meadow and around Hawes Water, I remembered my camera and, predictably, took hundreds of pictures.
Speckled Wood Butterfly.Purple Loosestrife.Brimstone Butterfly on Purple Loosestrife.Common Carder Bee (I think) on Common Knapweed.A tiny snail on the very large seed-pod of a Yellow Flag Iris.A small spider – maybe Metellina mengei.Lambert’s Meadow.Wild Angelica.Brown-lipped Snail.Tapered Drone Fly – Eristalis pertinax(I think).A tatty Gatekeeper butterfly.Migrant Hawker, Male.
I was astonished to see three Migrant Hawkers, all male, perched on the same Great Willowherb plant. I shouldn’t have been: over the next few days I would see lots more – it seemed like it was a good summer for this species, in this area at least.
A different Migrant Hawker, Male.A Crane Fly.Another tatty Gatekeeper. Hoverfly – Ferdinandea cuprea.White-lipped Snail.Beetle – potentially Poecilus cupreus.A Banded Snail, maybe White-lipped.Another Banded Snail.And another, White-lipped.Fly – Tachina fera.Yet another White-lipped Snail.Soldier Beetles and a Honey Bee on Mint.Tachina feraon Mint.Common Carder Bee on Mint.Enchanter’s Nightshade – easily overlooked.Snails – Banded and Garden respectively.Snail on nettles. Some sort of Glass Snail?Another White-lipped Snail.A Banded Snail.Fox and cubs.Marsh Willowherb, I think.Dragonfly – Common Darter, female.Hoverfly – Helophilus pendulus.Dragonfly – Common Darter, male.Honey Bee.A Clematis?Garden Spider.Lime Tree.Harvestman.
And there we are: one step closer to the end of August!
I’ve always considered the view from Monsal Head of the Headstone Viaduct to be one of the iconic scenes in the Peak District. Since the days when I was a regular visitor to the area, the old railway line has been converted into a walking and cycling track, a fact which Andy alerted me to on his blog. We’d brought the DBs bikes with us, and hired bikes at Hassop Station for TBH and myself. I remember that my bike was a Raleigh, but not which model, which is a shame, because it was very comfortable and a pleasure to ride.
Headstone Tunnel
Hassop is near, but not at, one end of the line. We set-off west to tackle the larger portion of the trail first. There are six tunnels on the route and I seem to have taken photos either of, or in, most of them. I’m not sure why I was so chuffed to be cycling through tunnels, perhaps because I’m still essentially a big kid at heart.
View from the Headstone Viaduct.View the other way from the Headstone Viaduct.Cressbrook Mill.Gorge-ous scenery.One of the dales.
The trail generally follows the valley of the River Wye, but, confusingly, the name of the dale changes along its length: Monsal Dale, Water-cum-Jolly Dale, Millers Dale, Chee Dale, Wye Dale. It’s hard to know where the transitions occur and also hard to remember where each of the photos was taken, so I can’t say which dale each one shows!
Happy bikers.Looking down on the road.Two viaducts near Miller’s Dale Station.Miller’s Dale Station.
The cafe at Millers Dale station was popular and we probably should have got some lunch there. Little S did get an ice-cream, which for some reason seems to have caused some consternation on his part…
Little S with a suspicious ice-cream.Huge limekiln.Possibly the last of the tunnels.End of the line.
We’d been planning to eat at the cafe at Blackwell Mill, at the western end of the trail, but didn’t, I think it was closed. Either that, or it didn’t have any vegan options, I can’t remember.
Chee Dale.
I’d chosen to start near the Bakewell end because I’d read online that it would be uphill from there. It must be a very gentle gradient: it hadn’t seemed uphill, but now that we turned around, the difference was really obvious and going the other way was much faster and could be free-wheeled.
Chee Dale from the little spur.
I had noticed a short spur here coming post and took a detour now to have a nose. It was well worth it for the view.
Free-wheeling.One of the Dales!
Back at Hassop station we had a very late lunch in the excellent cafe there, which is highly recommended.
We were running short of time on our bike rentals, so I asked in the shop whether we were okay to cycle to the other end of the line near Bakewell. I was told that it was fine, so long as we were back before closing, but that the return part was uphill and that many people found it challenging.
