All Change!

06 Sun Mar 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, family, Norwich, plants, Rural Diary, trees, walking, weather

Tags

Crockham Hill, Dog's Mercury, family life, funeral, fungus, House renovations, Kent, lesser celandine, lichen, Lords and Ladies, Minsmere, moss, Norwich Railway Station, Peterborough Mosque, plants, presents, The Fens, trees, Tyrrels Wood, woodland

We have had a very busy few weeks here with very little time for relaxation. We are all rather tired and stressed and could do with a holiday (or a few weeks at home with nothing to do!), though there is little chance of that just yet.

All the planned work in this first phase of house renovation has been done and we are very pleased with the results. The new windows, doors and garage doors are looking good and the house and garage are feeling much warmer. We still have a little sorting out to do in the garage and a few more trips to the tip and charity shops with the things we no longer need. There is a little room at the back of the garage which had a toilet and wash-hand basin in it which we never used. We had the plumbing removed shortly after Christmas and Richard painted the room last week. He has bought some shelves for it and we hope it will be a good storage room for the bird-seed and fruit and vegetables. It has a window which we hope to brick up and put in a vent in its place. For now we will put a screen against the window to prevent the light getting in.

Potatoes chitting on the garage window-sill. Note the new window!

We worked very hard to get the house ready for the work and it was worth the trouble we took. Most of the time there was just one window fitter – a very pleasant, hard-working man who was so proficient and tidy it was a pleasure to have him here. He let us know which rooms he would be working on during the following day so we prepared by moving furniture and covering everything we could with dust sheets. While he worked on one room we got the next ready and so we progressed round the house. He was here for five days and on his last day with us he was joined by a colleague and together they replaced the Velux window in Elinor’s room. It was unfortunate that the weather wasn’t very nice that day with snow, sleet, hail and rain showers and it took some time for Elinor’s room to warm up again. We supplied the men with plenty of hot tea to help them keep warm!

I washed, dried and ironed lots of pairs of curtains and also took the opportunity to launder other furnishings too. I feel I made a good start to my spring cleaning!

Elinor took her two mock maths GCSE exams the same week that we had most of the window work done. (She is re-taking her maths because the grade she got last year wasn’t good enough). She also handed in her art project work that she had been working on since Christmas. She got a pass mark for the art (there are only two marks she could have got – a pass or a referral) and she got a ‘C’ for her maths which has pleased us all. If she gets a ‘C’ grade when she takes her exams for real in the summer it will mean she has the minimum grade all colleges and employers demand. She won’t ever have to go to a Maths class again or take any more maths exams. (A sigh of relief from Elinor!)

View from Crockham Hill churchyard.

I now feel I must say how much I appreciated all your kindnesses when I spoke of the death of my aunt – I was most touched; thank-you. The funeral went very well and was a very satisfying celebration of her life. It was good to see my brother, sister and all my cousins and their families and to re-visit Kent and Crockham Hill, the village where my Aunt Marie and Uncle Fred lived for so many years. Aunt Marie had moved away into sheltered accomodation after Uncle Fred died.

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Aunt Marie and Uncle Fred

It was sleeting and snowing as I set off for my brother’s house that morning and that continued until my brother had driven us to the Suffolk/Essex border when the clouds began to break up. When we got to Westerham in Kent where we stopped for coffee, the sun had come out. My cousin had arranged a lovely buffet meal for us all after the funeral in The Royal Oak, Uncle Fred’s local pub.

The Fens in Cambridgeshire seen from the window of the train I took to Sheffield.

The Fens seen from a train window

I travelled to Sheffield by train so that I could see Alice in her production of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’. The play was excellently performed by all the cast and I enjoyed it very much. I stayed at Alice’s house overnight and met one of her housemates and also Alice’s cat, Mona. Alice and I breakfasted in the city next morning before I caught my train back home.

