ABC Wednesday - Harvest

Looking down from the top of Birkrigg common last week the harvest was in full swing. The hay baled and wrapped on the top fields, the bottom fields ready for the bailer to drive down the lines and, out of view on the left the farmers taking a breather. Its a busy time of the year and you could go anywhere in the country to see a similar scene

such as these square bales in Kent, 

or journey over the water see some round ones in France waiting to be stacked

Room for a few more?

Hop over to ABC Wednesday to see more words starting with the letter H

ABC Wednesday - Egypt Bay

A sandy beach, a stretch of water, time to take a dip?

Oh look the sun has come out, maybe just take in some rays, and the view....

is delightful interesting of Canvey Island Oil Terminal.  Although over there is also the home of Canvey Island's own Dr Feelgood who are still rocking after all these years, you can't keep a good band down.

The exotically named Egypt Bay is on the Thames estuary.  These are the Halstow Marshes or Cooling Marshes which are on the Isle of Grain, Kent.  If the name Cooling seems familiar that is because this is the countryside described by  Charles Dickens in Great Expectations. They certainly were cooling when we were there as it was a very blustery day, but sunny, unlike how Dickens describes it when Magwich is hiding in the marshes.  But given a winter day I think it would be exactly how it is in ones imagination.

This little bay would be very useful for smugglers landing contraband, the convicts might have been those housed in hulks in the Medway, which is at the other end of the island, or the ones of Dickens imagination. Real or imagined their fate if escaped and caught was to be hanged, to deter others.  And curlews, well the marshes are a birders idea of heaven.  There are numerous birds of prey, waders,(including Avocets), and field birds like lapwings.  But its most famous inhabitants are at the Northward Hill RSPB reserve. Stand at the top of the hill or sit and view the marshes and woods as great grey winged birds glide, here are about 100 nesting pairs of herons, but also the largest colony of little egrets in the country.

This end of the Isle of Grain is a mix of grazing land, woods, water and marsh with big skies but also

go through the gate and cherry orchards are there by the reserve and apple and pear orchards too.  And if visiting at night you may hear a nightingale sing.

Escape, visit the ABC Wednesday meme where there will be more words beginning with the letter E

 

ABC Wednesday - D

D is for Daisies, Devils, Downs and Damsons

Oh, I Don't think I have anything for D, was the first thought that came into my mind. So I dashed out into the rain and take a picture of Daises. An exuberant plant, difficult to keep in check, but requires no looking after whatsoever. I always associate these with high summer. Ha, summer, did that happen some time in June this year? Perhaps if I head south and over the channel it is happening there. I hope so for in a few weeks that's where I'm going and there will be lots of Dolmens. (Possibly D is sorted for the next round). Nil desperandum . This gives me my next D which is,

slightly further south and east a bit, on the top of the Le Grand Ballon is a monument to the Diables Bleus (blue devils), mountain troops active in World War 1.
The Devil has a lot of things named after him all over the world, he is a busy person. There are numerous Devil's Bridges although I have only come across one Devil's Ladder (in Ireland). My local one is the Devil's Chair, a rocky outcrop. What is the one called near where you live?
Here is the Devil's Kneading Trough (foreground)

which is part of the North Downs in Kent.

Postline

Where Dun coloured cows roam

Tolsford Hill

and it is known as the Garden of England. (I was there in August last year and there was some the wonderfully tasty fruit being sold from the front gates of houses).

There used to be Damson orchards all over England but like the apple orchards they have greatly declined in number. These were just growing by the field margins in Kent.
We have orchards nearby in the Lyth Valley but the Westmorland Damson is smaller and sharper than their southern cousins. Damson Day is celebrated there in April when the pretty white blossom appears. Anything you can make with damsons is on sale - jam, wine, tarts, cakes... and perhaps some of the Mason's Arms, Strawberry Bank Damson beer. Which is a very nice Drink.

Dash over to Mrs Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday for a diversity of Ds

ABC Wednesday - V

V could be for Verbena, just planted, which requires little care and flowers prolifically, but has to put up with claggy clay soil here. If it had a choice it would probably prefer well drained sandy soil such as may be found round this Village in Kent, a county sometimes called the Garden of England

Villages nestle in Valleys but in more dangerous times it was probably better to know who was coming to see you, and a higher view would be safer. Here is the Iron Age Fort (that bit on the end of Table Mountain in Wales) which gives clear sight.
If you walk along the ridge to Pen Allt Mawr and even better view, nobody can sneak up that way either. Today it is a rather more peaceful scene with a patchwork of little fields.
Yes my V is for Valleys. June is a beautiful time for them when everything is fresh, and subtle and vivid colours lay against each other. The vivid yellow of the flowering rape stands out
but perhaps the subtle yellow of wild flowers in the meadows is prettier.
The coal mining areas of south Wales are usually referred to as The Valleys. A century ago the Dare Valley was one of those coal mining areas. These days have long gone, and in 1970s the land was reclaimed, by removing the coal tips, grassing over some of the spoil heaps, rerouting the River Dare, creating 2 lakes and tuning the area into the Dare Valley Country Park. Nature returned.
All that is left of the 4 colleries are the capped shafts
Yes what could be better than to stand in a valley, lean on a five barred gate and watch the world go by, or really just a few sheep.
The Cistercian monks in the middle ages probably thought that when they built the beautiful sandstone Furness Abbey here in the Valley of the Deadly Nightshade ( a wonderfully evocative name). They grew wealthy from the wool of sheep, and the labour of the local populace, until Henry the Eighth came along.

For a variety of more Vs go over to ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday - P

Blencathra

P is for Path

They can show you a way down a ridge or take you to a view. Give you a choice of straight up a hill or winding round. You can see that numerous footsteps in the following photo have probably preferred the straight up option as that is the wider path on Ben Rinnes, maybe it keeps the gasping for breath to a minimum.

They can take you through fields of summer grain

or past May blossom
Or take you to visit curious stones



Lead you down wide hills to forests

and into dappled shade
Of course paths in woods are mysterious things who may have a mind of their own. Sometimes they are wide and sure, sometimes they appear and disappear and sometimes there are too many; which one to choose?

Perhaps follow a path by a stream, I seem to remember that is a survival tip if you get lost.


Now we come to the end of my paths for today and what is nicer than walking on a warm sunny day with the miles behind you as you come down to the end
and knowing there is a cold drink waiting for you in the Pub
For more Ps pop over to Mrs Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday