• About my Blog
  • GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and This Site
  • My Life in a Suffolk Lane

A Suffolk Lane

~ A diary of my life in rural north Suffolk.

A Suffolk Lane

Tag Archives: spear thistle

Home from Abroad

27 Wed Jul 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in family, Insects, music, plants, Rural Diary, trees, wild flowers

≈ 57 Comments

Tags

agrimony, butterflies, clouds, common darter, common knapweed, Diary, dragonflies, Field Beans, gatekeeper, Great Willowherb, hedge bindweed, lane, Lords and Ladies, Marsh Woundwort, Meadowsweet, ponds, ringlet, ruddy darter, scarlet pimpernel, spear thistle, Suffolk, Sweet Chestnut, thunderstorm, wild flowers, yarrow

We arrived back home last Wednesday after spending eight days in the Schwarzwald (Black Forest).  It was probably the hottest day of the year so far and we spent it travelling by train up from Triberg, Germany to Ebbsfleet in Kent (England) where we had left our car.  We set off from the hotel at 6.30 am European time and got home just after 7.00 pm British time (one hour behind Europe).  The car thermometer said it was 32C (89.5F) when we set off from Kent and it peaked at 34C (93F) near the tunnel at the Dartford Crossing (under the Thames).  As we drove home up through Essex and Suffolk we watched large black clouds to the west edging ever nearer and we hoped we’d be able to get home before the storm got to us.  We did.  It was still 32C as we unpacked the car, opened all the windows and doors in the house and wandered round the garden for a while looking at the long grass and the drooping plants.  While I put the kettle on and made a cup of tea Richard telephoned the Chinese restaurant in Halesworth and ordered a take-away meal.  He was just about to set off when the storm broke.  It was the most violent one I’ve seen for many years with continuous thunder and bolts of lightening coming down vertically and travelling horizontally across the sky.  The rain was very heavy indeed.  Elinor and I sat on the stairs together as she gets quite frightened during thunderstorms and Richard went off to collect our evening meal.  The storm gradually abated and the sky cleared but still Richard hadn’t come back and I began to worry about him.  I found his phone which he had left behind so I couldn’t get in touch to find out where he was.  I was considering getting in the car and going to look for him when I was relieved to see him driving up to the house.  He had had a hair-raising journey and when he had got to Halesworth he found that the Chinese restaurant had a power-cut and couldn’t give us a meal.  They had tried to phone him on his mobile to let him know, but of course he had left it at home.  The town’s Thoroughfare was flooded with a foot of water and people were out trying to sweep the water away from the shop doors.  Water was coming up through the drains and the town river was in full spate.  Richard didn’t lose his head and knew he had a mission to accomplish so went to the other Chinese restaurant at the top of the town which hadn’t lost it’s power and ordered our meal from them instead.

When the rain stopped I went outside to enjoy the fresh, cooler air and took some photographs of the strange clouds.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The following day I resumed my dutiful-daughter job and took Mum out to do her shopping.  We had bought double her usual amount of shopping just before we’d gone away and we had made sure she had enough of her medication to last as well.  While we were on our holiday she had been taken to church by my brother on the Sunday and he had cooked lunch for her at his house, so she had plenty to tell me.

When I got home again I got on with the washing and started to tidy the garden.  Richard and I called in to see our next-door-neighbours who had been kind enough to water the plants in the greenhouse and to put our rubbish bins out for collection while we were away.  We are very fortunate to have such thoughtful and generous neighbours.

The next day I continued with house and garden work.

P1000897Scarlet Pimpernel

Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis ssp.arvensis) found behind the greenhouse

P1000899Marsh Woundwort

Marsh Woundwort (Stachys palustris) found growing on the bank of the big pond.

P1000900Common Darter

I think this may be a male Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) though it could be a male Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum)

P1000902Spear Thistle

A Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) in flower near the big pond

P1000905Ringlet

A rather old and tired Ringlet butterfly (Aphantopus hyperantus)

P1000908Hedge Bindweed

Hedge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) in flower in the area between our garden and the field at the back of the house.

P1000910Common Darter

I believe this may be a female Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

P1000914Sweet Chestnut

Our Variegated Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa variegatum) in flower

P1000915Sweet Chestnut

Sweet Chestnut flowers

I walked down the lane with Elinor to post birthday cards to my niece Natalie (my brother’s daughter) who had her 31st birthday on the 23rd of July and cards to Alice my elder daughter who had her 31st birthday on the 24th of July.  Natalie is exactly 23 hours older than Alice.

P1000916Darter

This is a teneral, or newly emerged dragonfly as you can see by the pale colouring and very shiny wings. I don’t know which dragonfly it is, unfortunately. It is perched on a Great Willowherb (Epilobium hirsutum) growing in the ditch at the side of the lane.

P1000917Pond

The new pond at the side of the lane which was dug during the winter.

Richard spoke to the man who lives on the opposite side of the lane to the pond and who was responsible for digging it.  Apparently, many years ago there was a pond there which was wide enough and deep enough to enable the horses to be led to drink while still attached to their carts.  It was filled in when horses were no longer needed on the farm but it has now been re-instated and I am very pleased.  The pond is already full of interesting plants and insects which have found their way there on their own.

P1000921Lane

Our lane. I am standing next to the pond (on my left) and looking back in the direction from which we had come.

P1000922Perhaps wall of demolished St N church

Looking over the hedge into the garden of Church Farm I noticed this piece of wall covered in ivy. I wonder if it is part of the old church of St Nicholas demolished many hundreds of years ago.

P1000923Lords and Ladies

Lots of unripe Lords and Ladies berries (Arum maculatum)

P1000924Field beans

A field full of Field or Broad Beans.

P1000925Pond

Another pond at the side of the lane. This one has become rather overgrown. It has fish in it and I once saw a couple sitting at the side of the road with rods trying to catch fish.

P1000926View

View across the fields towards All Saints church which can just be seen to the right of centre on the horizon. It is slightly obscured by a thistle flower!

P1000928Common Knapweed

Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

P1000932Yarrow

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

P1000930Wild flowers-001

Wild flowers at the side of the lane.

P1000931Agrimony-001

Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)

P1000934Meadowsweet

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)

P1000935Meadowsweet

Meadowsweet has a beautiful almond-blossom-like fragrance.

P1000939Gatekeeper

A poor photo of a male Gatekeeper butterfly (Pyronia tithonus)

These were all the things I saw at the side of the lane on a short 20 minute walk to post cards.

Here now is my musical choice – the Petite Symphonie in B flat for nine wind instruments by Charles Gounod, composed in 1888.  It lasts about 20 minutes and is of four movements.  I love the lyricism of French 19th century music and I like this recording of the piece very much.  It is a piece of music I used to play and it brings back such good memories to me when I hear it.

Thanks for visiting!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Few More Things.

24 Fri Apr 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in Gardening, plants, Rural Diary, trees, wild animals, wild birds

≈ 45 Comments

Tags

aubretia, bluetit, daffodils, daisy, dandelion, Elder, greylags, Hawthorn, heartsease, Muntjac deer, near-species rose, nests, pussy willow, rhubarb, silver birch, snail-trail, spear thistle, spring, Suffolk, willow

In between racing about in my car to Norwich and Mum’s house, the doctor’s surgery and the hospital, shopping trips to Harleston, Halesworth, Bungay and Diss, I have been able to take my camera with me as I walk round the garden, filling all the bird feeders.  I haven’t had time for any gardening for about ten days and I miss it!  The weather here has continued bright and dry with frosty, misty mornings and warmish days (as long as you are out of the chilly NE wind).  Today has been much warmer with a change of wind direction but according to the forecast, this will not last.  Rain and cold are set to return by the end of the weekend.

IMG_2026Hawthorn (640x427)

Hawthorn leaves. We have two types of Hawthorn in our garden hedges, Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and Midland Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata). This is probably Midland Hawthorn or maybe a hybrid between the two.

IMG_2027Daisy (640x427)

A Daisy (Bellis perennis). I love its simplicity.

IMG_2029Elder (640x427)

The Elder leaves (Sambucus nigra) are now almost fully out and have lost the pink tinge they had. They are matte mid-green leaves.  Last year we had the best elder blossom I’d seen for many years.

IMG_2035Pussy Willow (640x482)

Goat Willow or Sallow catkins (Salix caprea). Male and female catkins are on separate trees and appear before the leaves. Sallows are a food plant for many different types of moth. The catkins are known as ‘Pussy Willow’ when they first appear as they look and feel like silky cats paws.