The Mosque in Peterborough seen from the train

Norwich Railway Station

These life-size figures stand outside the station and are rather a disparate group. Admiral Lord Nelson on the left; born in Norfolk and was a great Naval commander during the Napoleonic Wars and was killed during the Battle of Trafalgar – Edith Cavell; born in Norfolk and was executed during WW1 for helping allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium – Stephen Fry; born in London though grew up in Norfolk and is an actor, writer, presenter, activist and ‘National Treasure’.

I saw quite a lot of my mother during the middle of February as she had a number of appointments to keep ( two hospital appointments in Norwich and two with her local doctor) and a fair amount of shopping to do. Elinor and I had a meeting at her college to discuss her support needs for her next academic year and to deal with any support problems she has this year. I had been looking forward to Elinor’s half-term holiday but as the window replacement carried on into that week and as we had other duties to perform it wasn’t as restful as I’d hoped. Elinor had a hair appointment on the Thursday and we had planned to go with her and have lunch out in the city. Unfortunately, I woke with a migraine and had to spend most of the day in bed. Richard took Elinor to Norwich and they had lunch in a café. Richard brought me back a lovely couple of presents.

My presents!

I love the design on the tote bag! It is by the artist Amelia Bowman and is a view across the roofs of the market towards the castle. The book is also just what I need for my visits to the churches in the city.

We have managed two short walks; one at the RSPB reserve at Minsmere and the other in Tyrrels Wood which lies to the north of Diss and Harleston in Norfolk. Neither of the walks were particularly interesting but we were out in the fresh (very fresh and cold!) air and were taking some exercise.

Minsmere trees

Richard at Minsmere

Minsmere reedbeds

A slideshow of some small but quite interesting things!

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Our walk in Tyrrels Wood was less pleasant as it was so very muddy and we were disappointed by the state it was in. There was a quantity of litter in the wood, especially near the entrance and it was obvious that the wood is used by dog-walkers. We had to watch where we walked! In this country it is illegal to allow one’s dog to foul a public area and not clean up after it. I am surprised that a large organisation like the Woodland Trust is happy to leave the wood in this condition.

The spotted leaves of Lords and Ladies/Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arum maculatum) next to Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis)

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) also with Dog’s Mercury

Tyrrels Wood

An ancient coppice stool. This group of trees was once one tree but through repeated coppicing (cutting back the tree to near ground level to let new shoots re-grow) it has become a group of trees with a shared root system.

The bark patterns on this tree are interesting.

And now for my music selection! A little trip down memory lane to the summer of 1978 when I was nearly 20 years old and fancy-free.

Thanks for visiting!

October’s End

31 Sat Oct 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, family, Insects, Landscaping, music, plants, Rural Diary, trees, weather

≈ 33 Comments

Tags

Anastasia Moutsatsou, autumn, berries, Diary, insects, leaf colour, Mendham, October, plants, renovations, Sir Alfred Munnings, sunset, trees, weather

I saw these holly berries (Ilex aquifolium) in one of the carparks in Halesworth at the beginning of the month.

We have had a fair amount of cloud and rain this month and there was a week when the rest of the country was getting very pleasant weather while we in eastern East Anglia and also those in eastern Kent were having gloomy, wet weather with north-easterly winds. We have had a few slight frosts and some sunshine too – but not as much as we would have liked! For anyone who is interested in our weather here in the east of Britain – and why wouldn’t you be! – here is a link to the local BBC weather forecast.

Spindle berries (Euonymous europaeus) seen in our garden at the beginning of October

The leaf-colour has been very beautiful but I haven’t been able to get out often to take photos. The leaves are falling fast now and the recent heavy rain and windy weather have stripped many trees of their leaves altogether.

A beautiful Maple tree I saw on the way to my mother’s house on the 14th October.

As I stood admiring it it began to rain heavily, as you can see!

The rainbow that appeared at the same time.

I took a photo of the tree again on the way home later that day.

