Tag: National Trust
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Ounsbury toppin hill
So Christopher Saxton annotated the hill in his Atlas of the Counties of England and Wales which he published in 1579. Commissioned by Elizabeth I, it was the first definitive map of England and Wales with each county being engraved on a separate copper plate on a scale of 1″ to 3⅓ miles. Maps were…
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Newton Wood
Heavy overnight rain and winds have taken their toll on the autumnal colours, russets, browns and yellows. On the lower path in Newton Wood, a yellow carpet of fallen hazel leaves covers the woodland floor. With the onset of shorter days and cooler temperatures, complex chemical changes occur in the leaves. The concentration of sugar…
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Newton Woods
An early climb up Roseberry and back through Newton Wood looking glorious in its autumn colours, oak leaves refusing to fall. Overcast and dull. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Cliff Rigg and Newton Wood
Explored a long-forgotten section of a Public Bridleway up Roseberry Topping that has recently been cleared of bracken. It’s just a wild guess but to me, the route points to an early tourist route up to the summit. I’ve posted about this before. It starts in Newton and goes up Roseberry Lane (or Wood Land…
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Word of the day: tropism
From the Greek tropos meaning “a turning”, a tropism is the response in a plant’s growth due to an external environmental stimulus. There are many types, such as: Hydrotropism, growth in response to water for example when the roots grow towards areas of higher moisture Phototropism, in response to light Thermotropism, in response to temperature…
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Bransdale
A refreshing day spent in Bransdale, making repairs to some of the field boundaries. Bransdale’s walls are quite distinctive. In other uplands, dry stone walls are constructed of two skins of stonework, usually dressed and tapering inwards towards the top, with the gap filled with small pieces. Bransdale’s walls are just a single skin, huge…
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Parasol Mushroom
A day spent up to my neck in bracken clearing the footpaths on Roseberry Topping so little opportunity for photography. I think this is a young Parasol Mushroom (Macrolepiota procera). Eventually, it will unfurl into, nor surprisingly, a parasol. It is reputed to be the best of the edible mushrooms but I have no confidence…
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Tramway kip, Newton Wood
Last Friday’s task for the National Trust volunteers was to clear bracken and brambles from the industrial archaeology remains in Newton Wood. Stripped of undergrowth the shape of this unusual structure becomes clear. It’s the head of a narrow-gauge tramway incline down which wagons full of ore from the Roseberry Ironstone Mine rolled down under…
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Blakey Topping
A rewarding day on Thompson’s Rigg with the constant backdrop of Blakey Topping. The task was to install water vole fencing along Crosscliff Beck. Now that is not fencing to keep the water voles in but to keep sheep out. Water voles are one of our rarest native mammals and have suffered a sharp decline…
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Newton Moor
The mosaic of a managed heather moor, managed to maximise the number of grouse. Heather is burnt to encourage young growth which the grouse feed on. Patches of tall old heather are left for nesting. Yet every square inch of land in the photo (beyond the boundary stone) is National Trust property. The heather was…