The other end of the line.Bakewell Station.Hassop Station.
Actually, it was fine and I’m pleased that we managed to fit in the entire route. I was hoping for a view over Bakewell, but whilst we did get some, they were partial and didn’t yield very good photos. The whole trail is 8½ miles, so there and back is only 17, not a very long cycle ride I know, but immensely enjoyable and pretty much flat which is a big selling point as far as I’m concerned.
Dove Dale.
From my childhood visits to the Peak District I think three memories stand out: the show caves around Castleton; steaming, overheated cars pulled over on the roadside up Winnats Pass; and the stepping stones and rock scenery of Dove Dale. Since Dove Dale wasn’t far from where we staying, I was determined to fit in a visit whilst we were there and although it was late in the day, we managed to get into the National Trust car park before the entrance was closed for the evening.
River Dove.
Even though it was early evening, the area around the stepping stones was still very busy, with lots of large family groups enjoying picnics. We didn’t have to go far though before it became much quieter.
The Twelve Apostles, well some of them.
I remember, on those early visits, being awed by the natural rock arch above the path, and that it was close to Reynard’s Cave, but I don’t think we ever climbed up to the arch or the cave.
Natural Arch.
Judging by the heavily eroded path, that’s now a very popular activity. It’s pretty steep, more so than this photo suggests.
And from above.And from Reynard’s Cave.TBH in Reynard’s Cave.
Like Thor’s Cave, there’s archeological evidence showing that Reynard’s Cave was occupied, at least sporadically, during the Neolithic through to the Medieval period.
Another cave.
We found another, smaller cave just around the corner from Reynard’s and then an alternative route back to the river which was a little less steep.
Descending from Reynard’s Cave.
Before heading for home we walked a little further upstream so that the DBs could investigate this rather wet cave which had a stream flowing out of it…
Another cave down by the river.The famous stepping stones.
And finally, on the path back to the car park, a couple of interesting insect encounters…
Lesser Stag Beetle (I think).A White Ermine Moth Caterpillar (I think).
This was the last full day of our flying visit to the Midlands. Our trip was short, but packed with interest and I hope it’s not too long before we’re back in the area.
The first time we made what was to become our annual pilgrimage to the Llyn Peninsula to get our summer holiday kick-started, in 2006, the kids were toddlers. In fact, Little S wasn’t born until the following year. One of the many happy consequence of having our young brood with us, were early morning walks for me with one or other of the the boys in a baby carrier. The walks were always a great opportunity to see a bit of nature, particularly seals. I would invariably walk along the coastal path for a while and then turn back. Thus summer, I was feeling nostalgic about those early morning outings, and although I’m not so good at early starts these days, on the Monday morning I managed to walk along the coast a little and be back for a late breakfast. Since the weather had turned grotty when I’d turned right along the coast the previous day, I wanted to try that way again. And because the path had been initially very churned up, I decided to return along the minor lane and then take the track back to Porth Ysgaden where I’d turned back the day before.
As soon as was on the lane I met a large, black beetle and a hairy caterpillar.
Unidentified Beetle.A hairy caterpillar. Maybe an Oak Eggar Moth caterpillar?
There were lots of Gatekeepers enjoying the sunshine in the hedgerows.
Gate-keeper Butterfly.
And where the hedge was gorse bushes, there were myriad small webs, most with a tiny spider in its centre.
Araneus diadematus – Garden Spider.
Because the spiders were so small, it was difficult to get either my ‘birding’ camera or my phone to focus on them. I thought perhaps I’d stumbled on some new-to-me small species of spider, but now that I’ve cropped some photos and had a proper look at them, I think they’re bog-standard, but none-the-less handsome Garden Spiders, Araneus diadematus.
A wide verge – Purple Loosestrife and Meadow Sweet.Porth Ysgaden.
From Porth Ysgaden, the strip of land along the coast, which the path runs through, belongs to The National Trust. I remembered it as being a really pleasant stretch to walk, and I wasn’t wrong.
West along the coast.Silverweed.Silverweed runners.
