Heather moorland, for most of the year, especially in winter, offers a drab palette of dull browns. Only in late summer, when the heather comes into full bloom, do the moors take on their blanket of purple. Yet occasionally you come across a splash of contrast. Verdant bog mosses, most likely one of the UK’s 36 species of Sphagnum that thrive in moist, water-logged soils.
This is a flush in the catchment of North Ings Slack, upstream of Commondale. I think the spring occurs at the base of the ‘Scarborough Formation’ sandstone stratum lying above the less porous interbedded shales of the ‘Lower Saltwick Formation And Cloughton Formation’. Most of the moorland sandstones are somewhat porous, and as they usually rest on shales, the percolating water is thrown up in the form of springs at their base.
I had intended to post a photo of the Hob on the Hill boundary cross on Skelderskew Moor, but I thought the Hob can wait for another day.
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