IMG_2038Heartsease (640x427)

I found a Heartsease or Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor) plant on the path round the big pond. Next to it there is also the first rosette of Spear Thistle leaves (Cirsium vulgare).

IMG_2044Birch (640x427)

Silver Birch leaves (Betula pendula)

IMG_2046 (640x427)

I love standing underneath our tree and looking up. Silver Birches eventually grow to be about 26 metres tall. I don’t think ours has quite got there yet.

IMG_2048Bluetit (640x427)

This Bluetit (Parus caeruleus) sitting in the Birch tree looks a little strange. It has a black sunflower seed in its beak.

IMG_2049Bluetit (640x427)

It spent some time taking the seedcase off…

IMG_2050Bluetit (640x427)

…and eating the seed within.

IMG_2055Geese (640x427)

The Greylags (Anser anser) have been amusing me a lot lately. The geese are much calmer than the ganders. The goose here is up close eating some food I put out for it. The gander is further away and hissing at me.

IMG_4468Greylag (640x480)

This one I found the other morning standing on top of the hedge.

IMG_2043Goose (640x427)

The original goose on her nest on the island…

IMG_4469Greylags nesting (640x480)

…was joined last weekend by another goose (nearest to us).

IMG_4472Goose nest (640x480)

A third goose has made her nest on the edge of the pond. I surprised her and she surprised me when I walked round the pond yesterday. I am not sure how successful this nest will be as it is quite vulnerable to fox predation.

IMG_4474Dandelion (640x480)

A Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

IMG_4477Daffodils (480x640)

Daffodils along the ditch at the front of the house

IMG_2051Daffodil (640x427)

Daffodils at the top of the ditch between us and the old School House.

IMG_2052Rhubarb (640x427)

Our Rhubarb (Rheum x hybridum ‘Timperley Early’) looking majestic.

IMG_2067Shrub rose (640x427)

A very early flowering near-species rose has buds on it. (Rosa xanthina  ‘Canary Bird’)

IMG_2065Aubretia (640x427)

Aubretia

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

IMG_4403Snail trail (480x640)

Richard pointed out this snail trail up the side of the house!

IMG_4404Deer (640x513)

I saw this Muntjac deer doe very early the other morning. It was eating the crabapple tree! The leaf shapes on the window are meant to stop birds crashing into the glass but aren’t very successful. I usually have to pull the window-blind down to stop them!

IMG_4405Deer (640x480)

Very blurred photo! You can see how stocky/thickset these deer are and also the white in their ears.

IMG_4406Deer (640x480)

The does don’t have antlers but have a dark triangular patch on their foreheads.

IMG_4408Deer (640x480)

I think I see her tongue sticking out as she chews a mouthful of leafy twig.

IMG_4409Deer (640x480)

I had great trouble trying to focus on the deer. The camera wanted to focus on the window glass of the double-glazing or the daffodils behind the deer.

IMG_4416The new mower (640x480)

Richard on his new tractor-mower. The old one wasn’t working too well so we part-exchanged it for a newer, better model. It has a mulching facility which will be good to use in the summer.

I must share some good news I heard today.  My daughter Alice has been told she has her PhD.  She is now Doctor Alice!  I  am so proud of her.

Thank-you for visiting!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Peak District Holiday 1st to 9th July. Day 3

28 Thu Aug 2014

Posted by Clare Pooley in plants, Rural Diary, trees, Uncategorized, walking

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Back Forest, bilberries, Cedar, Danebridge, drystone walls, enchanter's nightshade, eyebright, ferns, fir cones, foxglove, Gradbach, grasses, Hanging Stone, hart's-tongue fern, heath bedstraw, heather, JW Lees beer, landslip, Lud's Church, marsh thistle, moss, mouse-ear hawkweed, pink purslane, River Dane, sheep, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, spear thistle, stiles, The Roaches, The Ship Inn, tormentil, walking, Welsh poppy, Wincle, Wincle Brewery, wood sorrel

After a gentle day in Buxton (see Days 1 and 2) and another good night’s sleep we felt ready for a little exercise.  We decided to go on a circular walk in Back Forest alongside the River Dane to Danebridge and then back.  We had done this walk before, a few years ago, and had gone in a clockwise direction.  This time we went anti-clockwise and it is amazing how different everything looks coming at it from the opposite direction.

