Mole hills over Kendal Race Course If this image were not mine, if I had to date it, I'd say February. It's the beginning of the breeding season for moles and pastures are patterned with mole hills, those mounds of fine soil that mark the course of their tunnelling underground.
By mid-February there are snowdrops and daylight hours grow longer. Looking down over the trees fringing Nobles' Rest there are hazel catkins fully opened. Toward Scout Scar catkins bide their time and it will be some while before the first tree flowers show.
By mid-February there are snowdrops and daylight hours grow longer. Looking down over the trees fringing Nobles' Rest there are hazel catkins fully opened. Toward Scout Scar catkins bide their time and it will be some while before the first tree flowers show.
All week, there's been a chill east wind and it's bitterly cold up on Scout Scar, cold and exhilarating. It's a joy to be here, now that the Brigsteer Bridge is reopened. And today the Underbarrow Bridge reopens too. At last, at long last.
Small birds sing in the trees fringing The Ghyll, a robin and goldfinch. All is silent up on Scout Scar which is exposed to the wind and spring always comes later here.
Small birds sing in the trees fringing The Ghyll, a robin and goldfinch. All is silent up on Scout Scar which is exposed to the wind and spring always comes later here.
It's cold and a rather bleak winter scene but it's a joy to be here, to feel the rhythms and patterns of the seasons, to anticipate what is to come. There is no sign of the skylark but they'll return from the coast any time soon. And after a week or so there should be lark song.
16 February 2025
A walk to Helsington Church reminds me of all I've missed during eight months of bridge closure which made Scout Scar inaccessible. After that shock of denied access, I somehow feel the need to seize every day- in case it happens again.
All week there's been a biting east wind and it's penetrating. But wonderful to be here all the same. February is known as 'the hungry gap' when berries have long been eaten by birds and small mammals and food is scarce. There's a pair of raven, nothing else. Those adders proclaimed in the National Trust Notice will be hibernating. No sign of skylark but any day soon. I love the constantly changing light and the muted colours it discovers in the winter wood, below the escarpment. Yew grows on the cliff and shows in deep green against the limestone.
A walk to Helsington Church reminds me of all I've missed during eight months of bridge closure which made Scout Scar inaccessible. After that shock of denied access, I somehow feel the need to seize every day- in case it happens again.
All week there's been a biting east wind and it's penetrating. But wonderful to be here all the same. February is known as 'the hungry gap' when berries have long been eaten by birds and small mammals and food is scarce. There's a pair of raven, nothing else. Those adders proclaimed in the National Trust Notice will be hibernating. No sign of skylark but any day soon. I love the constantly changing light and the muted colours it discovers in the winter wood, below the escarpment. Yew grows on the cliff and shows in deep green against the limestone.
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