I was surprised to see some Hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) in flower in the ditch next to the maple tree. It usually flowers during late summer and all other Hemp-agrimony plants had already gone to seed.

Richard and I have been sharing driving Elinor to and from college and I have been feeling much less tired than I did when I was doing all the driving. The month has had its fair share of hospital, doctors’ surgery, optician and dentist visits. Every week this month one of us (at least!) has had an appointment or has had to take someone (my mother) to an appointment.

I mentioned to Richard that I had seen a beautiful Guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus) on my way to my mother’s house (yet again!) so he kindly photographed it for me with his phone when he walked past it on a breezy morning later in the week.

He photographed it from the other side too

He also photographed a Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)

Elinor has had her half-term holiday this week. She has worked very hard during her first half-term and has had quite a lot of homework to do during this week. She has enjoyed the course so far and her tutors are very pleased with her and the standard of her work. This bodes very well. She is also working hard to overcome her anxiety and also the sleep-phobia that has returned to plague her nights.

Raindrops caught in a spider’s web

A Witch-hazel leaf. All the rest of the tree’s leaves were a buttery yellow but the leaves on the new shoots went red.

This Cricket, a female Speckled Bush-cricket (Leptophyes punctatissima) I believe, was sun-bathing while sitting on a yellow Witch-hazel leaf.

Alice seems well and is enjoying her new job but wishes she was able to work longer hours. She has to have her PhD thesis printed before she can take part in her graduation ceremony so is trying to save up enough money to get it done. She is coming home for the weekend in a fortnight and I am looking forward to it very much. To see her in action discussing horror films please watch the video on the following link.

Fine trees on a fine day. The churchyard of St Mary’s church in Halesworth. Whenever I see this wall I remember the times I have held one or other of my daughters’ hands when they were little as they balanced all the way along it. It used to take ages! Alice was especially keen.

Richard and I are starting to compile the list of improvements and repairs we need to do to the house and garden. One of the first jobs will be to replace most of the windows and we hope to get this done before Christmas. We are also getting a gardener/landscaper to clear and dig out the front ditch which has become overgrown and blocked. We have asked him to cut the hedges too. This will be done in a fortnight’s time.

I found these ladybirds sheltering in my Rosemary bush next to the front door. I think they were hoping to hibernate there. We have since had some very wet weather and they are no longer there.

Last winter we had no ladybirds hibernating in the corner of the window in our bedroom. This year, when we hope to replace the windows in a few weeks time, the ladybirds are back! I will have to think of a way of gently moving them before the windows are removed. I don’t know if they will be as interested in the new poly-carbonate windows we are to have, as they are in the old wooden ones with ladybird pheromones on!

Last Sunday we went out for lunch to The Sir Alfred Munnings in Mendham. (I don’t know what the black shadows are top right and bottom left of the photo).

The artist Sir Alfred Munnings was born in Mendham in 1878 and this restaurant and bar was re-named after him.

Mendham is a very pretty village just a few miles from where we live.

Mendham church is quite large and well looked after. I couldn’t get far enough away from it to get the whole of the church in one photo.

Mendham church

Sunset

And another!

Here is one of my favourite songs – ‘Ola Ta Diskola’ (All the Difficulties) by Anastasia Moutsatsou.

Thanks for visiting!

An Autumn Walk at Minsmere.

29 Thu Oct 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, plants, Rural Diary, trees, walking

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

autumn, fungus, lichen, Minsmere, plants, ponds, RSPB reserve, Suffolk, trees, walking

We took advantage of a dry but cloudy afternoon earlier this week to walk through the woods at Minsmere. To those of you who don’t know, Minsmere is an RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) wildlife reserve situated on the coast in Suffolk. We didn’t see many birds, though as the afternoon wore on and the crowds of visitors began to leave we began to hear more birdsong.

The cliff behind the visitor centre with Sand Martin (Delichon urbica) burrows. I’m not sure what the larger holes are – probably rabbit burrows.

