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Parasol Mushroom, Roseberry
I love mushrooms. Sautéed in butter with a hint of garlic. And if this is a Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota procera, it is reputed to be one of the best to eat. But if it’s a False Parasol, Chlorophyllum molybdites, I would be in trouble as it’s poisonous. Although native to North America it has been found in Scotland. Or then it could…
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Caw Slate Mine
Fit for nothing today after yesterday’s exertions so I thought I would be justified in posting another photo from yesterday. This is Caw Slate Mine on the western slope of Caw, a 529m peak on the Coniston Fells. The view is north across the Duddon valley with Harter Fell the obvious peak left of centre.
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Where was I today?
On the Lake District Mountain Trial so somewhere in the Lakes. But where? A reservoir, although a tarn existed before it was enlarged at the turn of the twentieth century. Apparently there was a riot amongst its construction workers when several were shot including one fatality. Quite peaceful today. No prizes only the kudos of being a…
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Belties below the Wainstones
Belted Galloways, bred to survive on the moors and uplands of South West Scotland, are aptly suited to the rough pastures below the Wainstones on Hasty Bank. They take their name from the distinctive white belt. Their coarse hair easily sheds rain and snow and an underlayer of softer hair provides insulation during the winter months.…
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Hagg's Gate
I didn’t realise it at the time but this is an almost opposite view to a photo I took earlier in the summer. I am on Hasty Bank, one of the bumps of the Cleveland Hills, and looking down onto the col at the top of Clay Bank on a contrasty early evening with bright skies and…
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Yorkshire Fog
A couple of months ago, in the summer, I heard an assessor telling the Duke of Edinburgh group I was supervising that the grass that which grows in profusion on disturbed or burnt areas on the moors is called ‘Yorkshire Haze’. An interesting snippet of a local plant name I thought and locked it away in my grey cells. I…
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Quakers' Causeway
One of the best preserved pannierways on the North York Moors. It crosses Commondale Moor in a south westerly direction to White Cross. Its true purpose is not known. And difficult to date with any degree of confidence. Perhaps it is one of the pannierways mentioned in the foundation document of Guisborough Priory in the 12th…
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Great Ayton Moor
There’s an old adage that is said in all farming communities, from Scotland, to Wales and to Cumbria: Where there’s bracken there’s gold; where there’s gorse there’s silver; where there’s heather there’s poverty At first it’s hard to see the reasoning. Bracken is allelopathic, it produces toxins in the soil which prevents other plants from germinating. Hardly…
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Pillbox, South Gare
I went orienteering today … at South Gare, a complex area of sand dunes and reclaimed land created over 150 years of iron production. A bit rusty. Should have picked an easier area. A leg along the beach went past this World War II pillbox almost buried in the sand. Pillboxes were hastily constructed after the fall of…
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Highcliff Nab
The heather is just about past its sell by date. A view east from Percy Rigg towards Highcliffe or Codhill Farm and Highcliff Nab.
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