Our accommodation was very close to Alton Towers, it would have been churlish not to offer the DBs a day out there, but it’s not really my speed these days, so having dropped them off there, we went instead to the National Trust’s Shugborough Hall Estate, where we had a great day out.
Shiny pots and pans.Crockery.Shugborough Hall interior.A fancy ceiling.Books galore – my favourite room, obviously.Library ceiling.In the garden.Reverse of the house.The River Sow.Knopper Gall.
The arboretum in the grounds is home to 150 species of oaks from all around the world, which was fascinating. Some of the acorns were malformed in this way. I think this is a Knopper Gall. Knopper from the German word ‘Knoppe’ for a 17th century felt hat. The gall is caused by a tiny gall wasp Andricus quercuscalicis, which only arrived in the UK in the 1960s. Curiously, it has two different alternating generations one of which makes these galls, whilst the other lives on Turkey Oaks, an introduced species usually found in the parks of stately homes. I took several photos of different galls but have used this one because it was more colourful and more knobbly than the others. Apparently, the very distorted and folded appearance means that there are lots of wasps present, although I have no idea what sort of number constitutes ‘lots’.
A distant view of the house.The Chinese House.Europe’s widest Yew(and TBH for scale!)Essex Bridge.
A document from 1679 mentions this bridge, which is just outside Shugborough’s grounds, replacing an older wooden bridge and having 43 arches. Since it now has 14 either it has been significantly reduced in size or somebody was exaggerating. Has the Trent shrunk since the 17th Century?
Essex Bridge.River Trent.
It was a lovely spot and there were a number of kids making the most of it and paddling in the river here.
English Longhorn Cows.
I was very taken with the English Longhorn cattle at Shugborough. Apparently, despite the fearsome looking horns, they are docile.
English Longhorn Cows.
I’ve read that they’re very good mothers too.
The stables – I think.
There’s a cafe and a secondhand bookshop tucked away in a courtyard hereabouts. We patronised both. TBH was impressed with her vegan lunch but my ploughman’s was thoroughly underwhelming.
1955 Rover 75.Tower of the Winds.Tower if the Winds – leaded window.The Orangery in the Walled Garden.
Much as I enjoyed the house and the grounds, for some reason it was the walled garden which appealed most of all. I’m not much of a gardener, but I really appreciate other people’s efforts.
Artichokes?
Only part of the garden has been restored – if they get around to fixing it all it will be huge.
Honey Bees.
I like tall flowering plants, and I love to eat artichokes – we really ought to have some in our garden. My Dad used to grow them on his allotment, I’m pretty sure.
In the Walled Garden.
It had been a partly cloudy day, but by this point it had actually become quite hot, not something we experienced very often this summer.
In the Walled Garden.Sweet-Scented Joe-Pye Weed?In the Walled Garden.How ’bout them onions?Courgettes.The River Trent at the Wolseley Centre.
Alton Towers was open quite late, and we knew the boys would want to milk it to the full, so en route we stopped at the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s headquarters at the Wolseley Centre. We actually arrived after closing time, but were told that there was an event on there, so we were okay to stroll around the site before braving the traffic chaos at Alton Towers.
Purple Loosestrife at the Wolseley Centre.
Shugborough is very close to Cannock Chase, which had me very excited because of fondly remembered childhood visits. We didn’t find time to go exploring there on this occasion, so I’ve added it to my ever expanding ‘to do’ list.
If you take an interest in the Lune and its many tributaries, then inevitably you will be drawn to the area around Sedbergh, where the rivers Lune, Rawthey, Clough, and Dee all meet in close proximity. I’ve been looking at the map and trying to work out routes which take advantage of that fact a great deal. The night before this walk, I had the ridiculous idea of following the Rawthey and the Lune from Sedbergh as far as Crook of Lune, crossing the Howgill Fells to Cautley and then returning to Sedbergh along the Rawthey. Even I realised that was overly ambitious, but I set off anyway, with a compromise plan which I knew would really be the route I would end up walking.
The playing fields of…Sedbergh School.