We went first to the ponds behind the visitor centre to see if there was any sign of the Bird’s-nest fungus that was discovered there last year. I looked but didn’t see any though that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there! I did see some lichen on the decking.

One of the Cladonia lichens

More lichen was growing on the ground amongst the sparse grass and moss.

We saw lots of fungi on our walk but because of the low light many of my photographs didn’t come out very well and had to be erased.

Fungus

Reeds in the pond near the visitor centre – mainly Great Reedmace/ Bulrush (Typha latifolia)

A bright Sweet Chestnut tree (Castanea sativa)

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A little pale sunshine filtered down through the trees

I believe the section they have roped off here is where the Adders (Vipera berus) live.

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We saw plenty of Bramble flowers (Rubus fruticosus agg.)

There was dead wood everywhere

Richard and Elinor watching the rabbits on Warren Hill

Lots of rabbits live here. The birds of prey appreciate this!

We saw more of the sun as we neared sunset

Sun on the reeds and rushes

Minsmere at sunset

Edge of the wood

Sunset

I think this may be Lesser Water-parsnip (Berula erecta) but I am probably wrong.

Here it is again showing its leaves

One of the many ponds

A fern

Holm or Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex)

The bracken has turned such a rich colour

More dead wood

More colourful bracken

The last fungus we saw – in the carpark!

Thanks for visiting!

A Walk in the Peak District.

17 Sat Oct 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, Insects, plants, Rural Diary, trees, walking

≈ 45 Comments

Tags

butterfly, caves, Manifold Valley, Peak District, plants, sheep, squash stile, Thor's Cave, walking, Wetton, wild flowers

Not only did we have a week’s holiday in the Lake District this summer but we also went to the Peak District for a week. I have already told you about the sad start to this break – the death of my mother-in-law on the day of our arrival. We spent the first full day of our holiday with my brother-in-law but after that there wasn’t anything else to do but wait until we were told by the Coroner that we could arrange the funeral.

We thought we might as well stay in the Peaks and not abandon our holiday. If Chris (my brother-in-law) needed us we would be close at hand. We thought we would find comfort in walking in this beautiful part of the country.

After lunch on Saturday 15th August we drove to the village of Wetton in Staffordshire from where we intended to walk along the Manifold Valley. We drove along a very scenic road en route to Wetton.

IMG_5345The Roaches and Hen Cloud from top road

The Roaches and Hen Cloud (the nearest hill) seen from the road.

Another view of The Roaches. The Rocks look like spikes on the spine of a dinosaur.

We could just see the Welsh hills on the far horizon beyond the flat Cheshire Plain.

We got to Wetton and found the car park near the centre of the village. The buildings and houses in the village are mainly made of stone and the church, which was built in the 14th century has an exterior staircase to the belfrey which contains six bells. The Royal Oak pub, which owns a camping field next to the car park is also the venue for the World Toe Wrestling Championships which began in the 1970’s!

One of the buildings of Wetton.

Another of those squash stiles which let tall and/or thin people through but not livestock or short people with generously proportioned legs etc.

Richard and I crossed this field which sloped steeply down into the deep valley of the River Manifold.

There were many hazards.

A colourful seed-head – probably Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium). We also saw a number of Betony (Stachys officinalis) flowers but none of my photos were any good.

The route down to the river valley

At the bottom of the field we crossed a couple of stiles and entered a wood.

Path through the wood

Lots of invasive Rhododendron seedlings

Steps up through the woods

Yet more steps! Gasp! Puff!

We were going to see Thor’s Cave.

Thor’s Cave

This is a Karst Cave i.e. it was formed from the dissolution of soluble limestone. The entrance is just over 18m up on the hillside and the opening is a symmetrical arch, 7.5m wide and 10m high. I don’t think there is any connection between this cave and the god Thor; the name probably derives from the word ‘tor’ meaning a hill or rocky peak. I was most disappointed to find that I didn’t have the ability to climb up to the entrance from the path. I had to wait outside while Richard explored inside.

