From the Pennine Bridleway looking toward Wharfe Wood 'We are part of the web, not the pinnacle of it,’ writes Robert McFarlane in his book Is a River Alive?
Flights of swallows and blue sky with a scatter of bright white cumulous with never a hint of rain. They’ll fly low, catching insects over sheep pastures from dawn to dusk. Elaine’s tea-room is the social hub at Feizor, and it’s a joy to be here, once again, in the company of swallows. We share their summer residence for a few hours..
Flights of swallows and blue sky with a scatter of bright white cumulous with never a hint of rain. They’ll fly low, catching insects over sheep pastures from dawn to dusk. Elaine’s tea-room is the social hub at Feizor, and it’s a joy to be here, once again, in the company of swallows. We share their summer residence for a few hours..
Is a river alive, does it have rights? And what of trees? This week, two men who felled the sycamore of Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall are found guilty and await a custodial sentence. They are being held in custody ‘for their own protection.’ Underpinning that righteous anger in response to the crime perhaps there's a recognition of our interdependence with Nature. If so, Government seems deaf to it.
McFarlane observes the effect of a summer of drought on a river. And today we see Nature visibly under stress because there has been no rain since early April.
From Feizor, the track climbs to Wharfe Wood where we look toward Pen Y Ghent. The unusually warm dry spring has brought on flora but the bluebells still look good. On previous visits we’ve seen an abundance of early purple orchid but today there are few. On the higher ground limestone is close to the surface and cowslips exposed to strong sun wilt in the bud, and frazzle. Not 'cowslips tall' on slender stems but dwarf and ground-hugging. It’s difficult to capture on camera the intense colour of bluebells en masse, especially when the sun blazes colour to nothing. But it’s May and trees are freshly in leaf and bluebell, primrose and cowslip fare better where they have shade..
Our leader, Chris, prompts us to consider the history of management in Wharfe Wood and Oxenber Wood, and in the surrounding farm land Descending through Oxenber Wood, we come upon a lovely mix of fresh green bracken fronds, bluebells and the white flowers of pignut. Then we’re out of the wood, crossing pastures and onto Hale Lane, an ancient lane linking Austwick and Feizor, a section of the Pennine Bridgleway. Cat Hole barn lies along the route which is bounded by an old mossy wall. There's a different flora along the way; Herb Paris of ancient woodland, sweet woodruff, crosswort, shining cranesbill, ramsons and vetches various. There has been coppicing of trees and some ancients have been wrought into shape to help form the boundary. From the lane there are vistas north toward the woods where we saw wall brown, speckled wood, orange-tip and whites. Approaching Feizor, beside the beck, there’s green alkanet and a mass of Jack by the hedge, garlic mustard- a favourite of orange-tip butterflies. Here there are green-veined whites.
From Feizor, the track climbs to Wharfe Wood where we look toward Pen Y Ghent. The unusually warm dry spring has brought on flora but the bluebells still look good. On previous visits we’ve seen an abundance of early purple orchid but today there are few. On the higher ground limestone is close to the surface and cowslips exposed to strong sun wilt in the bud, and frazzle. Not 'cowslips tall' on slender stems but dwarf and ground-hugging. It’s difficult to capture on camera the intense colour of bluebells en masse, especially when the sun blazes colour to nothing. But it’s May and trees are freshly in leaf and bluebell, primrose and cowslip fare better where they have shade..
Our leader, Chris, prompts us to consider the history of management in Wharfe Wood and Oxenber Wood, and in the surrounding farm land Descending through Oxenber Wood, we come upon a lovely mix of fresh green bracken fronds, bluebells and the white flowers of pignut. Then we’re out of the wood, crossing pastures and onto Hale Lane, an ancient lane linking Austwick and Feizor, a section of the Pennine Bridgleway. Cat Hole barn lies along the route which is bounded by an old mossy wall. There's a different flora along the way; Herb Paris of ancient woodland, sweet woodruff, crosswort, shining cranesbill, ramsons and vetches various. There has been coppicing of trees and some ancients have been wrought into shape to help form the boundary. From the lane there are vistas north toward the woods where we saw wall brown, speckled wood, orange-tip and whites. Approaching Feizor, beside the beck, there’s green alkanet and a mass of Jack by the hedge, garlic mustard- a favourite of orange-tip butterflies. Here there are green-veined whites.
Each spring is unique so if you enter Feizor in the search facility you'll find blogs from other years, each with a slightly different focus. There's always a subtext and today's is coloured by Radio 4 readings by McFarlane from his new book. By the questions he raises and the coincidence of a resolution to the Sycamore Gap 'mindless vandalism.'
Our leader Chris reminds me that Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she 'wants to speed things up, making a presumption in favour of building.' So she said in January 2025. Forget bats and newts, build.
What about rivers and trees Chancellor? Two years ago, hereabouts, Story Homes felled entire wildlife corridors, hundreds of trees. The local Council seem powerless to hold them to account.
If the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap creates such an outcry why are we passive in the face of such unreasoned and unjustified destruction of habitat, the felling of countless trees?
Dichotomy here. Is a river alive? Do trees and rivers have rights? A presumption in favour of saving the planet for future generations might be a good move.
Meanwhile, Feizor and the Yorkshire Dales National Park is beautiful and swallows over Elaine's tea-room remind us we a part of a web of life.
Our leader Chris reminds me that Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she 'wants to speed things up, making a presumption in favour of building.' So she said in January 2025. Forget bats and newts, build.
What about rivers and trees Chancellor? Two years ago, hereabouts, Story Homes felled entire wildlife corridors, hundreds of trees. The local Council seem powerless to hold them to account.
If the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap creates such an outcry why are we passive in the face of such unreasoned and unjustified destruction of habitat, the felling of countless trees?
Dichotomy here. Is a river alive? Do trees and rivers have rights? A presumption in favour of saving the planet for future generations might be a good move.
Meanwhile, Feizor and the Yorkshire Dales National Park is beautiful and swallows over Elaine's tea-room remind us we a part of a web of life.
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