Tag: flora
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Spring has begun its journey
A sneak peek over the wall into the grounds of Kildale Hall. This is always a welcome sight at this time of the year. A reminder that spring is just around the corner. From the photo it looks like it’s the snowdrops that dominate, but actually the yellow aconites were more pronounced. Winter aconites, Evanthis…
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Stepping stone crossing of the River Doe at Beezleys
I wasn’t tempted to risk a crossing but was content to watch a dipper hopping across the stones. The River Doe is quite short, rising near Chapel-le-Dale and becoming the Greta after its confluence with the Twiss at Ingleton. Soon after these stepping stones the river plunges down a narrow gorge with several waterfalls —…
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Erica cinerea
The moors will soon be a profusion of lilac with the blooming of the Ling, but for several weeks now the deeper purple blaze of Bell heather has been taking the glory. This swathe of Bell heather is the largest I’ve seen. Normally it prefers to grow in small clumps on drier ground, the tops…
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The Cleveland Way
Buy any Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map nowadays and you’ll find it criss-crossed by lines of green diamonds — the symbol for a National Trail or Long Distance Path. In 1965, the first such trail was launched, The Pennine Way, and the second was our very own Cleveland Way, opened four years later on this day,…
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Lenten Lilies by the Leven
Lenten Lily is a Yorkshire name for the daffodil, the wild English variety, although I guess these are a cultivated variety. Daffs are poisonous, nevertheless they have been used throughout the centuries for medicinal purposes particularly as a cure for cancer. Hippocrates himself recommended a pessary prepared from daffodils for tumours of the womb. In…
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The Marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris)
A murky morning so my eyes were drawn closer to earth seeking for signs of the vernal awakening. This spring, in the old Slack’s Quarry, seems to be a favourite spot for the marsh marigold, its vivid yellow flowers already in bloom. Wikipedia says it should flower between April and August, but I suspect the…
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A Snowdrift
I can’t claim these are the first snowdrops I’ve seen this year but they are certainly the most impressive. This drift is behind the little church at the head of Bransdale, along a beck with no name. In a month’s time, the bank will be dominated by daffodils, only to be overtaken by bluebells a…
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Scarlet Elfcup
What do the woodland elves use to drink their morning dew? Why, elfcups of course. On the damp floor of the wooded Slacks Quarry, the vivid red of the Scarlet Elfcups are in sharp contrast to the greens of the mosses. Sarcoscypha austriaca is its scientific name, meaning from Austria, although this fungus is found…
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Oak sapling in Newton Wood
Or should I say a ‘yack‘ sapling, yack being an 18th-century Yorkshire term for the oak. We also have ‘yackrams‘ for acorns. This is really a follow-on from yesterday’s post about the planting of woodland on bracken covered slopes unsuitable for general agriculture. Newton Wood is a predominately oak woodland but with ash, lime, sycamore,…
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A doomed Ash tree
The Ash, one of our major trees along with oak, birch, elm and lime. It’s a strong and flexible wood, traditionally used for spears or axe handles. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon ‘aesc‘ meaning a spear or lance. But since 2012, a disease has been devastating Ash trees — Ash Dieback, caused by a…