I parked not far from Sedbergh School, where, years ago, B played in a couple of sevens tournaments and I got to poke about and see how the other half live and wonder at all the wealth on display. From there, I wandered along a minor lane, past the cemetery, to the tiny Hamlet of Birks. I was very taken with Birks, where there are several very old, listed properties, of which these are two…
Birks.
Birks is by the Rawthey, and from here I was able to follow the river downstream towards its confluence with the Lune.
River Rawthey.River Rawthey.Birks Mill.Broom.
When I see bushes with yellow flowers in the spring, I always anticipate Gorse, so I was surprised to find that this little thicket was Broom.
Broom.
What my photo doesn’t really capture is that all around the Broom the bank was peppered with Bluebells and Stitchwort and the combination of yellow, blue and white looked magnificent.
Opposite where the Dee flowed into the Rawthey, I clambered down the steep bank to take a photo.
Confluence of the Dee and the Rawthey.River Rawthey.
A little downstream for there, the path crossed a disused railway line, with a tall embankment.
River Rawthey and a golf course.Derelict railway bridge over the Rawthey.
In these health and safety conscious times, there’s a tall and stout fence blocking any access to the bridge, although I did manage to clamber onto a parapet to get a view. Years ago, on a walking tour with my dad and a good friend of ours in Snowdonia, we followed a disused railway line and crossed a derelict viaduct much like this – it was exhilarating to say the least.
Brigflatts from the bridge.
I was hoping to visit the Quaker church at Brigflatts, but it seemed that there was no access from the riverbank path, so that will have to wait for another time.
Germander Speedwell.Path along the old railway line.
There’s no official path along the railway, but it looks like it’s being used regularly – something to store away for future walks.
The bridge from below.A mini ‘fence’ by the river.
I was really puzzled by this miniature ‘fence’ by the riverside. The only time I’ve encountered metal rods quite like this, we were using them as pegs to guy a small marquee we borrowed every year for the village Field Day.
Made of giant pegs?
Close by there was a small, clearly man-made plinth which I thought looked like the footings for a bridge. Does anyone have a theory what these might be and why they would be lined up ‘on parade’ by the river’s edge?
Winder in the Howgill Fells.
The path I was following, and the route I would take as far as Crook of Lune, is part of the Dales Way. Based on this section, I suspect it would be a great long distance route to follow.
Holme Knott.
I’ve climbed the Middleton Fells a number of times over the years, but not Holme Knott at the northern end of the ridge, and recently I’ve been eyeing it on the map and dreaming up routes which incorporate an ascent. It must surely have great views of the rivers and their confluences? This photo was taken as I stood by this little footbridge…
Little bridge over Haverah Beck.
As I crossed the bridge, I noticed this Alder Fly…
Alder Fly.
This encounter sparked a lengthy hiatus in my walk, and in this post I suppose, as I realised that the lush vegetation in and by the stream, mostly Wild Celery, Mint and Brook Lime I think, was home to an abundance of creepy-crawlies. I took loads of photos, and here are a few of them. Well, quite a few. If you’re more interested in views than in small creatures, you might want to scroll down a bit.
Chrysolina polita.
There were lots of these beetles, common and widespread apparently, which hasn’t prevented them being unknown to me. I’m a sucker for a beetle with a metallic sheen.
Chrysolina polita.Chrysolina Polita.Chrysolina politaA Wolf Spider, male.
Quite a few Wolf Spiders too, on the rocks at the edge of the stream.
Wolf Spider, female.
“The wolf spider is a medium-sized spider that hunts on the ground during the day; it chases down its prey and leaps on it, just like a wolf.”
Wolf Spiders – two female, one male. The female in the bottom right is carrying an egg sac.
“Wolf spider young disperse by using silk ‘parachutes’ to float away on the wind.”
There are quite a few UK species of Wolf Spider, but apparently an examination under a microscope is required to make a confident identification, and I’m happy with Wolf Spider anyway.
Fly – possibly Graphomyia Maculata, female.Fly – possibly Graphomyia Maculata, female.A Greenbottle, or something like it.
Not all shiny green flies are Greenbottles so this is a tentative identification.
