Category: Roseberry Topping
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Hawthorn tree, Roseberry
The hawthorn trees are laden with their scarlet berries at the moment, awaiting the arrival of hordes of marauding fieldfare. ‘Hopperty haws’ are super-fruit, fabulously rich in both Vitamin C and folklore, associated with protection and sacrifice, perhaps even Christ’s crown of thorns. In Ireland, there are instances where engineers have designed new roads to…
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Who did this then?
I noticed this last week. It’s hard to imagine it was accidental. Someone has gone to the effort of moving the stones to the side creating a clear route through. If a stonewaller had done that, the stones would have been laid out and graded, heavier stones nearer the gap, with receding rows of smaller…
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A bullfinch sky over Roseberry
Perhaps not the best of sunsets but the crepuscule has always been a magical time. Throughout the millennia, man must have gazed upon the mesmerizing sky, reflecting on the day gone and the morrow to come. In Norfolk, a red-hued sunset was called a ‘bullfinch sky‘. I like that phrase but is it red enough…
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Kalsarikännit
A Finnish word for that feeling you have when you spend the evening getting drunk at home alone in your underwear, with no intention of going out. The word came to me when this afternoon when I was so attired, log fire blazing away. The beer came later. I had returned home tired and weary…
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A changing pastoral scene
We are all familiar with flocks of sheep grazing on the hills and moors. They were first introduced by the Romans and we are now by far the largest sheep and lamb producer in the EU with a quarter of the total flock. We have 14 million breeding ewes here in the UK which last…
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Roseberry summit
Roseberry was quiet this morning. What more can I say? So I’ll digress. The other day, I came across a new word and stored it in my memory banks for a suitable occasion. The trouble is it’s a Dutch word ‘struisvogelpolitiek‘ but I think it’s worthy of it slipping into common usage just as we…
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New signs
New signs have appeared on Roseberry. A bit late, summer being almost over. Shame it’s come to this. How long before it is trashed? I wonder what percentage of the population has actually heard of the Countryside Code. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Dry hedging in Newton Wood
A tiring day in Newton Wood on the main route up Roseberry making some dry hedges from cut sycamore saplings. Dry hedges are basically a wall of branches weaved between stakes. They provide good habitat for all small mammals and insects but the primary aim for these hedges is to encourage visitors not to wander…
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Roseberry from Ryston Bank
September, the meteorologists say we are now into autumn, the ‘back-end‘ of the year when mornings are that bit chillier and trees show signs of taking on their russet hues. In Macbeth, Shakespeare referred to the season as ‘sear‘. The King laments he is in the autumn of his life, he is cursed and will…
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Standing stone on the south slope of Roseberry
Volunteering all day with the National Trust on Roseberry. Path clearing and repairing a dry stone wall. The stones are getting heavier. I grabbed this photo on the walk home. I can find no listing for the standing stone. It’s of dressed sandstone and stands at around the 230m contour on the southern flank of…