Silverweed is a common plant which is easy to find close to home, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it looking as vigorous as it did along this stretch of grassland. The surface was matted with its scarlet runners. Apparently, Silverweed was once prized for its starchy tuber, which is good to eat, but I’ve read that it’s not wise to introduce it in your garden because it will take over, which I can well believe.
Another coastal view.
I followed the clifftop as closely as possible and kept getting tantalising views of a pair of corvids which I thought must be Choughs. Birds from the crow family often seem to take particular joy in their acrobatic displays in flight, and this pair of birds were swooping across the cliff faces and zawns with what looked like glee.
Porth Gwylan
I was really taken with Porth Gwylan. If I’ve been this far along the coast before, then I don’t remember it. A long arm of rock forms a natural harbour. There were small whitecaps in the sea, but the water in the Porth was completely calm. I thought this might be an interesting place to come snorkelling at some point.
A Chough.
The Choughs (or some Choughs at least) reappeared and stationed themselves at the end of the ‘harbour arm’, preening each other and generally looking right at home.
Choughs.A view from the furthest reach of my walk, near Porth Ychain.
I would have loved to carry on: it seems crazy that, in all of our many visits over the years, I’ve never been a little down the coast to the long beach of Traeth Penllech or to the headland above it, Penrhyn Melyn, which I imagine is a wonderful viewpoint.
Having turned back, I decided to walk on the opposite side of the strip of coastal grassland, away from the sea, and by the low mounded hedge and the fence. This turned out to be a great idea, since, now that I wasn’t busy watching the sea, I discovered that this little patch of heath was thronging with birds.
Thrift which has gone over. Carn Fadryn behind.Juvenile Stonechat.
A whole family of Stonechats were bobbing about in a thicket of brambles. I have some out-of-focus shots of an adult male, but only this juvenile posed for long enough for me to get some half decent photos.
Starlings?
The fields beyond the hedge were busy with some quite large flocks of brown birds, which would periodically take to the wing, but then, on some unheard signal, all settle together in the vegetation in the field and disappear.
Starlings?
I think that they were juvenile Starlings, but that’s a tentative guess. As you can see, this particular field was dotted with blue flowers…
Mystery blue flowers.
They look a little like Chicory flowers, but Chicory is a tall plant, and these definitely weren’t tall. From what I’ve read, it seems that a number of flowering plants are being used as green manure in fallow fields, so this may not even be a native British species anyway.
Meadow Pipit?
I’m still pretty rubbish at identifying LBJs, but I assume that this is a Meadow Pipit. There were quite a few of these about, but I’d only managed to get some very distant photos, before this one decided to pose for me on a fencepost, with a wriggly green grub in its beak.
Meadow Pipit?Porth Gwylan, the hills in the background are Yr Eifl and its neighbours.Pipits?
Back at Porth Ysgaden, I watched several more LBJs hopping about on the rocks. Because they were on the rocks, I naively assumed that they were Rock Pipits, but it now seems likeliest that they were more Meadow Pipits. A lovely interlude. Next time, which will be next summer, all things being equal, I need to make it a little further down the coast. Maybe I should investigate public transport options so that I don’t have to walk out and back. Ultimately, of course, I would like to walk the entire coast path around the peninsula, that would be a treat.
Old friend GFS was staying at Chapel Stile campsite in Nether Wasdale with his family and had been regularly posting pictures from the fells he’d bagged. I messaged him wondering whether he wanted to meet on the Sunday for a walk. He suggested Black Combe. I was a bit puzzled, since I knew he was enthusiastically ticking off the Wainwrights, as well as the Ethels he would tell me about later in the day, and Black Combe is not on that list. It turned out that he’s using an online list which includes all of the Outlying Fells, so, as far as he was concerned, it is a Wainwright and would add to his tally.
GFS suggested an eleven o’clock rendezvous, which, being jealous of my weekends, especially if the sun is shining, I felt was inordinately late, so I set-off early and drove a little past our prearranged meeting point for a quick swim in the Irish Sea at Silecroft.
The shingle upper region of Silecroft Beach.
I don’t think that Cumbria is reknowned for its beaches at all, but the one at Silecroft is lovely, and I suspect many others are equally good.
Sea Kale.