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You can see minute-me waving at Richard in one of the photos above. This will give you some idea of the size of the cave.

This is what the entrance to the cave looks like from the path below.

While Richard enjoyed himself in the cave, I kept myself busy looking for things to photograph outside.

Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) growing out of a crevice in the stone.

A tiny Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes).

Jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium caeruleum)

I saw another cave entrance below us.

After Richard emerged from the cave we walked back down to the valley-floor.

Lots of different plants grew in the scree and rocks of the river-bed alongside the path. There were many wild raspberry canes with ripe fruit but again my camera failed to focus on them.

Meadow Crane’s-bill (Geranium pratense) next to the path.

I’m including another photo of these flowers because I like them! You can see that the seed-heads look a little bit like crane’s heads.

The large leaves of Butterbur (Petasites hybridus). Also known as Wild Rhubarb, the heart-shaped leaves can be up to 1m/3 ft across.

This Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) was so strongly and beautifully scented!

Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

Wild flowers

The path we were walking along was the former Leek and Manifold Light Railway line. There had even been a station at Thor’s Cave!

This also explains all the well-made steps up to the cave.

View of a hill from the path.

Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis)

Red Campion (Silene dioica) and Bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg.)

More Meadowsweet.

Ripening Hazel nuts (Corylus avellana)

The pretty flowers of the terribly invasive Indian Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera)

Another view of the path.

Lots of Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium)

This is the dry river bed of the Manifold.

In anything other than very wet weather the river disappears into swallowholes and flows through caves and subterranean passages and reappears at Ilam further downstream.

Lady’s-mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris agg.)

Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)

A wonderfully gnarled and twisted tree.

Cinquefoil. I think this is probably Creeping Cinquefoil but the leaves in the photo aren’t quite what I expect from Creeping Cinquefoil.

Hill and valley. We had left the old rail-track behind us.

Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) with its drooping flower-heads

A black-faced lamb

Richard walking along the track

Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense)

It was about this stage in our walk that we missed a landmark and went up a hill on the wrong side of a wall.

A stream

Tufted Forget-me-not (Myosotis laxa)

Small Heath butterfly (Coenonympha pamphilus)

I took a photo of this house little realising that we should have gone past it and then climbed the hill.

‘You’re on the wrong side of the wall, you fools!’, said the sheep.

I took a photo of this sheep tunnel (note my shadow) little realising we could have used it to get onto the right side of the wall!

The wall. We little realised we could have climbed over it at this point.

View from the hillside

Another view

Sun setting behind a hill

It was here that it dawned on us we were heading for the wrong valley.

We re-traced our steps right back to the house I had photographed earlier.

Rock Stonecrop (Sedum forsterianum). This specimen was probably a garden escapee as the plant is only native in the SW of England.

I am not sure what this plant is. I think it might be Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) but I am not sure. My guide says that the emergent leaves of Bogbean have the texture and appearance of broad bean leaves which I would say these do. However….

Knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare)

And that was the last photo I took you’ll be pleased to know. Only when we got back to the house and saw that the correct path went up the same, long, steep hill that we had just climbed and then come down again, but on the other side of that wall that we realised exactly what we had done and what we still had to do. I must admit that our hearts sank and we suddenly felt very tired. We did it though; and got back to the car before the sun set. We were tempted to have a meal in the pub but thought how late we would get back to our caravan if we did so. We were very thankful to find the car and then return to the caravan site.

Thanks for visiting!

Apologies for the length of the post.

Thirlmere Reservoir

29 Tue Sep 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, Insects, plants, Rural Diary

≈ 38 Comments

Tags

Dobgill Wood, fungus, Helvellyn, insects, moss, plants, slime mould, Thirlmere Reservoir, wild flowers

This post marks the return of posts about our holiday in the Lake District in July.