We drove a few miles from where we were staying to the Peak National Park car park in Gradbach.  The day was bright and breezy with not too much strong sunshine – ideal walking weather.  The car park was full – about ten cars – which disappointed us, but once we had got past Gradbach Mill and into the forest we hardly saw a soul.  There is a short walk down the hill to the mill from the car park.  Last year the Mill had still been in use as a Youth Hostel but this year it had been taken over by Newcastle under Lyme University and a lot of renovation work was being carried out.  It is in the process of being made into a Field Study Centre and there were groups of students setting off on walks and school children on field trips having noisy picnics all over the place.  We followed a path away from the mill and down to the river going over and through a couple of stiles on the way.  One of the stiles was a squeeze stile and from a distance this looks an easier option than having to clamber over a wall or gate using wooden or stone cross bars.  Up close one can see that the gap is very narrow, in fact no more than 25cm/9.8″ wide to stop livestock escaping from fields either side of the wall.  There are stone pillars on each side of the gap to protect the structure of the wall.  The dry-stone walls are at least 4.5′ tall and as I am 5’4″ tall and not exactly skinny they are very difficult for me to manage.  I have to put my arms in the air, breathe in and force myself through inch by inch with R standing watching and smirking.  Anyone larger than me would not be able to get through at all.  R is nearly a foot taller than me at 6’3″ and takes longer strides so, though we walk the same distance, I do about two paces to his one.  I also wander about taking photos and lag behind and have to trot to catch up with him.

We crossed the river by a narrow bridge and started to climb up into the forest leaving the river some way below.

011Back Forest (640x480)

Back Forest Wood looking down from the path towards the River Dane.

012Back Forest (480x640)

Back Forest Wood

014Ferns and wood sorrel leaves (640x480)

Ferns and Wood Sorrel leaves

We walked through the woods for about three-quarters of a mile eventually descending back down towards the river again.

015River Dane (640x480)

River Dane

Dane is a Celtic river-name meaning ‘trickling stream’.

016Bilberries (640x480)

Bilberries

018Mosses (480x640)

Mosses

020River Dane (640x480)

River Dane

Walking further on we saw that there had been a landslip which may have been caused by all the rain last winter.

022Landslip into river (480x640)

023Pool caused by landslip (640x480)

A new pool caused by the landslip

024Tree roots on path (640x480)

Tree roots on the path

We then left the wood and started walking along a grassy path through a valley.

028Tormentil (640x480)

Tormentil – potentilla erecta

In wet weather or at night, when the petals close up, the tormentil flower has the ability to pollinate itself.

030Eyebright (640x480)

Eyebright – euphrasia nemorosa

This bright little flower was thought to be good for poor eyesight and an extract from eyebright and the herb golden seal is still used as an eye lotion.  The 17th century botanist William Cole recorded in his book ‘Adam in Eden’ that eyebright was the herb used by the linnet (a little finch) to clear its eyesight.  My source book for this information says ‘Since short-sighted linnets are not easy to identify, few could argue with Cole’s reasoning’.  It is a semi-parasitic plant, only growing where its roots can attach themselves to other plants like clover and plantain.

032Thistle and buttercups (480x640)

Marsh Thistle with Buttercups

We then followed the path alongside a drystone wall.

033Foxgloves and dry-stone wall (480x640)

Lots of Foxgloves were growing by the wall

034Bedstraw (640x480)

Heath Bedstraw was growing in the grass

035Mouse-ear Hawkweed (480x640)

and so was Mouse-ear Hawkweed

036Mouse-ear Hawkweed with flies (640x480)

which was popular with the flies

We passed by a farmhouse with some sheep.

040Sheep (640x480)

Just a little further on over the fields the views were very good.

043View (640x480)

Rolling countryside

We then re-entered woodland.

045Tree trunks (out of focus) (640x480)

I loved these tree trunks so had to include this photo though it is terribly out of focus

By this time we were approaching Danebridge and it was lunchtime.  We climbed over a stile and joined the lane that led to the village.

046Carved stone at stile (640x480)

This was the slab of stone we stepped onto when we got down from the stile. I wonder where it came from and what it had been in a former life.

I immediately noticed a little pink flower at the side of the road.  The photo doesn’t show how pink it was.

047Pink purslane

Pink Purslane – Claytonia sibirica

This is a plant introduced from North America and is widely naturalised.

We walked down to the river thinking we would eat our sandwiches next to it but we couldn’t see anywhere suitable to sit.