My first encounter with the beach here was also in July, over thirty years ago, when I came kayak-surfing here with a group of trainee teachers. It was far from being the first time I’d kayaked, but it was probably my first experience of surfing and it could easily have been my last. We were using some rather battered fibreglass canoes and the cockpit coping on my boat was cracked. I only discovered that my spray-deck was firmly jammed into that crack when I’d capsized and was trying to roll out of the boat in the way we’d been taught in the safe environs of a swimming pool. Of course, I should have been performing an eskimo roll, but I never quite mastered that. After a little confusion followed by some hasty tugging at the spray-deck, I managed to free myself, and was surprised to find myself the centre of attention and a worried looking instructor chest deep in the sea in an effort to rescue me. Reckless youth and adrenaline junkie that I was then, my only regret was that he wouldn’t let me go back out for some more surfing. These days I’ll settle for an intentional swim without the preceding drama. There were a few people on surfboards near where I swam, but the waves looked unpromisingly tiny. Perfect for a swim with a great view however.
Black Combe.
I’d taken a leaf out of Andy’s book and had been perusing satellite images of the area in search of liking looking parking spots. As a result, I’d suggested a layby just off the main road, opposite the church at Hallthwaite.
Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars and lots of Soldier Beetles making love not war.The Duddon Estuary from Baystone Bank, Bank House on the left.GFS descending Baystone Bank.
The path which descended Baystone Bank should have alerted us to what was to come – it started out sketchy and quickly disappeared completely in the enveloping bracken.
Stoupdale Beck.
Having reached access land just below Force Knott the plan was to turn sharp left and to follow the path, marked on the OS 1:25,000 map, which follows the intake wall. The idea was to work our way around to Whitecombe Beck and then on to the Horse Back ridge which I have often admired, but never climbed. My plan then extended to a lengthy descent route which would conveniently take in the Swinside stone circle, which has also been on my wish list for a very long time. As Iron Mike famously opined: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” In this case, the knuckle sandwich was delivered by the head-high bracken.
Heath Spotted-orchid.
Sadly, the advertised path simply didn’t exist, at least not in July, and the path which climbed up beside Stoupdale beck, which seemed like the only alternative, briefly lulled us into a false sense of security before also disappearing. Orienteering maps use different colours to indicate the density of the undergrowth, the most extreme being ‘fight’ I think. This was definitely a fight. Fortunately, we eventually climbed above the worst of the bracken and the path returned without a hint of embarrassment or any sign of an apology.
The Duddon Estuary again.
From that point on it was just a steady climb to the top, in glorious sunshine.
GFS in the region of Whitecombe Moss.Looking towards Whitfell, The Scafells and the Coniston Fells.GFS and me by the trig pillar.The huge cairn on the south top.View to Walney Island beyond the mouth of the Duddon. Piel Island can also be picked out.
We sat with our backs to the large cairn, eating our lunch, admiring the extensive views and discussing potential onward routes, since we had already climbed much of my proposed descent route and we were keen to avoid another quarrel with the bracken as much as possible.
Horse Back ridge.
I had a theory that a route around the southern edge of the actual Blackcombe corrie might be our best bet. I thought the path beside Whitecombe Beck would be bracken free.
Eller Peatpot.
It did turn out to be a good route, with only a modicum of bracken bashing as we approached the track by the stream.
Ominous clouds heading our way.Blackcombe Beck.
Our new route involved a lot of road walking, mostly on quiet lanes which was fine, but from Fox and Goose Cottages to Lanthwaite Bridge along the busy A595. Whilst we were walking that section, TBH rang me to find out whether we were back at our cars yet? She was in Heysham, to pick up Little S, and reported a torrential downpour which had immediately flooded the roads and made driving difficult. We’d been watching showers tracking across the sea in our direction for a while and now the sky was dark and threatening.
New (2020) Standing Stone at The Green.
I was very taken by this new standing stone, which was carved by Irene Rogan and Danny Clahane. It took a while to find out anything about it, but I eventually turned up a suggested walk taking in this and the Swinside Stone Circle, which I shall have to come back to try at some point.
Black Beck at Hallthwaites.GFS in Hallthwaites.
In the event, the first drops of rain only began to fall as we arrived back at our cars and the anticipated heavy showers didn’t materialise at all. Despite the best efforts of the bracken, it was a terrific walk. It’s always interesting to chat with GFS and I remember that we covered a lot of ground in our conversation.