Also a Greenbottle, or something like it. I think.
You might think a shiny blue fly would be a Bluebottle, but I don’t think this one is; according to my field guide, the abdomen of a Greenbottle “ranges from bright green to bluish green”, so I’m inclined to think that this is another Greenbottle, although, admittedly, this is more blue than green. Incidentally, could that be another reflected selfie just by the edge of the left wing of the fly?
Also a Greenbottle, or something like it. I think.
Then again, this one is blue and green, so what to make of that?
Pfeiffer’s Amber Snail – Oxyloma elegans
There were lots and lots of these tiny snails. At first, I wasn’t even sure that they were snails.
Pfeiffer’s Amber Snail.
Apparently, unlike other snails, they can’t completely withdraw into their shells.
A Drone Fly – Eristalis pertinax, female.
And there ends the sample of the many photos which I took during what was probably about a half an hour of snapping away. A very happy half-hour. What the group of four who walked past me thought of my intense absorption I suppose I shall never know.
The path to The Oaks.Wisteria.Bluebells.Arant Haw and Winder.Lincoln’s Inn Bridge.
Probably Seventeenth Century according to Historic England. Very elegant, I thought.
The Lune, looking downstream from near Lincoln’s Inn Bridge.Lune Viaduct.
The second of three viaducts on the walk, here’s the lowdown…
“The Lune Viaduct carried the railway 30 m (100 ft) above the river Lune on a 38 m (124 ft) cast iron arch. It was suspended between three red sandstone arches built on each side of it. The total length was 162 m (177 yds). Its beautiful setting has earned it a listing of Grade II*.
A little to the south a bridge consisting of an arch identical to that on the Lune Viaduct crosses the river Rawthey.
North, an 11 arch red sandstone viaduct set on a curve crossed the Dillicar Beck at Low Gill, shortly before the railway joined the main line. This too is a marvellous site in a splendid setting. Both of the latter two are listed Grade II.”
Restoration work was fairly recently carried out on the bridge; it’s a shame that the line wasn’t converted in the process into a footpath or cycleway as has been so successful elsewhere.
Ravens (I think) nesting on the viaduct.
From the viaduct, the Dales Way climbs a little above the river and passes through fields and past a number of picturesque farmhouses.
Another view of Arant Haw and Winder.Low Branthwaite.Howgill Fells pano – with bonus fells on the left.
It was lovely walking. Around here somewhere, I was overtaken by a father and (grown up) son who were walking the Way together. They were walking much faster than me (although I did bump into them again a little later), but slowed down to chat for a while. They were really enjoying their walk and did a very good job of selling the Dales Way.
The route rejoins the river just beyond Hole House…
Hole House.
At Hole House there seemed to be two houses connected by a little section of roof, which struck me as very neighbourly and practical.
River Lune.
Maybe not the best photo – a fence prevented getting closer – but here the river passed through a very narrow, rocky cleft, clearly flowing at great speed. Just upstream the river is much wider and far more placid looking…
River Lune.
I’ve been reading river guides, for kayakers, to the river and some of it is pretty sobering – we shan’t be venturing onto it in our open inflatable canoes any time soon.
Near where Chapel Beck flows into the Lune I met the four walkers who had passed me by Haverah Beck and who’d now found a very pleasant spot for their picnic lunch. I dutifully took photos of all the points where sidestreams entered the Lune, including Chapel Beck, and of the many footbridges which took me over those streams, but have decided not to include those not particularly exciting pictures in what may already be an overlong post!
Crook of Lune Wood.
The woods here were full of Bluebells, but, as usual, my attempts to capture the way the flowers seem to blush the woodland floor a deep blue failed miserably.
Bluebells and Stitchwort.Lowgill Viaduct – Grayrigg Forest behind.
Sadly, there’s isn’t a great view of Lowgill viaduct from down by the river – I guess I will have to come back. What a shame!
Crook of Lune Bridge.
“Believed to be C16 or earlier. Humped and unusually narrow. Forms part of ancient north-south route along Lunesdale, used in C17 and C18 by drovers. A very picturesque feature in this setting.”
