Category: Cliff Ridge Wood
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Ruin in Cliff Ridge Wood
Hidden in the dense undergrowth of Cliff Ridge Woods, this small ruin, with a footprint no bigger than a domestic garage, is inaccessible at the height of the summer. It has two internal “cupboards” and what could be a netty outside. Now it is tempting to assume the ruin is a relic of the whinstone…
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The Grey Squirrel
A cute little furry thing but scorned by wildlife managers and conservationists. Native to North America the grey squirrel was introduced into Britain by Victorian landowners to enhance their gardens and estates and is now common and widespread. It is considered an invasive non-native species, causes damage to our woodland and wildlife and has pushed…
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Catkins
A welcome winter sight, considered by most peoples as a herald of Spring, with each having their own affectionate name. Many of these names are of a feline nature. Catkins itself originates from the Old Dutch word for kittens: katteken, now katjes in modern Dutch; in Italy they say gattini for little cats, and in…
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The thaw begins
With the forecast expected to top 11Âșc later today the thaw is well and truly underway leaving the tracks of Cliff Rigg Wood a lethal sheet of ice. Apparently, glocken is a Yorkshire term for the thaw, when the snow clears, a word derived from Old Norse. The modern Icelandic word glöggur, to become clear,…
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Daldinia concentrica
A dull and miserable day, so my eyes were drawn to the forest floor. I came across these turds on a log. Actually, I know them as coal fungus, excellent for use as tinder for lighting fires. The 1-2 inch hard balls need to be dried out and scrapings from the inside can then be…
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Cliff Ridge Wood
The old tramway to the whinstone quarry at Slack’s Wood. A favourite morning walk along the bottom of Cliff Ridge Wood, part of the National Trust’s Roseberry property. An isolated kissing gate stands at the intersection of the path from the village of Great Ayton to Aireyholme Farm. Long gone is the fence so the…
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Early riser
Eighty minutes after a warm October dawn, although the sun had yet to make an appearance, a butterfly caught my eye. A flighty thing but after ten minutes of stalking I managed to grab this shot. Not the best specimen, it looks as though chunks are missing from the ends of its wings, but by…
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The complicated sex life of the Knopper gall wasp
Almost three hundred species of insect are associated with the oak tree. And that doesn’t include over 400 species of mites. One of these is a tiny wasp, Andricus quercuscalicis, which lays its eggs in the Spring in the buds of our native oak tree. This results in a woody growth or gall being formed between the…
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Oak Leaves
I was watching Springwatch last night and I’m sure I heard Chris P say that there are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 leaves on an oak tree. Mental calculations whilst walking in Cliff Ridge Wood tonight justified that figure. Ten leaves on a spring, ten sprigs on a branch the thickness of a pencil, ten branches the thickness…
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May Blossom
In Nottingham in the early 60s I remember me mam saying “naer cast a clout till May is out” to me when I tried to go out in the Spring without my duffle coat or string vest. I thought, and I think me mam thought too, that “may” referred to the month of May but it really…