049Rock strata River Dane (640x480)

Strange rock strata at the edge of the river

050Rock strata River Dane (640x480)

This shows it a little more clearly

053Enchanter's Nightshade (480x640)

Enchanter’s Nightshade

053Enchanter's Nightshade

I like this plant’s name. It belongs to the same family as the Willowherbs.

Mathias De l’Obel, a 16th century Flemish botanist, in trying to identify a magical plant that Discorides (an early Greek physician) had named after the mythical sorceress Circe, eventually chose this plant.  Enchanter’s Nightshade’s botanical name is Circaea lutetiana – lutetia is the Roman name for Paris, which is where De l’Obel and other botanists worked.The Anglo-Saxons had used this plant as a protection against spells cast by elves.  Their name for it was aelfthone.  This is the only Willowherb that doesn’t disperse its fruit with the help of the wind.  Instead, it has hooks on its fruit that catch onto fur or feathers like burs.  It is pollinated mainly by small flies.  I find it fascinating that plants can adapt to their surroundings like this.

054Hart's-tongue fern (480x640)

Hart’s-tongue fern

055Yellow poppy, hart's tongue etc (480x640)

A yellow Welsh poppy has joined other plants growing out of this drystone wall

We stood on the bridge at Danebridge.

056River Dane (640x480)

River Dane

From the bridge we could see the buildings of a local micro-brewery.

057Wincle Brewery (640x480)

Wincle brewery

Wincle is a village just up the hill from Danebridge and a woman walking her dog informed us that there was a pub up the hill just beyond the brewery.  The word ‘pub’ worked as a clarion call to arms and R was up that hill before I or anyone else could say Jack Robinson.  As we powered up the hill I just had time to admire this door set into a wall.

058Door in dry-stone retaining wall (640x480)

I love doors like this. I imagine such a lovely garden beyond this one with stone steps on a winding path up to the house.

We found the pub as we neared the top of the hill.

062The Ship Inn (640x480)

The Ship Inn

064Ship Inn sign (640x480)

The Ship Inn sign

It seemed so strange for a pub, many miles from the sea or even a navigable river, to be called ‘The Ship’.  There was a little information displayed in the pub and I have also looked on-line to find out more about this.  There is a ‘History of Wincle’ site which has been very helpful.  Sir Philip Brocklehurst of Swythamley Hall (a couple of miles away) sailed with the explorer Shackleton on one of his expeditions to the Antarctic from 1907-9.  The pub sign depicts the Nimrod in Antarctic ice ( not the more famous Endeavour of the 1914 expedition).  Shackleton was also Sir Philip’s best man when he married Gwladys Murray in 1913.

Some say The Ship is named after another vessel, ‘The Swythamley’, which was owned by a friend of the squire and sank off the Cape of Good Hope in 1862.  As the pub is also said to date back to the 17th century it is possible that the name is linked with ‘shippen’, a local word for a sheep shelter.  Or the name could be linked with a much earlier boat.  In fact, so far no-one seems to know for sure why it has this name!

059Flintlock on wall of pub (640x480)

A flintlock displayed on the wall of the pub.

There are stories about royalist rebels visiting the pub in the 17th century and the gun belonging to one of them was displayed on the wall until fairly recently as well as a framed article from a Manchester newspaper of the day.  Both these items went missing at some point.  The flintlock now on display was acquired fairly recently and, if I remember correctly, it was discovered that it was made at the same time and by the same gunsmith as the original gun.

We sat outside the pub and sampled their beer.  We asked if they sold the locally brewed beer but was told they didn’t so we had some JW Lees beer instead, which was very good.

060J W Lees beer (640x480)

I only had a few sips of my beer and had to give the rest, reluctantly, to R.  I am not supposed to drink alcohol as it reacts badly with the medication I am on and anyway, I try not to drink much of anything on walks because of the lack of convenient ‘conveniences’.  I have a horror of being ‘caught short’ as the saying goes, and being discovered by walkers, with a dog…

After a pleasant rest we continued on our way.  We went back down the hill to the bridge and found the path we needed which climbed up through more woodland very steeply at times.  I remember that for most of the walk we were listening to wonderful birdsong.  At the top of the path we came out of the wood onto fields again.  Here we rested again and ate our sandwiches.

