Erosion on the banks of Borrow Beck Footpath closed due to erosion, reads the notice. It's on the north-side of Borrow Beck and we'll walk the south-side. Two summer's since there were sand martins nesting in the bank of the beck but we find none today. Below Borrowdale Edge there's landslip and erosion and there's tree-planting to help stabilise the fell-side. During the morning, we meet a man who is monitoring the young trees. There are deer-fences and he tells of red deer and the damage they'll do to young trees. No sand martins but the day is memorable.
There's a chill wind and cloud, with interludes of sudden warmth and brightness. Borrow Beck runs fast and the track has deep puddles after a sequence of showery days. Water-tracks thread through the dale, down into Borrow Beck, and I like to discover the flora of these micro-habitats.
The ambience of the fells that surround us is delightful and focus ranges from the fells to the detail at our feet. We notice several nests where an insect, I assume a spider, has woven last-summer's seeded grass-stems together with filaments of spider silk. Single strands of silk reach out from the cocoon-like nest, down grass stems and out to anchor the nest between grass stems. I've often found such nests but have never seen a spider in the art of construction, dragging tall grass stems together. It's high function, practicality and fine art united. The last nest of this sequence is exquisite. The upper grass stem arcs over the nest, each seed-head tied-in to the cocoon. The anchoring strands of silk are visible and I like the shape and pattern of the nest. It's a natural sculpture. We make out dark flecks in the silk that could be insects, can't be sure. I wonder at what season the nest is made from grasses which the spider needs to be both strong and pliable.
Next day, I talked with a team of men reconstructing a stone wall built in Victorian times, a wall topped by a railing they needed to conserve. Did they have a detailed plan on how to do it, before they began, or did some aspects evolve as they worked- responding to what they found? It was all planned carefully beforehand, they said. So what about the spider? There must be a template for what makes a sound and enduring nest, a code of instructions. I look again at that final image where each grass seed in the encircling stem of grass is woven into the cocoon to make it secure. It's a wonder and a marvel.
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