A Walk in Whinlatter Forest

Tags

bolete, butterfly, cat's-ear, Climbing Corydalis, common ragwort, Forestry Commission, Fox-and-cubs, fungus, heather, lady's-mantle, lichen, moss, pixie-cup lichen, ringlet, walking, Whinlatter Forest, wild flowers

Alice came to visit us on the last day of our holiday in the Lake District.  We met her off the train in Penrith at about 10.00 am and took her back to our rented cottage for a cup of tea.  After catching up with all her news we took her to Whinlatter Forest which we had visited briefly earlier in the week, as Elinor wanted to show it to her sister.

This is another Forestry Commission forest and is mainly planted with non-native trees.

Not only are there a number of tracks through the woods for walking and mountain biking but they also have segways for hire too.  There are trails designed to appeal to small children and zip wires and swinging on ropes for very active people.

We walked.

Whinlatter Forest

Alice is a fast walker so she and Richard went ahead.  I am forever on the lookout for interesting plants and insects and take lots of photos and Elinor can’t walk fast or far so we both kept together.

Alice and Richard waiting for Elinor and me.

Elinor liked this forest glade.

A Bolete fungus.  I cannot identify this one.

Looking at the underside of the toadstool.   The photo shows that Boletes do not have gills but spongy tissue with pores in. This fungus has been eaten by something.

Climbing Corydalis (Ceratocapnos claviculata)  Not a very good picture.

Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in bud with a faded Cat’s-ear (Hypochaeris radicata)

Lichen

Fox-and-cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca) with yellow Cat’s-ear

I believe this lichen is Cladonia pyxidata – Pixie-cup Lichen

You can see how small these little cups are by comparing them with the pine needles next to them.

This butterfly flew next to us for some way along a sunny track. I tried to photograph it countless times and this time thought I had managed it….

The reason I really wanted to get a photograph of it was that I thought it looked like a Ringlet butterfly but they usually have eye-spots on their wings.   I have since done some research and I believe it is likely to be a Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) as sometimes they are seen without eye-spots.  What is confusing is that all references to Ringlets state that they aren’t found in the north-west of England!  I am sending my inadequate photo to ukbutterflies.co.uk to see what they make of it.

Yet more moss!

Lady’s-mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris agg) behind more Fox-and-cubs

Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea)

View of the surrounding fells (hills)

This fell is Skiddaw

We returned to the carpark and went into the café and had a drink and a sandwich.  We took Alice back to our cottage for a while until it was time for her to catch her train to Sheffield.  We spent the rest of the day cleaning the cottage and packing for our journey  home the following day.

Thanks for visiting!

 

The Cumbrian Coast

Tags

coastline, Cockermouth, Crested Dog's-tail, holiday, Lake District, Perennial Rye-grass, R Cocker, R Derwent, Silloth, Solway Firth, Whinlatter Forest

We thought we might go to the coast as the weather was fine on the Tuesday of our holiday.  We by-passed Keswick and took the road to Maryport, a town on the coast.  Our road followed the western shore of Bassenthwaite Lake and then through the town of Cockermouth.  We drove to Maryport and then up the coast road to Silloth.  This map will show you the Lake District area, its main towns and will also show how close to Scotland it is.

Silloth church from the Green

We wandered round Silloth; it was very quiet and there wasn’t too much to see though it has some attractive buildings and the roads are wide and straight.  The area between the main road and the coast line had been made into a park some while ago and I read that it has recently had lottery funding to add to its amenities and refurbish existing ones.

You can tell how quiet it is by the grass growing in-between the cobbles

Looking north-west across the Solway Firth

We walked across the green towards the sea and climbed up to the Pagoda which is a shelter with a wonderful view.  It looked like the sun was shining in Scotland.

Looking north-east across the Solway Firth

Standing there, I was reminded of the lovely pictures I had seen taken from the opposite side of the Firth.  I was looking towards the land of the  ‘Tootlepedals’.  This is one of my favourite blogs; a daily insight into what it’s like to live in the Scottish Borders.  Interesting, funny and full of fabulous photos;  Mr T likes alliteration!

I found some Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) on the slope up to the Pagoda

They are delicate, azure-blue bells.

I even managed to photograph inside the flower bell

We decided to return to Cockermouth and have some lunch.

The River Derwent

Three famous men were born in or near Cockermouth and all were born within a few years of each other.  The first was Fletcher Christian (Mutiny on the Bounty) who was born a mile from Cockermouth in Eaglesfield in 1764.  The second was John Dalton, a brilliant scientist and the originator of the Atomic Theory.  He also was born in Eaglesfield in 1766.  The third was William Wordsworth, born in Cockermouth in 1770.

The River Derwent looking upstream.  The River Cocker joins the Derwent here and in the photo is coming in from the right.

In November 2009 both rivers broke their banks and the town was severely flooded.  The army was called in and assisted the townsfolk for three days until the water began to recede.  Most of the shops, pubs and restaurants in the town centre were wrecked and there was much destruction elsewhere.

Whinlatter Forest with views of the fells

On our way home we drove a different route over the pass at Whinlatter.  We called in at the forest visitor-centre and took a short walk in the forest.  As it is Forestry Commission land and the trees are non-native, there was not much wildlife to be seen.

A hoverfly on Crested Dog’s-tail (Cynosurus cristatus)

A good crop of cones

Perennial Rye-grass (Lolium perenne)

Thank’s for visiting!