TBH can attest to the description ‘unusually narrow’: she wasn’t best pleased about my navigation last year when she was driving us this way to meet our ‘camping friends’ for a walk.
…which is where I was headed on this occasion too.
I’ve been wondering why I have no photos from my hot sticky ascent out of the valley up towards Four Lane Ends, or of the clearly little used path through the farmyard at Riddings, or of the rather nice looking little campsite at Beck House, where the lady of the house escorted me through a small section of track by the house which was sardined with Sheep. I’m not sure whether it was a kindness or whether she was worried that I would let the Sheep escape, or perhaps a mixture of the two. Anyway, it occurs to me now that the reason that I didn’t take any photos until I’d climbed most of the way to the shoulder of Fell Head called Whin’s End is that my phone had been low on charge, so I’d plugged it into the portable charger Little S bought me and stuffed it into the top of my rucksack, where it wasn’t handy for quick snaps.
I retrieved it again when I halted for a rather belated brew stop.
Looking across the Lune Valley to Firbank Fell and Lambrigg Fell. Lowgill Viaduct on the right.
I climbed Lambrigg Fell once, many years ago, and remember bumping into and chatting to the farmer, who expressed his surprise to meet anyone else up there.
A pano from Whin’s End.
The path I took onto Whin’s End, seen in the photo above, is the same path which we used to contour round to Blakethwaite Bottom for a wild-camp one wet weekend six years ago. I was thinking I should come back some day and walk its entire length.
Grayrigg Pike and Tebay Gorge.Fell Head.Fox scat, I think.
I know, I’m sorry, but I’m increasingly struck by how many hill-paths are regularly marked with fox scat. I’m encouraged to think that there must be a very healthy population of foxes on our hills even though we rarely see them.
Northern Howgills and the Pennine skyline.Lune Valley, Bowland Fells and, in the distance, the Kent Estuary and Arnside Knott.Howgill Fells.Approaching The Calf and White Fell Head.
It was getting on a bit by now, but there were still a few other walkers on the Howgill tops.
The valley of the Rawthey, Garsdale and Dentdale. Ingleborough and Whernside in the centre.
Given my Lune obsession, I was really thrilled by this view of three valleys which carry major tributaries all converging.
Arant Haw.The light catching Bram Rigg Beck.Looking back to Calders.‘Three valleys’ pano.Sedbergh.
By the end of my walk, it was getting a little shady for photos. As I descended, I could hear a crowd cheering and some sort of open-air concert. I could hear the vocals very clearly and the drums up to a point, but no other instruments, some acoustic trick of the topography no doubt. The singer was doing an eclectic set of covers which began with ‘Teenage Kicks’. I don’t remember what the other songs were but I do recall being impressed by the choices, and it sounded like the crowd were appreciating it too.
Map 1
MapMyWalk gives a little over 16 miles and about 750m of ascent. Probably best I didn’t try to extend the route down to Cautley. However, how about a Tour de Howgills? Now then!
So, here I am getting out after work in my new enthusiasm to see how many WHO approved ‘health points’ I can earn. All a bit frivolous, but the evening light, and my frequent encounters with deer made it worthwhile on their own.
Horseshoe Vetch in the same golden light.Orchids on The Lots.
Another failed attempt to replicate a ‘sunset and orchids’ photo taken by a proper photographer who lives in the village. Ah well. Fail again, fail better.
Tuesday – Hagg Wood, The Lots and The Cove.
Hagg Wood. Two Roe Deer in the distance.Honest.Post sunset at The Cove.
Thursday – The Cove and The Beach.
Wisteria.
This Wisteria is here as a testament to perseverance and the value of well meant advice. TBH planted two of them by our garage wall over a decade ago. One of them has never really grown much. The other has become a big sturdy plant, but never flowered until a couple of years ago when a single inflorescence appeared. Last year I think there were two, or possibly three. Our neighbour advised an application of tomato feed. Eh voilà !
…with flowers!Thrift and sunset.
Much more successful. There’s hope for me yet.
