Speckled Wood (Pararga aegeria)

Image from Copyright Free Photos

A butterfly of woodland glades, as its name implies, but also found along hedgerows and country lanes.

And this is where I caught sight of it. If I had been walking down this road twenty years ago it would have not seemed possible, its habitat was southern England, Wales and into the midlands. It disappeared early in the 20th century from the north. In the 1990s one was seen in a wood near Witherslack, some people think that they was deliberately introduced, but cannot say by who. I like to think they made their own way here. They like slightly damp areas so Cumbria certainly fulfills that requirement. Since that first sighting they have spread right through Furness and the Morecambe Bay estuary and are still heading north.

It is unique amongst our butterflies because it can overwinter in two totally separated stages either as a chrysalis or a caterpillar, a trait that can, in the southern part of the range, give rise to three overlapping broods on the wing from the end of March to mid October.
Here is the image I took amongst the autumn leaves (right hand corner). If I had been carrying a set of stepladders with me it might have been a better photograph. This particular butterfly was taking in yet another warm sunny day near the top of a hedge. As you can see it is a paler colour than the photograph at the top of the page. There are two types of males and the lighter coloured ones are territorial, chasing and intercepting intruders onto their territory.

Here's hoping for lots more warm sunny days because in a good year they can last longer than mid October, and who does not want to see more butterflies.

The Cumbrian Wildlife website has more information on their occupation of the area.

Bethecar Moor

Setting off this morning from the east side of Coniston Water and walking up through Dodgson Wood, arrived at Low Parkamoor to head south

onto Bethecar Moor. The day was warm and sunny, but the views were hazy.

We watched the ferry boat chugging up the lake heading to the landing stage near Brantwood (John Ruskin's house, now a museum). There were very few yachts out on the lake, possibly because there was hardly any breeze.
By the time we reached High Light Haw in the early afternoon the views were clearing. It was a wonderfully still day as we continued the walk along the top of the moor, through the dying russet coloured bracken, and trying to avoiding the rich green moss that warned of bog beneath.

Reaching the end of the moor we started our descent towards Allen Tarn
and down to the village which may make an appearance in ABC Wednesday this coming week.
Down by the roadside we took a slight diversion to look at the River Crake. Here it is as it exits Allen Tarn at the start of its journey to the sea.

Dow Crag (left) and Coniston Old Man (right)

We returned over the fields to continue our route

along the rough track back to our start. The Coniston Range dominates the lake and surrounding areas. This is the most southerly of the mountain ranges of the Lake District.

ABC Wednesday - M

M is for Machinery

I loved the colour and shape of this part of the machine, and the fact that it is dated 1869. What is it? Look through the gaps for a clue.

La Richardais Marina, Rance Basin, Brittany

Here is the best shot I could get of the full thing, as I squeezed between all the parked cars. I would have liked to see it working
but we were entertained on this very windy day by the chase down, and rescue, of a yacht that had broken its moorings.

From the sea to the land. There is a surprising amount of old farm machinery in fields and I can never resist taking a photograph, especially if it is rusty. This is June when the fields in the Yorkshire Dales were full of yellow flowers. A little subdued in this photograph as the mist was rolling down the hills. (Click for full size and the Ribblehead Viaduct is in the background).

June is also a time for mowing the fields,( same day, and the same mist).
And here is some modern day farm machinery arriving in the field.

St Piere-de-Plesguen

Back to a sunny France where you can see the machinery of government in every town and village in the outward sign of the Mairie building. This one is festooned with flowers, as was the 11th century church grounds, from where this was taken.

Now these have all been still photographs but wouldn't it be nice to see some machinery working.



Its quite mesmerising, or is that just me. This 1945 German coil spring machine is apparently still producing left springs for saddles at the Brooks England Ltd factory. Brooks has been in existence since 1866 and make nice and comfortable bike saddles, amongst other things. People like them so much they send pictures into the website.

Move over to ABC Wednesday where you can enjoy more interpretations of the letter M

By River and Canal

The field have been harvested, the nights have turned cool and touches of colour are appearing in the trees.

River Kent, Levens Bridge

I went to see if the row of oaks at Levens were turning colour. The answer was, no, they were almost as green as summer with the leaf edges just starting to turn. Being English oaks they no doubt think it is still summer as the warmth is still in the air.
The sunny day tempted me on through woods, and along the Lancaster Canal near Hincaster where the water was so still that the reflections and trees almost merge.
You can walk a long way along this part of the canal so it is very popular with dog walkers. Both they and their dogs comes in all shapes and sizes.

On the way back the long haired goats were by the river bank. There were a couple of young kids of which this was one with its mother keeping her eye on it, or maybe not, they are not as skittish as sheep.
These are the Bagot goats, a rare breed brought into England around in the time of Richard the Lionheart, 12th century.
Reaching the end of my amble fell into conversation with someone I had seen on the other side of the river earlier in the day with a camera in hand. She was doing a photographic project on the River Kent from its source onwards. (Its a very short river, only about 20 miles long). The stillness of the day was a delight for her and was about to dash to Kendal to photograph the Kent as it cuts through that grey stoned town.

