Wednesday 13 May

Excellent walking morning

 Apple - Malus

 Big Lodge

 Sparrowhawk wing - all that was left found on the rucks, it's a small hawk but I wonder what happened to it?

 Burnet Rose - Rosa spinosissima

 Common Whitebeam - Sorbus aria

 Part of the Old Cottages

 Firethorn - Pyracantha coccinea

 Hartstongue - Asplenium scolopendrium

 Male Fern - Dryopteris filix-mas

 Moschatel - Adoxa moschatellina 

 Slime Mould - Lycogala

 Spiraea sp.

 Marker Stone Mystery

 Tern

 Weigela - Weigela florida

 Woodruff - Galium odoratum

Woodruff - Galium odoratum

Take Care

Monday 2 March

Another windy cold morning

The old female cones and the new male catkins on Alder - Alnus glutinosa

 Butterbur - Petasites hybridus

Leaves follow the flower, big ones that remind me of rhubarb, Butterbur - Petasites hybridus

Almost in flower Dog's Mercury - Mercurialis perennis these are the male flowers, female flowers seem scarcer there are a few around the valley fortunately they produce creeping runners or roots.

 Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea leaves this should flower this year.

The Old Cottages must have been solid when you look at the stone that is left.

Take Care

Monday 8 December

Set off in the rain and it cleared up as we walked

Beyond this old fence once stood a small row of cottages, this is the back of the Top Lodge the remnants of them still linger along with a almost filled in channel

You can see some of the old stones on the track and in the middle is the channel, long time since this has seen a good bit of water, there was a time it was a hive of activity.

Farther on near the small ponds is another brick lined channel that leads into the brick lined ponds

Now filled with soil it is walked over and seldom noticed - one day it may be dug out and revealed again

We think this is the remains of some sort of boiler that heated the water prior to being sluiced into the ponds during the bleaching process

This is the twin brick lined pond that is just a bog, you can just see the corner of the clean pond to the left of the photo - if they ever do dig these ponds out for display this one may be perfect as it has never been touched.

The River Yarrow as it leaves the side of the Big Lodge and continues on the route to the sea 

Birkacre Rucks with all the Silver Birch

Take Care

Sunday 16 February

Dry this morning we ambled down to the Weir

 Arnold stood in the middle of the old cottage site near the weir - we believe the last family to live there were called Selby.

 Warming his hands over the old fireplace, it was big compared to the rest of the cottage, must have been cosy & warm when it was lit. There were no services so all the water was carried from the well on Primrose Hill, no gas, everything had to be brought in.

 Lesser Celandine  - Ficaria verna finally in flower

 This is the old Stile at the back of the cottage site, leads up to Primrose Hill and Burgh Lane South.

Red Campion - Silene dioica a little worse for the cold night

Take Care

Monday 27 June

Dry hot morning.

 New path and old channel near the weir.

 Weir & Fishladder

 Path behind the weir.

 Drybones Cottage Outbuildings

 Drybones Old Toilet

 Common Valerian - Valeriana officinalis

 Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea leaning against the tree.

 Enchanter's Nightshade - Circaea lutetiana

 Raspberry - Rubus idaeus

 Peacock Caterpillars they are growing but not many about.

 White Common Spotted Orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii

 Small Skipper

 Speckled Wood

Water Forgetmenot -  Myosotis scorpioides

Take Care.