These photos were taken after a walk across the sands from The Cove to Know End Point which quickly turned out to be ill-advised, since the mud was firm, but had a slick layer on the surface which managed to cling to my shoes whilst still being so slippery that progress was difficult. I’ve a feeling that Google Fit doesn’t account for the relative viscosity of the surface I’m walking on?
Thrift and sunset.
I like this one too.
Sunset.
Friday – Hawes Water and back through Eaves Wood.
Oak tree between Bottom’s Lane and The Row.Roe Deer doe.Hawes Water.Bird’s-eye Primroses.
Controversially, much of a big stand of Beech trees was removed by Natural England at Hawes Water. Conservation bodies chopping down trees never seems to go down well, whatever the justification. Personally, I think the jury is still out on the success or otherwise in this case, but one of the stated aims was to provide the right habitat for Bird’s-eye Primrose, growing here, I believe, in its most southerly location in the UK. In one area which was cleared, that has worked beautifully, for now at least.
Bird’s-eye Primroses.Mackerel sky.Red Deer hind.
I was quite surprised to see two deer in a field by Moss Lane, right beside a row of terraced cottages. They didn’t seem very phased by my interest. I knew that they were Red Deer rather than Roes for several reasons, principally their size, but still began to doubt myself.
However, the clincher is the fact that this fellow…
Red Deer stag.
…has broad new antlers growing, whereas a Roe Deer buck, in mid-May, would be fast approaching the rutting season and his much thinner antlers would be already complete and furless.
Red Deer hind.
Whereas the local Roe Deer seem to roam here, there and everywhere, the Red Deer never seem to stray too far from Leighton Moss, or, in this case, Hawes Water Moss. Isabella Tree, author of ‘Wilding’ has a theory that Red Deer have a natural affinity for water and their habits in this area would seem to support that idea. I’ve discovered that research has recently been undertaken at Lancaster University on the impact of Red Deer on reedbeds, although it seems that the research was inconclusive.
Red Deer stag.
As if to help confirm how very different the two species look, a Roe Deer Buck posed for a photo as I walked home through Eaves Wood…
Roe Deer buck.
A Silverdalian was telling me recently that the RSPB, of all people, cull both the Roe and Red Deer populations locally, which, it turns out, is at the very least partly true. In fact, it seems that the RSPB cull Red Deer at other reserves too. Not something they shout about in their literature. It is, I’m sure, a complicated issue.
We talked also about the damage Roe Deer do in gardens and weighing that up against the joy of seeing them at close range. His final word was:
On the Sunday of the Art Trail weekend, TBH and I were keen to visit ‘The Mawson Garden’. It’s far from being the only Mawson garden around. There’s at least one more garden in the village which was designed by Lancaster landscape architect Thomas Mawson, and lots more elsewhere, including some overseas. But in the village this walled garden, within the grounds of a large house called Grey Walls, seems to have become known as ‘The Mawson Garden’, so I’ll go with that. As part of the trail it was open, with art on display, although the principle attraction for us, and, I suspect, for many other visitors, was to see the garden itself.
We walked there via our Sunday route through Fleagarth Wood and around Jenny Brown’s Point.
Warton Crag and the Bowland Skyline across Carnforth Salt Marsh.Common Mallow.
Here’s an image of Grey Walls, from an old postcard, which I found on t’interweb.
Grey Walls.
The house was also designed by Mawson and was apparently finished in about 1925. It looks very different now, since the substantial grounds are now heavily wooded and there are no views of the Bay or the local hills anymore. Actually, the house was renamed Ridgeway when it was bought by Joe Foster co-founder of Reebok, but still seems to be locally know as Grey Walls.
Since access to the garden is only via the grounds of Grey Walls, we had to wait for a guide to lead us to the entrance. (The guide was R, one of our neighbours). Whilst we waited, we chatted to friends from the village about how long it was since we had previously visited. All I knew was that I didn’t know. TBH was spot on with 8 years.
Former Summer House, now a home.
I thought I’d been again since, but I can’t find any reference to such a visit on the blog, so perhaps not. Things have certainly changed a great deal since that first visit.
The pergola again.
I suspect that restoring the garden must be a huge labour of love. It’s really impressive, and I don’t think my photos do it justice.