We spent an afternoon at Thirlmere, a reservoir which was created in 1894 to provide water for the city of Manchester.

Thirlmere Reservoir. You see here the typical stony, grey edge of a reservoir. I think the fell on the left is Helvellyn.

Thirlmere was originally two smaller lakes and in flooding the valley, the two villages of Amboth and Wythburn were submerged. Many people protested about the construction of the reservoir, the philanthropist John Ruskin being one of them, but theirs’ was a lost cause. The citizens of Manchester’s need of fresh water was thought to have been more important than the loss of a couple of villages and a community’s way of life.

Thirlmere

Thirlmere is 3.76 miles long and about half a mile wide. It is surrounded by 2000 acres of coniferous forest, mainly spruce and larch, planted in 1908. More deciduous, native trees are being planted now. There was protest at the planting of the forest because the fells were traditionally tree-less and bare.

Woods at Dobgill on the banks of Thirlmere.

We parked our car in one of the car-parks off the road that skirts the lake and then walked down to the lakeside through a pretty wood. It was so green and mossy in that wood!

This moss was about 8 inches tall.

I think the moss may be Polytrichum commune. I read that it has square capsules with pointed lids. These capsules can be seen if you look carefully at my photo.

This may be Amanita franchetii

I believe this is a slime mould. It’s bright yellow colour caught my eye.

We soon got to the lake shore where there was a lot more to see. There were plants living amongst the stones ….

The leaves of Marsh Pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris). Marsh Pennywort is an atypical umbellifer. The flowers are tiny and pale (either green or pink) in small umbels on reddish stems.

…and plants at the edge of the wood.

Betony (Stachys officinalis)

Wood Sage (Teucrium scorodonia)

This plant tastes and smells like hops and in some areas has been used as a substitute for them.

Wood Sage

Richard and Elinor enjoying the view.

While they sat and relaxed I wandered about looking for plants and other interesting things.

A large mossy hummock or outcrop

This rock was covered with many different types of moss and lichen.

Moss

Mosses – the larger one may be Hypnum cupressiforme

Moss – this one may be Thuidium tamariscinum

Not a good shot but this moss may be Pseudocleropodium purum

Lichen in amongst the moss. Not at all sure which this lichen this is!

Mosses

Moss

Yet more mosses!

Lichen – for a change!

Moss

Thirlmere

Lichen with a reddish-brown fruiting body at the bottom right of the picture

Lichen

View of a fell from Thirlmere

Marsh Speedwell (Veronica scutellata)

Lesser Water-plantain perhaps? (Baldellia ranunculoides)

These spiders look like Lesser Wolf Spider females carrying their egg sacs

Another spider

We then walked back up to the car-park but by a different route.

Possibly a Male Fern (Dryopteris felix-mas)

Fungus on a dead tree

A mossy wall

Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica)

Hedge Woundwort flowers

Yorkshire Fog (Holcus lanatus)

Moss

Spores on fern

Walking through Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum). Bracken gets very tall – this was over 5.5 feet tall.

I don’t know what this beetle is though it does look a little like a Click Beetle (Athous haemorrhoidalis)

The Dobgill

Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes)

We returned to the car-park where we left Elinor to rest but Richard and I continued walking as we wanted to see the Dobgill waterfall. I will include that in a different post.

If anyone sees that I have made any mistakes with my identification I would be really grateful for any corrections. If anyone can identify any of the organisms I have been unable to name, again, I would be very pleased to know.

Thanks for visiting!

Aira Force – Lake District Holiday

28 Tue Jul 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Days out, plants, Rural Diary, walking

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

Aira Force, arboretum, beck, cascade, fells, fungi, Lake District, lichen, liverwort, moss, plants, pool, Ullswater, waterfall, wish tree

We had a slow start to our first day in the Lake District. We were tired after our long journey of the day before and the weather wasn’t good enough that morning to tempt us out early. By midday however, the rain had stopped and the clouds had lifted and we thought we would have a short excursion to Ullswater and look at Aira Force.