MapMyWalk gives a little under 10 miles and almost exactly 700m of ascent.
Hagg Wood – Bottom’s Lane – Burtonwell Wood – Lambert’s Meadow – Bank Well – The Row – The Golf Course – The Station – Storrs Lane – Trowbarrow Quarry – Moss Lane – Jubilee Wood – Eaves Wood.
Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly, female.
The day after my Harrop Tarn swim. My new, second-hand phone (a Google Pixel 6) had arrived and I was keen to try out the camera. Actually, it has four cameras – the selfie camera, the ‘standard’ camera, a wide angle and a x2 slight telephoto. I had my actual camera with me too, so I had four to choose from at each point. One thing my phone won’t do is take photos like the one above, of shy subjects like a Broad-bodied Chaser, which need to be taken from some distance. There were loads of them about at Lambert’s Meadow, all female again.
Spear ThistlesElder Flowers
The Elders had just come into flower – I made a mental note to bring a bag and some scissors on a subsequent walk, so that I could collect some to make cordial. I think I made the same mental note several times before it actually worked.
Ragged Robin at Lambert’s Meadow.
I’ve come to really like the wide-angle camera on my phone, it seems to give a considerable depth of field.
Mullein Moth Caterpillar.
Since this caterpillar wasn’t likely to fly off, I was able to compare shots taken on my camera and on my phone. This first was taken with the phone.
Mullein Moth Caterpillar, and Figwort Weevil.
And this one with my camera, which I think is a slightly better photo. The little Figwort Weevil is something I’ve been looking out for; photos taken with macro lenses reveal them to be astonishing little creatures. I’ve only ever seen Mullein Caterpillars in large numbers on Mullein plants before, but apparently they will eat other things.
Common Blue Damselfly, male.
Once again, there were Common Blue Damselflies about in large numbers.
Meadow Brown Butterfly.
Quite a variety of butterflies too, I also have photos, but not very good ones, of Commas and Red Admirals.
Common Carder Bee on Marsh Thistle.Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars.
The Peacock caterpillars had grown considerably since my last visit. My camera seemed to struggle with them, and the photos I took on my phone seem to have worked better.
I’ve cropped this photo more heavily…
Peacock Butterfly Caterpillars.
They’re astonishing, spiky critters, like something from some sort of sci-fi horror B movie. Every time I visited, I noticed a fairly appalling smell. I’ve read that liquid fertiliser made from nettles is highly efficacious, but also produces a stomach-turning odour. Maybe the caterpillars, by eating the nettles, produce a similar stench? On the other hand, maybe there was something beneath the nettles rotting away. I suppose I won’t know until I find another patch of nettles with a colony of Peacock caterpillars.
Common Spotted-orchid.
The phone seems to work well for flowers. I’ve cropped this photo quite heavily too, so that you can see the tiny golden bug which emerged on the top left whilst I was lining up the photo.
Hedge Woundwort.Meadow Vetchling.Early Bumblebee on Bramble flowers.
I suspect the clever people at Google have packed some nifty algorithms into the phone’s software. I’ve noticed that sometimes two photos of the same subject, taken consecutively, can look quite different. Sometimes you can watch the temperature of a scene change on the screen. Although, I can’t put my finger on why, I really like these bramble blossoms and the Early Bumblebee and I can’t help thinking that the phone, or the algorithms, have done something sly to produce a pleasing effect.
Possibly a Tree Bumblebee, but a slightly odd looking one if it is.A ladybird larva shedding its skin to become an adult.
Another comparison shot. The camera photo is the first one, above.
The same ladybird.
This time I think it’s the phone which did a better job, having made the most of some fairly poor light.
Common Twayblade.Common Spotted-orchid.Broad-leaved Helleborine.Broad-leaved Helleborine.Dog Rose.Grypocoris stysi– plant bugs, on Hedge Woundwort.
The phone certainly did a good job with these little chaps. This was in Eaves Wood. I’d stopped to look at the Woundwort because I was hoping to find a Woundwort Shieldbug, then spotted a Common Carder Bee, which soon made itself scarce, but, having stopped and looked closely, noticed these tiny flower bugs. There are lots fo similar species, but apparently this particular pattern is fairly distinctive.