A Dogwood apparently.
The first time we came, there was a great deal of discussion about this tree. It was suggested that it was a Judas Tree or a Strawberry Tree. Our friend’s daughter, who was home from Massachusetts, was confident that it’s a Dogwood, which are common in Massachusetts gardens apparently.
A small sample of some of the art on display in the garden…
A very enjoyable visit. I hope we get to have another look before 2030!
At the end of August, my Mum and Dad came to stay for a few days. It was the first time we’d seen them for quite some time, so it was great to have them with us, and also very handy that we had some pretty good weather for their visit.
Coming down from Fleagarth Wood towards Jenny Brown’s Point.
I think we sat out on our patio quite a bit, but we also managed to get out for a number of walks.
Sea Aster.Dad near Jenny Brown’s Cottages.Warton Crag and The Forest of Bowland on the horizon.Roadworks – the wall at Jenny Brown’s point was repaired. Signs said that the road was closed, even to pedestrians, but that turned out not to be the case.Colourful hanging baskets at Gibraltar Farm.Little S passing Woodwell Cottage.Another walk.Half Moon Bay. Sadly, there’s a Nuclear Power Station just to my left and behind me when I took this photo.
I think Mum and Dad were particularly impressed with our walk on Heysham headlands.
Ship – Anna Gillespie.Across the Bay to the hills of the Lake District from Heysham Headland.Another view across the Bay.
B likes to come to Heysham headlands with his friends to watch the sunset and to swim when the tide is in, and I can see why.
Rock cut graves.St. Patrick’s Chapel.The Spirit of Heysham by Michael Edwards.
I should mention that we had lunch at Tracy’s Homemade Pies and Cakes cafe, which was amazing value and very tasty. Highly recommended.
We had a day out in Kirkby Lonsdale too, although I don’t seem to have taken any photos. I was shocked by how busy it was; we did well to find car-parking spaces. I knew that it was touristy, but hadn’t expected it to be so thronged.
Looking forward to some more blue sky days, and for infection rates to settle down so Mum and Dad can visit for a few more walks and a postponed Christmas dinner.
Blurred Long-tail Tit. All Long-Tail Tits are blurred.Blue Tit.
Some plants in the garden are fantastic value, not just in themselves, but for the wildlife they attract.
I think these tall yellow daisies are Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’. Related to sunflowers, they’ve spread like mad in our garden, giving a long-lasting bright splash of colour in mid to late summer.
This is what the BBC Gardener’s World website has to say about them…
Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’ is known for attracting bees, beneficial insects, birds, butterflies​/​moths and other pollinators. It nectar-pollen-rich-flowers and has seeds for birds.
The long stems seem to be good places for dragonflies to rest. And they are certainly attractive to pollinators.
Hoverfly. Possibly a Drone Fly.Brown-lipped Smail.Greenbottle.
Marjoram also seeds itself quite freely around the garden and seems to be particularly attractive to bees. I hope this is a Garden Bumblebee, seems appropriate, but the white-tailed bumblebees are difficult to distinguish between.
Peacock.And another.A pair of fawns, their spots beginning to fade. They came right up to our windows, seemingly unaware of the people watching on the other side of the glass.
And, completely unrelated, TBH booked us all in for a family session of Foot Golf at Casterton golf course. As you can see, the views there aren’t bad at all.
We were all a bit rubbish at the golf, but we had a good giggle.
We have new neighbours. Well, newish. But although they’re new neighbours, they’re also old friends. When they moved in, things were a bit tight at their place, so some of their house-plants temporarily moved in with us, mostly orchids with a few cacti too. With the advent of lockdown, the arrangement has perhaps lasted longer than was originally intended. To my surprise, it was Little S who first voiced the question, one evening when we were washing-up, which I had been mulling over for a while:
“Do we have to give these orchids back?”
So, when this is all…well, not ‘over’, but when some sort of normality has returned and we give back the orchids, it’s fair to say that Little S, and I, would like to replace them with something similar.