Ullswater is the second largest lake in the Lake District and last Easter we took a boat trip on it. I wrote about our Lakes holiday last year but unfortunately that post has gone missing. I have been sent copies of my missing posts by my friend Heather (thank-you Heather!) but haven’t yet copied them back into my blog. (Unfortunately, all your wonderful comments have gone for good 😦 ).

Aira Force is a waterfall situated in woodland on the northern shore of the lake and is now in the care of the National Trust.

After a short drive we found the National Trust car park and then started to walk up through woodland towards the force.

Not easy to see, but this is the Aira Beck as it flows through woodland at the bottom of the hill. It will shortly enter the lake.

Richard and Elinor walking ahead of me up the path.

This area was once owned by the Howard family who still live in Greystoke Castle near by. In the 18th century they renovated an old hunting lodge (a former pele tower) and created a sporting estate around it. They landscaped the area around the force, planting over half a million native and non-native trees. They made paths and bridges through the woodland and used the place as a pleasure garden.

Stone slabs used as a bridge across a streamlet

Wooden bridge over a narrow chasm

Steps and viewing platforms. We didn’t go down the steps as Elinor finds them difficult to manage.

Typically for me, the one shot I wanted to come out clearly, clearly hasn’t! I haven’t down-sized this one in an effort to make it look a little better. I only had my little camera with me and the sunlight was causing such a glare too. That’s probably enough excuses.

The main force drops about 70′ from below a footbridge.

Further up in the woods are smaller cascades.

The sound of the falling and rushing water was glorious.

This pool was good to sit next to.

The water is amber-coloured.

Elinor did some sketching while we were there.

This was my favourite place along the beck

There was thick moss everywhere….

…and liverwort too.

A stone parapet to a bridge was covered in lichen.

I think this may be Map Lichen (Rhizocarpon geographicum).

IMG_4937Enchanter's Nightshade (480x640)

Enchanter’s Nightshade (Circaea lutetiana) grew everywhere.

IMG_4937Enchanter's Nightshade (2) (530x640)

It has tiny flowers which produce burs once pollinated.

Bracken and ferns were growing alongside our path. I like the way the sunlight caught this fern.

A Chrysolina beetle of some sort.

A flower I had never seen before – Common Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense)

There was rather a lot of it!

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea)

A bank of foxgloves

Common Valerian in bud (Valeriana officinalis)

Common Valerian in flower

I thought this might be Trailing St John’s-wort (Hypericum humifusum) but the ID description tells me the leaves should have translucent dots and I didn’t see any dots.

I think these are Woodruff leaves (Galium odoratum)

I saw so many different plants and flowers, grasses and sedges, many of which I have included in posts from home so haven’t included them here, but some I still have no idea what they are despite researching for some time.

This plant for example! (The tri-foliate leaf near my hand was not part of the plant).

On our way back from the waterfall we found this fallen log covered in coins.

This is a ‘Wish Tree’. People hammer coins into it with a stone from the site and hope that their wish comes true. We didn’t have any wishes and anyway, I was more interested in the fungi growing on the log.

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I saw another fungus growing at the base of a tree.

If anyone can suggest what this or any of the other fungi are I would be very grateful.

Near to the car park we found the Arboretum that the Howard family had planted in 1846. They planted over 200 specimen conifers (firs, pines, spruces and cedars) from all over the world. Apparently there is a Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) that is now 118′ tall though I didn’t see it. What I did see was a Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana) that looked like it’s bark was sliding down like a baggy sock.

I used to see Monkey Puzzles all over the place where I grew up. Trees that had been planted in the 19th century in parks and gardens were fully mature when I was a girl in the 60’s and 70’s. I don’t ever remember looking at them closely so I don’t know if this is what all their trunks look like.