065Fir cones (640x480)

Fir cones on a tree at the edge of the wood

066View over stile (640x480)

View over a stile

This is one of the many stiles we climbed over that day.  We followed a track by a wall belonging to Hangingstone Farm and then saw the Hanging Stone itself.

067Hanging rock (640x480)

The Hanging Rock

We didn’t have the energy to climb up to the rock to read the inscriptions there.  One plaque is dedicated to Courtney Brocklehurst, the brother of the aforementioned Philip, who was killed in the 2nd World War, and the other is to a pet hunting dog of an earlier Brocklehurst.  This dog was very well loved and when he died was buried under the Hanging Stone.  The dog’s name was Burke, because he was such a good hunting dog.  In 1828, Burke and Hare were accused of killing sixteen people and then selling the corpses to Dr Robert Knox who dissected them during his popular anatomy lectures.

068Thistle (640x480)

A rather lovely Spear Thistle

069Thistle (640x480)

070Tormentil (640x480)

A carpet of Tormentil

072Bedstraw (640x480)

A carpet of Heath Bedstraw

075Grass (640x480)

I liked the delicate grass heads with the heavy blocks of the drystone wall behind

We were now walking over more open moorland.

079Heather (640x480)

The Heather, or Ling as some call it, was beginning to flower

081Heather (480x640)

Little pink-purple bells

082Cedar (640x480)

A good-sized Cedar tree

The more open terrain here meant we could now see the edge of the Roaches, a gritstone escarpment which has spectacular rock formations.  The name comes from the French ‘les Roches’.

085The Roaches (640x480)

The Roaches

087View (640x480)

A gentler view.

089View (640x480)

The fields are all separated by stone walls

We then started descending slowly towards Back Forest again.

090Wall, grass, bilberries (640x480)

The walls are wonderfully constructed. Bilberry bushes are growing against this one.

092Back Forest (640x480)

In the woods again.

We diverted a little way off the path back to Gradbach to see Lud’s Church again.  This is a natural rift which is about 200 yards in length and varies in width from 12 feet to 50 feet wide and is about 59 feet deep.  We didn’t go far along it as we were both getting very tired.  We will go again some time,  walk its length and photograph it.

094Lud's Church (480x640)

It is a very atmospheric place; mossy,cool and quiet.

095Lud's Church (480x640)

The sides of the ravine are covered in ferns and other damp-loving plants.

During the 15th century, according to local legend, Lollards (followers of John Wycliffe, an early church reformer) used to worship here in secret during the time of their persecution.

Many researchers have identified this place as the Green Chapel in the 14th Century alliterative poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’.  The author describes this district well.  Gawain rides off searching for the Green Chapel ….

‘Then he gave the spur to Gringolet and galloped down the path,

Thrust through a thicket there by a bank,

And rode down the rough slope right into the ravine.

Then he searched about, but it seemed savage and wild,

And no sign did he see of any sort of building;

But on both sides banks, beetling and steep,

And great crooked crags, cruelly jagged;

The bristling barbs of rock seemed to brush the sky.’

Translation by Brian Stone.

Another legend is that a hunter was killed here and that he still roams about the cleft covered from head to toe in moss and leaves.  He is known locally as the Green Man one of many ‘green men’ to be found in Britain.

We joined our path again and soon reached the bridge over the River Dane and then Gradbach mill.

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

High Summer Walk 2

06 Wed Aug 2014

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

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Bird's-foot Trefoil, bramble, bulrush, cardinal beetle, cat's-ear, common knapweed, cuckoo bee, dewberry, greater plantain, hazelnuts, hedge bedstraw, hemp-agrimony, Hoverfly, meadow brown butterfly, poppy, robin's pincushion, rowan, small white butterfly, spear thistle, speckled wood butterfly, straw baling, the Beck, the Washes

Before I continue my walk, I’ll update you on the local harvest scene.  Yesterday, all the farms here were extremely busy working on the fields because rain was forecast for today.  I was listening to combine harvesters working well into the small hours.  I think the last tractor to roar past our house with its laden trailer of grain was at about 2.00 a.m.  The rain duly came just a few hours later and this morning was very wet.  On my way to collect Mum for our weekly shopping trip I had to slow the car to a crawl with the wipers going very fast as I couldn’t see the road because of the torrents.  There were some very deep puddles and water was bubbling up from the drains in the villages we passed through.  I was about to say that this afternoon has been dry and bright when I heard that familiar pitter-patter of rain on the leaves outside and had to rush outside and close the garden shed.

