Sunday 20 March 2011

Along the riverside.








All the rivers in the Yorkshire Dales are rivers which flood easily. Water comes down from the fells in times of extreme weather and some of the rivers can rise as much as twenty feet in an hour. This afternoon we walked with Tess to where two of these rivers converge - the Ure and the Cover. It is one of my favourite walks as there is such a wealth of wild flowers.

As I suspected we were a little too early for most of the wild flowers. But the pussy willow was just coming into leaf, and we saw our first sprig of hawthorne (we used to call this bread and cheese when we were kids and used to eat the sprigs while they were young.)

Purple violets were blooming amongst the grass and small tuffets of butterburr were just beginning to push their strange flowers through the ground elder.

This land belongs to the Scrope (pronounced Scroop) family who have lived in Danby Hall for generations. I took a photograph of the distant hall and tried to include a flaming orange willow on the river bank - they are all over at present and look liked lanterns.

Both rivers are very low at present and the land is drying up nicely. The photograph shows the Cover as it is today and the stones show where it has brought down material when it is in flood. In the foreground the large stones have been put there to stop the bank eroding away.

From the bridge I spotted Mr and Mrs Duck bush in the water. They are there in the photograph somewhere, although whether you can see them or not I shall not know until I put the photo on my blog.

All among the stones pied wagtails worked busily, their tails tipping up and down making them easy to identify. The whole earth is waking up; there is a smell of Spring in the air and tomorrow it will be here. Here's wishing you all a Happy Spring Equinox.

12 comments:

Heather said...

It is a lovely time of year and we have so much to be thankful for in this country. I have never seen butterburr - it's lovely - but like you ate the new hawthorn leaves and called them bread and cheese. Your photos are beautiful - that is a lovely walk. I think the 'Scroop family from Danby Hall' sound as if they have stepped out of a Victorian melodrama!

Pondside said...

What a lovely walk that was. There is little in bloom here yet - we're a month behind this time last year. I'll enjoy your blossoms and then when they're done, I'll enjoy mine!

angryparsnip said...

I so agree with Ponside... What a lovely walk.

Have the chickens rewarded you with lovely eggs this morning for the fluffed up Hen House ?

cheers, parsnip

PurestGreen said...

Your leaves are a wee bit further ahead than ours! Looks a lovely spot for a walk.

Elizabeth said...

Ah!
An excellent Sunday walk!
Just what is good for the soul.
Greetings.

Penny said...

I lve yor phtos of Spring unfolding, as we head into autumn. I have a friend whose surname is Scroop,intresting how names and spellings change.

mrsnesbitt said...

Fantastic! Love living in yorkshire! xx

Dartford Warbler said...

Your hawthorn is further out than ours. I mix the new leaves in a green salad.

Jinksy said...

Thank goodness you told me that was a butter burr - I'd have had to do a major search, otherwise! LOL :)

Chris said...

I love those pictures! I wish I lived somewhere with such beauty. Not that Manhattan isn't beautiful; it is, in it's own way. But there's a peacefulness to nature that you don't often find in this city. Happy Spring to you too!

Totalfeckineejit said...

I swear I could see Hammy Hamster scuttling along the riverbank.
Lovely photos Weaver.
Those big old houses are such an anachronism and yet often very interesting and /or beautiful. Most of them were burned down here.They make lovely/ sad ruins.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I think we all ought to have a Blogland cyber picnic there in the summer - everyone contribute a recipe and bring a dish and we will all gather there to watch the sand martins and the kingfishers.
Thank you for the comment - and TFE I had completely forgotten about Hammy Hamster - thanks for reminding me.