It feels like these unusual circumstances have prompted lots of people to pause for thought and consider what they might do differently. In the first instance, during the lockdown. And more recently, what changes we might retain after the lockdown, whenever or whatever that means.
I’m not often a list maker, but, thinking back, I have, at various times, idly wondered what I might have time for during the lockdown, which I wouldn’t normally manage.
I thought I might jot them down, in no particular order, and then, perhaps over the next few posts, assess how I’ve got on. A bit like appraisal, but with less b……..
…..feel free to add a colourful noun of your choice.
So…
Tidy the garden.
Play cards and board games with the kids.
Read ‘War and Peace’.
Lose loads of weight.
Bake bread more often.
Read more poetry.
Do more walking.
Catch-up with my blog posts.
Listen to more music.
Get to grips with birdsong.
Practice my trumpet playing.
Stretch.
To be clear, this is the first time I’ve go as far as putting them down and so it’s also the first time that I’ve seen them all together.
It also crossed my mind that we might have to enter an even stricter lockdown and not be allowed to leave our own property at all, in which case:
Walk around the garden and up and down the stairs.
Take photos of flower in the house. And photos of flowers, birds and bugs in the garden.
I experimented with the latter, as you can see! I also tried the former, whilst waiting for TBH to join me for a walk. I discovered that 20 laps of the front and back amounted to a mile, but I’m pleased I haven’t had to repeat the experiment.
And the first twelve? What do you reckon? It’s not a very ambitious list is it? I hasn’t occurred to me to raise millions for the NHS, or climb the equivalent of Mount Everest on the stairs, or even to bake cakes every week for the local food-bank, which A has been doing.
Anyway, I’ve run out of photos; an assessment will have to wait for a subsequent post. Or posts.
How about you? What have you done, or failed to do, whilst the lockdown has continued?
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Today’s tune is prompted by one of THO’s comments on a post from a couple of days ago. ‘Different versions of familiar songs’, he said; ‘hip-hop’, he said. So, Method Man and Mary J. Blige:
I’ll warn you that this should probably carry one of those ‘Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics’ stickers. Not that I’m aware of any minors reading these posts, but…just in case…(Little S always tells me off when I play rap. He complains that I’m a bad influence on his vocabulary.)
And, the first, perhaps, in an occasional quiz series. This is ‘Sliced Tomatoes’ by the Just Brothers:
And it probably sounds familiar. Who sampled it and for which hit?
In the light of the optimistic list above, I can’t resist this:
Which I’m pretty sure has appeared here before, but I shan’t apologise for that.
An early start. Sunrise, of a sort, from Eaves Wood.
So, I’ve been getting out almost every day for a walk. And doing a lot of gardening. I am, my mum tells me, when we video chat, ‘very brown’.
And a frosty one. Arnside Knott from close to Middlebarrow Quarry.
All this outdoor exercise, it turns out, is not only good for my cardiovascular and mental health but may also be important in another way.
Daffs on Cove Road.
I’ve been getting my daily dose of vitamin D.
Grange from The Cove.
And according to Dr Malcolm Kendrick, that will potentially help me avoid, or mitigate the symptoms of, COVID 19. It’s a long post, but well worth a read. The key point is that a 2008 study, looking into why coronaviruses like colds and flu are seasonal, showed that taking vitamin D supplements massively reduced instances of cold and flu. Furthermore, an as yet unpublished report suggests that high levels of vitamin D in the blood significantly reduce the severity of COVID 19 symptoms.
So vitamin D may both help prevent you catching C19 and may also improve your response to it if you do catch it. A win win. And all you have to do is spend time outside to benefit.
Pied Wagtail.
This is Dr Kendrick’s conclusion:
“I have been going out into the sun wherever possible in the last month. I take Vitamin D3 supplements 4,000 units a day. I strongly advise everyone else to do the same. “
B on the cliff path.
The coast and Clougha Pike from Heathwaite.
Male kestrel on telegraph pole. Shame about the light.
I took some photos of a treecreeper too, but they were a bit dark, and I know that I’ve taken some better ones since. I’ve haven’t seen treecreepers as frequently as I have this spring since a pair nested in my garden in Arnside.