What and interesting project. This set me thinking which river I would choose. My favourite local river is the pretty Crake which runs from Coniston Water to the sea but is even shorter than the Kent. Perhaps this is something to do in those short winter days to come, brrr, what am I doing thinking of winter in October.

ABC Wednesday - L

L is for Liverpool

We travelled to Warrington on Sunday to watch the Rugby League Division One Playoff final between Halifax and Barrow Raiders. Our glorious Raiders team won, its first cup in 27 years, despite going behind twice and looking as though they were going to throw everything away. Nothing like sport to experience anguish, despair, hope and elation within moments.

Warrington is just a short train journey to Liverpool and we visted there on Monday. The Walker Art Gallery has a Bridget Riley retrospective - Flashback, not only of paintings but her sketches and calculations as she worked out the compositions.

The origins of the Walker collection date back to the early 1800s when William Roscoe, who collected early Italian and dutch paintings, banking business failed. (How things change and yet remain the same). The Liverpool Royal Institute acquired 37 of these fine paintings. The collection expanded and in the 1870s the present building was completed, funded and named after the alderman and brewer of its title. It was thought he was not particularly interested in paintings but liked architecture, having built some elaborate pubs, and the temperance movement was on the rise so maybe he was trying to divert their attention.
The Victorians were fond of the neo-classical form. Here is St Georges Hall (interiors here) sometimes called the people's palace. The foundation stone was laid in 1841. As I was taking this picture a local said to me go round the corner, the entrance is there, and have a look inside. Off we went, underneath are the holding cells where people were taken before being hauled before the judge. Journeying up the stairs past the judges chambers and old law court onwards to the great hall and surrounding rooms it is a vast building. The floor of the hall is covered but underneath and protected are a mosaic of 30,000 Minton tiles. A building built with all confidence of those early Victorians, on completion in 1851 the plaque inside says, this was the world's first air-conditioned building.
Liverpool is has many fine Victorian buildings of all styles and uses
but also many new ones. Here heading towards the Albert Dock, is the Hilton hotel and the bus stops on the left.
Now Liverpool may be famous for The Beatles, but what is that figure dancing in the distance. Its another Liverpudlian,
the one and only Billy Fury whose heart gave up to soon but is not forgotten by his fans of whom I would guess these are two.
I'm feeling in need of some greenery so here is a touch of autumn colour and a seat outside the pub or perhaps

sit here and watch the sun on the water.
Here is the other side of the warehouses. The sailing boat at the back on the left is the Zebu which was built in Sweden to carry timber between the Baltic states. The Albert Docks were built for sailing ships of up to 1000 tons of cargo capacity and could be loaded and unloaded directly from the warehouses. With the decline of the sailing ship these docks too declined and there was little shipping activity into them after the 1920s, finally the docks closed in 1972 and the area fell into disuse. (Liverpool has vast areas of other docks). The area started to be regenerated in the 1980s and is now the warehouses are converted into apartments, shops, museums and galleries and it is a popular tourist destination. Liverpool is a UNESCO World Heritage Maritime Mercantile City.

For Lots more of the letter L go to ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday - K

K is for Knots

These seemed to be very secure knots, which they probably needed to be. This mooring was at the top of a very large slab of rock at St Briac-sur-Mer in France. The rope continued down a long way
over the seaweed covered rocks lower down and then
attached itself to the little rowing boat at the bottom.
The tide was out in the bay but this is a view from the top looking inland, the flowery boat whose sailing days were over, but whose keel and that of the yachts laying on the sand are plainly in view.

There are an amazing variety of knots for all sorts of purposes. An animated selection here. Seafarers have to know many different types
and E. Annie Proulx uses extracts from The Ashley Book of Knots as chapter headings in her novel "The Shipping News", which give clues to the events about to happen. The main character called Quoyle, a play on words for a coil of rope, heads for Newfoundland, his ancestral home, from New York with his daughters, when his no-good wife is killed. Dark secrets are all around but as the blurb says its an "irresistible comedy of human life and possibilities". Knots of course can be made and remade in different forms.

I like the quote she uses in the frontispiece "In a knot of eight crossings, which is about the average-size knot, thee are 256 different 'over-and-under' arrangements possible... Make one change in this 'over and under' sequence and either an entirely different knot is made or no knot at all may result". I seemed to make a lot of those 'no knots' when I was in the brownies, and I have not improved since, so I would not make a good mariner.

Page from 'Celtic Art. The methods of construction' by George Bain

Then there are knots that are knots, but not as we know them Jim. The knotwork borders as used in Celtic art are drawn as a continuous line to symbolise infinity. Here are some examples of drawing the borders, as originally used in the 7th century manuscript the Gospels of Lindisfarne and the much older 1st century Book of Kells.

Click on ABC Wednesday for more interpretations of the letter K

Ferns and Fungi

The bracken fades in a golden glory and soon the paths will be revealed once more.

A damp summer and a warm September has brought the rather beautiful Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) out in profusion. Does it look like a lethal type of pizza that someone has taken a slice? I noticed my field guide says "though poisonous it is doubtful it would cause the death of a healthy person". The choice of the word doubtful is gloriously open ended.
Now this, of which I only saw one, is I think, Amanita aspera, which likes frondose woods and as you can tell from the first image that is where I was walking.