Male linnet singing I heard the lovely song of linnet, just where I always find them. He sang high in an ash, by thick gorse and juniper. He was in full sunlight and through my binoculars I could see the crimson on his breast. My camera does not pick up the strong colour I saw, it's a question of how the light falls. A tiny bill and forked tail distinguish linnet, and his song.
Willow warbler are returned and I've heard them the last couple of days. Chiff chaff have been singing a while.
Willow warbler are returned and I've heard them the last couple of days. Chiff chaff have been singing a while.
On Helsgington Barrows, blue moor grass showed against the sky, growing in tussocks on anthills.
High on the ridge of Scout Scar I show heavenly cloudscapes.
High on the ridge of Scout Scar I show heavenly cloudscapes.
The desecration of Ghyll Brow
Ghyll Brow was a delight, a peaceful and secluded ghyll, a place to linger and listen to birdsong. The pastoral approach to Scout Scar with a wealth of wayside flowers. Now JCBs wreak havoc, gouging out shrubs and trees, flattening the ground to make an access road to a building site. Those of us who love the place mourn its desecration. We wonder if developers understand the complex hydrology of this limestone ghyll.
'Kendal is wrecked,' says a passer by who has lived here many years. 'Waste of time protesting, no-one listens.' He fears the infrastructure of the town, drains and sewers, will not cope. Others have voiced this concern, to no avail. This access road is being built right over the course of the ghyll to emerge at a dip in the Brigsteer Road where floodwater gathers after heavy rain. The problem is exacerbated when consultants and sub-contractors aren't local, have not been given the history of consultations prior to development. I asked John at Carlisle Traffic Management if he knew the Brigsteer Road and the history of consultation meetings. He did not.
There were consultation meetings back in 2013 where we locals asked for pedestrian safety to be put in place before roadworks began, a priority. This has not happened. I've asked repeatedly during spring 2021 and still nothing is being done to ensure pedestrian safety. We were told categorically that there would not be an access road from Brigsteer Road to the development south of Underbarrow Road, and here it is. All this should have been documented after consultation meetings but no-one has bothered to read it. Ghyll Heights I read the housng development is to be called. Pandemic Heights would be appropriate. The Heights of Pandemic Folly. JCBs reach out in a viral onslaught, destroying the life of the place. Builders appeal, for permission to build a further large development at Stainbank Green. Were that to happen there would be a second access road a little higher up the Brigsteer Road. Huge vehicles and increasing traffic on this road where I am told a 20 mph speed limit during building work cannot be introduced because it's a long process. They've had some eight years. And still no-one takes responsibility for pedestrian safety. It's a narrow country road, with no footpath and little room to create one. The wayside verges were full of wild flowers. I submitted species lists to the SLDC, the biodiversity of the wayside verge is a hot topic. It was disregarded because the ecologist brought in to Cumbria to look at such things was unwell and the meeting went ahead without her and was not minuted! So I must agree with the couple I met this morning. Democracy may give the opportunity to put your view but no one is listening. And the council has the audacity to promote Kendal as a Green town! What hypocrisy!.
Ghyll Brow was a delight, a peaceful and secluded ghyll, a place to linger and listen to birdsong. The pastoral approach to Scout Scar with a wealth of wayside flowers. Now JCBs wreak havoc, gouging out shrubs and trees, flattening the ground to make an access road to a building site. Those of us who love the place mourn its desecration. We wonder if developers understand the complex hydrology of this limestone ghyll.
'Kendal is wrecked,' says a passer by who has lived here many years. 'Waste of time protesting, no-one listens.' He fears the infrastructure of the town, drains and sewers, will not cope. Others have voiced this concern, to no avail. This access road is being built right over the course of the ghyll to emerge at a dip in the Brigsteer Road where floodwater gathers after heavy rain. The problem is exacerbated when consultants and sub-contractors aren't local, have not been given the history of consultations prior to development. I asked John at Carlisle Traffic Management if he knew the Brigsteer Road and the history of consultation meetings. He did not.
There were consultation meetings back in 2013 where we locals asked for pedestrian safety to be put in place before roadworks began, a priority. This has not happened. I've asked repeatedly during spring 2021 and still nothing is being done to ensure pedestrian safety. We were told categorically that there would not be an access road from Brigsteer Road to the development south of Underbarrow Road, and here it is. All this should have been documented after consultation meetings but no-one has bothered to read it. Ghyll Heights I read the housng development is to be called. Pandemic Heights would be appropriate. The Heights of Pandemic Folly. JCBs reach out in a viral onslaught, destroying the life of the place. Builders appeal, for permission to build a further large development at Stainbank Green. Were that to happen there would be a second access road a little higher up the Brigsteer Road. Huge vehicles and increasing traffic on this road where I am told a 20 mph speed limit during building work cannot be introduced because it's a long process. They've had some eight years. And still no-one takes responsibility for pedestrian safety. It's a narrow country road, with no footpath and little room to create one. The wayside verges were full of wild flowers. I submitted species lists to the SLDC, the biodiversity of the wayside verge is a hot topic. It was disregarded because the ecologist brought in to Cumbria to look at such things was unwell and the meeting went ahead without her and was not minuted! So I must agree with the couple I met this morning. Democracy may give the opportunity to put your view but no one is listening. And the council has the audacity to promote Kendal as a Green town! What hypocrisy!.
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