002Straw baling

Straw baling yesterday.

The tractor pulls a baling machine up and down the field which sucks up the straw and packs it into bales which emerge from the back of the machine and are then tossed onto the field.

006Straw bales

The finished job

Last week I took a couple of photos of a field at the other end of our lane.  The farmer there was using a different type of baler. 010Straw bales 011Straw bales

012Ploughed field

I noticed that the field on the other side of the lane had had its first plough

This morning, before I went out, the field at the back looked like this – 001Straw bales a.m. and when I got home, it looked like this – 004Straw bales p.m. So, some progress had been made despite the wet weather.

Back to my walk …

The Hedge Bedstraw is still in flower. 051Bedstraw

052Knapweed and bedstraw

Bedstraw and Common Knapweed

The Washes were showing signs that we had had a lot of rain recently.  The road here often floods as it is next to the Beck and in a little valley. 046The washes 062The washes   The Beck was flowing quite nicely but was very overgrown and difficult to see.

066The Beck - reflection

Reflections in the Beck

058Poppy

Common Poppy

064Robin's pincushion

A ‘Robin’s Pincushion’ – a gall on wild rose plants

071Hazelnuts

The hazelnuts in the hedgerow are ripening

073Greater plantain

Greater Plantain

People with lawns do not like either the Greater or the Hoary Plantain as they are very persistent and can survive crushing and tearing.  New growth comes from the base of the plant.  Birds love the seeds and when caged birds as pets were more popular, people used to gather the dried seed-heads for them.  Another name for this plantain is Rat’s Tail. 084Male meadow brown & strange red ball on leaf I tried many times, unsuccessfully, to photograph this male Meadow Brown butterfly but the camera was having none of it and kept focusing on the rose leaf.  So, I have gone with it because of the little red ball on the leaf.  Is this another type of gall or is it the very first stage of a Robin’s Pincushion? I was looking at all the brambles in the hedge and noticed these – 086Dewberries They are dewberries – a relative of the bramble/blackberry.  The flowers are larger and the fruits too, which have a bloom to them.  The leaves have three leaflets.

088Bramble

Here is bramble with a visiting bee

091Rowan

Rowan or Mountain Ash berries – a sign of the approach of autumn

092Bees on thistle

A Spear Thistle with a Cuckoo Bee (L) and a Hoverfly (R)

094Bulrush This is the Great Reedmace or as it is now known, the Bulrush.  Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema painted ‘Moses in the Bulrushes’ and showed the baby in amongst a clump of Reedmaces.  Since then the Reedmace has been known as the Bulrush.  The brown sausage-like part of the flower is female and the narrow spire at the top is male.  In the Lesser Bulrush there is a gap between the female and male parts of the flower.

095Greater bird's foot trefoil

I think this is Greater Bird’s-foot-trefoil. The flower stalks were very long.

079Two white butterflies

Two white butterflies – I think they are both Small Whites but as they were both battered and faded I can’t be sure

097Speckled wood

A Speckled Wood butterfly

099Cat's ear and agrimony Cat’s-ear and Agrimony 100Hemp agrimony Hemp-agrimony.  This is a member of the daisy family – Agrimony is a member of the rose family.  Early herbalists wrongly classed this plant with true Agrimony.  The leaves of this plant look like cannabis leaves hence the ‘hemp’. 101Hemp agrimony with cardinal beetle and a sawfly Cardinal Beetle and a saw-fly visiting the Hemp-agrimony I was going to return to the Hemp-agrimony a few days later to look at it again once the flowers had all come out.  Unfortunately, the common was mown the next day and all the flowers had gone.  The following photos are of a large clump of them that I see on my way to my mother’s house. 008Hemp agrimony They are tall plants – about 4-5 feet tall – and I think they look beautiful. 009Hemp agrimony   The walk I took was only about a mile in length – I was pleasantly surprised to find so many things to look at in such a small area.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Tumblr
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...
Follow A Suffolk Lane on WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 687 other followers

I talk about what it's like living in a quiet part of Suffolk. I am a wife, mother and daughter, a practising Christian and love the natural world that surrounds me. I enjoy my life - most of the time!