And now, to today’s musical choices. Following on from yesterday’s bird related selection, here’s ‘Bring Down the Birds’:
You may recognise the base line from Herbie Hancock’s tune because it was recycled, and replayed apparently, by no less than Bootsy Collins, for Deee-Lite’s ‘Groove Is In The Heart’:
Many moons ago, we toured Doddington Hall with my Mum and Dad. It’s not too far from where they live. On the second day of our trip to Lincolnshire this summer, TBH and I were eager to go again. For some reason, Dad wasn’t so keen, and kept turning up alternatives which he thought might appeal to the kids. He balked however, at the idea of accompanying them on a treetop trek, so in the end Doddington Hall won out.
There was a wedding in the hall that day, so we were restricted to the gardens, but that kept us well occupied beyond the advertised closing time, so it wasn’t really a problem.
Be warned, if you’re planning a visit: there are signs near the entrance forbidding picnics in the gardens. There’s a lot of green space at the back of the carpark though, which was a halfway decent alternative, but a bit rough on my Mum and Dad who prefer not to sit on the ground these days (or prefer not to have to get up again, anyway).
There is a cafe in one of the many estate buildings, which looked to be doing a roaring trade. I’m told that the cakes that some of the party sampled there later in the day were very good. The wasps certainly liked them.
Just by where we picnicked, there was a small pond…
And so some potential for flora and fauna…
Common Darter (I think).
Tachina Fera on Mayweed – both very tentative identifications.
Tachina Fera again.
This photo shows the strong black stripe on an orange abdomen which makes me think that this fly is Tachina Fera. The larvae of this fly parasitise caterpillars.
The plant is Gipsywort…
“Rogues masquerading as itinerant fortune-tellers and magicians used in past centuries to daub their bodies with a strong black dye produced from gipsywort, in order to pass themselves off as Egyptians and Africans. Swarthy looks were supposed to lend greater credibility to these vagabonds when they told fortunes; it was this use that gave the plant its names of gipsywort and Egyptian’s herb.”
Reader’s Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain
Moving into the gardens…
Little S was particularly impressed with the huge…
…squashes, pumpkins? I’m not sure which.
He won’t really remember our last visit, since he was barely a year old at the time.
Small Tortoiseshell.
Large White.
Moorhen.
Another Tortoiseshell.
This bee was absolutely coated in golden pollen, having just emerged…
…from a courgette flower.
Something that really stuck in my memory from our previous visit were these gnarly old Sweet Chestnut Trees.
They predate the hall, making them very, very old indeed.
One more Tortoiseshell.
The gatehouse.
Unicorn topiary.
The Hall is Elizabethan and was built, between 1595 and 1600, by Robert Smythson, who was the master stonemason when Longleat was built and who also designed the highly impressive Hardwick Hall, among others. Apparently, it has never been sold, which must be highly unusual. These days it seems to be the centre of a thriving industry, with several shops in the grounds, as well as the cafe and weddings. Not to mention the biennial sculpture exhibition in the gardens….of which, more to follow…
Every Saturday morning in Silverdale, almost without exception, there is a charity coffee morning. This Saturday’s wasn’t in the usual venue, the Gaskell Hall, but in the Church Rooms instead…
And was a Scout fund-raiser. I’d cried-off helping with a Rugby tournament which S was playing in, and sent TBH in my stead, but now felt well enough to help here by selling tickets for the raffle.
The reason the Gaskell Hall (named for Elizabeth Gaskell who holidayed in the village and whose daughters lived here)…
…wasn’t used was because it was being filled with exhibits…
…for the Spring show…
A Hellebore? Cousin to the wild ones growing by Holgates caravan park?
There are classes for photographs and craft items as well as flowers and we usually submit several entries between us, but this year only Little S entered, in the Cubs craft-class which he won. (Being the sole competitor – he was very happy.)
Later, we popped across the road to the Methodist Chapel where there was an Art Exhibition. Sadly, once we got inside I was too busy looking at the exhibits and forgot to take any pictures. TBH bought a vase. You can see the work of three of the artists by visiting:
Beating The Bounds 