Empis livida– a Dagger Fly.Another Empis livida. Enchanter’s Nightshade.
Without mentioning it, I’ve slipped into June on the blog. These photos are from local walks, almost all from the first weekend in June, the end of our Whit week holiday. I was out twice on the Saturday, to Lambert’s Meadow and Woodwell in the afternoon and then a very short tour round the fields in the evening. And three times on the Sunday: a Jenny Brown’s Point circuit with TBH in the morning, Lambert’s Meadow again in the afternoon and another short postprandial leg-stretcher in the local fields in the evening.
Ragged Robin.Common Blue Damselfly.
I took a lot of photos of Common Blue damselflies, there were a lot of them about. I also saw quite a few Broad-bodied Chasers, all of them female again, although most of the photos I took were from quite a distance, I only got reasonably close once…
Broad-bodied Chaser, female.
On the other hand, I only got two photos of this…
Emperor Dragonfly.
…my first photos of an Emperor Dragonfly, something of a holly grail, since they never seem to land. Even this time it was a fairly fleeting opportunity. I have more photos to come, however, of our largest species of dragonfly.
I’m almost as excited by this hoverfly, since I think that this may be another first for me. The common name reflects the fact that the larvae of this species will eat Daffodil bulbs, but in the wild they generally live on Bluebell bulbs. The fascinating thing about this species is that there are several different forms which mimic a variety of different species of bumblebee.
Woundwort.Yellow Water-lily in Woodwell pond.Honey Bees (I think). Are they having a drink?Large Red Damselfly, male.Sunset.Sharp’s Lot.Wild Celery.Lambert’s Meadow.Peacock butterfly caterpillars.
My second trip to Lambert’s Meadow of the weekend was a bit frustrating since I hadn’t recharged the battery in my camera, a common error on my part. Since my old camera wasn’t too good at close-ups, and there’s always lots to see at Lambert’s Meadow, I missed out on getting decent photos of some Dock Beetles, and a rather dapper little Chafer. That night, I dropped my phone, for the umpteenth time, which must have been the final straw; after that, it refused to turn on. Which means that the following Friday, when I climbed Arnside Knott for the sunset and took very few photos, I didn’t have a phone to record my route.
Sunset from Arnside Knott.
The post’s title, incidentally, is from Wendy Cope’s ‘Being Boring’ again. Is it an allusion, I wonder, to Marvell’s ‘To his Coy Mistress’?
“My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires and more slow”
Hmmm, a bit thin perhaps? Some lazy, internet research led me to lots of adverts for hooch brewed from parsnips and beets and the like, and then to this:
“Newton was constantly awed by the beauty and complexity of the nature that surrounded him. Over time, he concluded that the massive variety of life and processes that occur in nature, such as growth, decay and fermentation, meant there must be some driving force that makes it all happen. He believed that the ‘vegetable spirit’ was that force, and thought it might also be linked with light.”
Hmmm, again. “The force that through the green fuse drives the flower”?
Apparently, he was attempting to reconcile science and religion. I always find it slightly comforting that a genius like Newton devoted so much time and effort to the pursuit of Alchemy. Maybe if he had been around today, he might forget to charge his camera battery or drop his phone and break it? I’m pleased too that he was ‘constantly awed by the beauty and complexity of the nature that surrounded him’.
Another Lune Catchment outing. I parked at Clapham Station, which, like our own village station, is quite a long way outside the settlement it serves. The car park was large and very empty, so I shan’t feel bad about using it. Besides which, I would have used the train if the first train in the morning had been at a more reasonable time, and if the fare weren’t so ridiculously expensive. There’s a listed waiting room at the station – I shall have to go back!
River Wenning.
The bridge I crossed over the wenning is also listed, I’m not sure why I didn’t take a photo; most unlike me.
My route initially took me through farmland, very pleasant, but unremarkable. However, I did take a lot of photos of the various views of Ingleborough.
Ingleborough.
Near Wenning Side I exchanged good mornings with a couple who seemed to be assiduously creosoting every gate, fance, stile etc on their property. Climbing a stile later on I managed to get thoroughly tarred-up with the sticky stuff.
Clapham Wood Hall.
There’s very little access to Keasden Beck, but from Clapham Wood Hall I was able to follow it as far as Turnerford Bridge.
Keasden Beck.Another view of Ingleborough.
At West Borronhead I hit access land and turned uphill. With hindsight, I should have turned immediately and followed Alder Gill Syke and the fence beside it. As it was, I went a little further west first and then found myself climbing steeply through tall bracken beneath which were years of accumulated dead bracken, which made for very difficult progress. Once I got to the stream, there was always at least a faint path of sorts.
Pano from beside Alder Gill Syke.
Alder Gill Syke (don’t ‘gill’ and syke’ both mean stream?) gives a good route all the way up Burns Moor, with a steady, fairly easy going and expanding views across the valley of the Wenning to the much more famous hills opposite.
Gragareth, Whernside, Ingleborough over the Wenning Valley.Gragareth, Whernside, Ingleborough over the Wenning Valley, pano.An evil trap.
I’m sure I must have seen these before; I certainly saw a few on this walk, and I’ve seen them again since in the Bowland Fells. Naively, when I saw this one, I assumed it must be part of some sort of wildlife population survey. Sadly not. This device is intended to kill Weasels and Stoats. They don’t like to get their feet wet apparently; by putting a plank or log across a section of bog and putting a trap on that plank, gamekeepers can protect their precious Grouse. Has anybody designed a ‘humane’ trap for grouse-shooting toffs?
Burn Moor trig pillar.
This was another very quiet walk. In fact I didn’t see any other walkers until I arrived at Bowland Knotts. I suspect Burn Moor trig pillar is little visited. Not far from the trig pillar is this curio:
Standard on Burn Moor. Looking down towards Morecambe Bay.
Marked on the OS map as ‘Standard On Burn Moor’, it has large capital letters carved on it and on the top…
Standard on Burn Moor.
…the word ‘Standard’. Odd. It made a very comfy backrest for me whilst I ate a bit of lunch and enjoyed the views. I also had some company; this Meadow Pipit flew around me, from fence post to heather and back again, singing all the time. I assume there was a nest somewhere nearby.
Meadow Pipit.Meadow Pipit.
On the long steady ascent of Thistle Hill to Crowd Stones there was no path and I had reason to be glad of the fact that the heather had been burned in strips, because by stringing together recently burned areas or relatively new growth patches, I could make easier progress. I used the presence of lots of small pink flowers as an excuse for a bit of a photo stop rest.
Bilberry flower.Bog Rosemary.Cranberry flowers.
I think there were Lousewort too, which are also pink, but for some reason I ignored those.
Boundary stone? One of many.
Another excuse for a pause were the frequent boundary stones. At least, that’s what I assume this is. Some had crosses, others had a single letter.
Looking back to Burn Moor from Thistle Hill.Pano from much the same spot.And in the other direction – Raven’s Castle, White Hill, Ward’s Stone.
I took a lot of panorama photos on this walk. I know they don’t work too well in a blog post, but you can always click on them to see larger versions on Flickr, and I think they reflect the wide-open spaces of this walk well.
Crowd Stones – looking down towards Morecambe Bay.
Crowd Stones is also named Raven’s Castle on the nap, but since there’s another Raven’s Castle a little further along the ridge, I shall stick with Crowd Stones. Which is….well, lots of scattered stones. I’d been hoping for something a little more spectacular.
Crowd Stones – Wofhole Crag and Ward’s Stone.
None-the-less, I stopped here for a while for a drink and to try, without much success, to photograph a Curlew which was circling.
Crowd Stones – White Hill.Pen-y-ghent and Fountains Fell.Bowland Knotts.
From this cairn I looked down on the swep of moorland which feeds Keasden Beck. All the little streams seem to be named, my favourite names being Outlaw Gill Sike and Bull Wham. I also liked the fact that the hillside below Raven’s Castle is called Hailshowers Fell.
Stocks Reservoir and Pendle Hill.
From Raven’s Castle there was a definite path again and I felt a bit less off the beaten track.
Descending from Raven’s Castle towards Cold Stone and Bowland Knotts.Cold Stone and Bowland Knotts.Cold Stone.Bowland Knotts pano.
Bowland Knotts came as a bit of a surprise. A really attractive series of gritstone edges and crags. How come I’ve never heard of them before? I found a sunny spot below the trig pillar and settled down for a wee nap.
I think that, at this point, I had originally planned to continue along the Knotts to Hanging Stone, Knotteranum, and Rock Cat Knott and then to strike across worryingly contour free Austwick Common to hit a footpath near Chapman Bank. I’d certainly like to try the first part of that, but on this occasion time was marching on and I was already a bit weary, so I decided to ‘cheat’ and follow the minor Keasden Road downhill back to Clapham Station.
Burn Moor on the left and the valley of Keasden Beck.
Also, I was anxiously following the last day of the Premier League season on the BBC website.
Drinker Moth Caterpillar.
When Leicester went one nil up, hopes of their potential survival were cruelly raised.
Road sign.
But sadly, the important numbers were: Bournemouth 0 – Everton 1. B****r!
Ingleborough again.
MapMyWalk gives 15 miles and just over 500m of ascent. Another very worthwhile outing.
Another week’s worth of evening, post-work walks from near the end of May.
Tuesday: The Lots and The Cove.
Late light on The Lots.Sunset over Hampsfell.
Thursday: Lambert’s Meadow – Bank Well – Myer’s Allotment – Leighton Moss – Trowbarrow Quarry
Lambert’s Meadow – I can’t stay away.Guelder Rose.Comma Butterfly.Comma Butterfly.Peacock Butterfly.Male Common Blue Damselfly and female Damselfly (I’m not sure which flavour).Greenfinch.Leighton Moss from Myer’s Allotment.Flowering shrub at Leighton Moss, coated in webs.…containing caterpillars.Male Pheasant, completely hidden, he thinks!Leighton Moss.Leighton Moss.The causeway.Trees fogged with Willow seeds.Everything was quilted with Willow seeds.Fly Orchid
I’ve been hoping to spot some of these for years, so this was something of a red letter day. I’d been looking at another orchid, a Common Twayblade, and then noticed an even smaller orchid nearby. They’re tiny.
“Despite the flowers looking like flies, they actually attract digger wasps. They release a scent which mimics a female wasp’s pheromones, luring in males that attempt to mate with them. The male wasps get a dusting of pollen, which they carry on to the next flower that fools them, hopefully pollinating the plant.”
How the heck does a pollination method as complex as that evolve?
Friday: The Lots – across the sands to Park Point and back.
Arnside Knott from the Sands.Looking back to The Cove and Know End Point.Hawkweed seedhead.
The flowers of this hawkweed appeared in a fairly recent post. I wasn’t expecting the seedheads to be almost as attractive, but when the multicoloured interior was revealed, I think it was…
Colourful Hawkweed Seeds.Common Blue Butterfly.Bloody Crane’s-bill.
When Andy and TBF were down on the Gower, a few days prior to this walk, TBF messaged me about the lovely pink flowers which were dotted about the coast there. Maybe that was at the back of my mind when I came this way. Anyway, there were lots of Bloody Crane’s-bill in evidence along our coastal cliffs too.
Heather.Unidentified caterpillar.Quaking Grass.Appealing seedheads.Burnet Rose.More Bloody Crane’s-bill.Horseshoe Vetch.Common Blue Butterflies.
I think that these butterflies were mating, or attempting to mate. They kept being disturbed by a third Common Blue, a male, which persistently flew towards them.
Dropwort.Micro Moth.
Small, day-flying moths are very common in the summer, but as soon as they land they seem to disappear, so I was lucky to spot this one.
Dingy Skipper.Cryptocephalus bipunctatus – a nationally scarce species of beetle.Bee holes?
I watched a couple of dark bees flying very low to the ground near to these holes, but didn’t manage to get photos, or seem them approach the holes, so I’ll never know whether these are bee burrows.
Bloody Crane’s-bill and Rock Rose.Rock Rose.Thrift.
May was a busy month; without really making a conscious effort, I logged over 250km of walks. The excellent weather helped a lot! Not that I’ve quite finished my May posts yet!
Beating The Bounds 