My Posts

Jul 2022
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Feb    

Pages

  • About my Blog
  • GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and This Site
  • My Life in a Suffolk Lane

Archives

Blogs I Follow

Posts I Like

amphibians art Arts and Crafts churches cooking Days out domestic animals family fish Folk Traditions Gardening Historic Buildings holidays Insects Landscaping literature music Norwich plants Rural Diary seashore theatre trees Uncategorized walking weather wild animals wild birds wild flowers woodland

Tags

architecture autumn beach berries birds blackbird blackthorn butterfly church clouds common knapweed cow parsley crocus daffodils Diary dogwood family field maple flowers fungus garden gardening geese greylags ground-ivy Halesworth Hawthorn heather holiday Holly Holy Week horse chestnut Hoverfly insects ivy Lake District Lent lesser celandine lichen Lords and Ladies Mallard mallards Minsmere moorhen moss music Norwich Peak District pheasant plants pond ponds primrose primroses Rain rooks Rumburgh Rumburgh Church sheep Sheffield snow snowdrops spring Suffolk Suffolk Wildlife Trust sunset the Beck trees viburnum bodnantense walking weather wild cherry wild flowers winter-flowering honeysuckle witch-hazel

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Goodreads

Blog at WordPress.com.

Interesting Literature

A Library of Literary Interestingness

naturechirp

Celebrating God's creatures, birds and plants...

Sophie Neville

Writer and Producer

Going Batty in Wales

Developing a more sustainable lifestyle in SW Wales

Paol Soren

A bit of this and that

Our Lake District Escapades

Exploring the Lake District and beyond

Making Book

All sorts of stuff about books and book manufacturing

Julian Hoffman

Notes from Near and Far

Short Walks & Long Paths

Wandering tales from around the coast of Wales

Dukes and Princes

History, heritage and genealogy about Europe's highest ranking aristocrats

The Biking Gardener

An English persons experience of living and gardening in Ireland

Nan's Farm

A Journal Of Everyday Life

Walk the Old Ways

Rambling Journeys in Britain with John Bainbridge. Fighting for the Right to Roam. Campaigning to Protect Our Countryside.

Writer Side UP!

Waking the Writer Side...and keeping it "Up!"

Meggie's Adventures

Travel, thank you notes and other stories from Meg King-Sloan

amusicalifeonplanetearth

Music and the Thoughts It Can Inspire

lovefoundation.co.uk

Traveling Tortuga

Simply Living Well

Pakenham Water Mill

Historic watermill in the beautiful Suffolk countryside

Take It Easy

Retired, not expired: words from the after(work)life. And music. Lots of music!

Secret Diary Of A Church of England Vicar's Wife

Public Rights of Way Explorer

PROW Explorer

thanksfortheadventureorg.wordpress.com/

The Beat Goes On

#TBGO

PLESZAK

Frank Pleszak's Blogs

John Bainbridge Writer

Indie Writer and Publisher

roughwighting

Life in a flash - a weekly writing blog

Walking the Old Ways

Rambling in the British Countryside

A Voice from Iran

Storytelling, short stories, fable, folk tales,...

CapKane

thoughts on social realities

SkyeEnt

Jottings from Skye

jodie richelle

embracing my inner homemaker

Skizzenbuch/Blog

Just another WordPress.com weblog

Author Kevin Cooper

Life, Love, Tears & Laughter: Then, Now & Hereafter.

Have Bag, Will Travel

The Call of the Pen

Flash Fiction, Book Reviews, Devotionals and other things.

Book Jotter

Reviews, news, features and all things books for passionate readers

John's Postcards

STADTAUGE

Ailish Sinclair

Stories and photos from Scotland

Art in Nature

The ‘Beauty of the Moment’

The Strawberry Post

Here to Entertain, Educate & Inspire!

You dream, I photographe it !

Smile! You’re in Barnier World......

theinfill

the things that come to hand

Dr. Mary Ann Niemczura

Author of "A Past Worth Telling"

Provincial Woman

LIFE IN MUD SPATTERED BOOTS

A Quiet Celebration of Life on a British Farm

The Pink Wheelbarrow

The Mindful Gardener

The sensory pleasures and earthy delights of gardening.

Luanne Castle's Writer Site

Memoir, poetry, & writing theory

  • Follow Following
    • A Suffolk Lane
    • Join 687 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • A Suffolk Lane
    • Customise
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
    %d bloggers like this: