Sunday 18 October 2009

Out to Sunday lunch.





































Going out to lunch on a Sunday and having to drive through Wensleydale to get there is no hardship. I thought I would try and capture the flavour of Autumn for you as I went, but really the weather had other ideas. At home, here on the East of the Pennines, it was clear and sunny, but as soon as we began to head West through the Dale the cloud began to thicken and come down from the tops, so that many of the hilltops were cloaked in heavy cloud.One of the major Sunday hazards in Wensleydale is the number of motor cyclists - there are usually a hundred or more all making for the little market town of Hawes. They are not young people, rather middle aged people who can suddenly afford powerful motorbikes; they are good drivers on the whole, but they tend to creep up on one and then surge past when there is an opportunity. Sadly two or three die in accidents every year around here. Today there were not too many about and the roads were quite empty apart from a smattering of caravan trailers being taken home for the Winter.
The hedges are beginning to turn golden and I tried to capture that Autumn feel without asking the farmer to stop. As always, when we got to Cotter Force (which I have featured many times on my blog) we stopped and walked up to the waterfall with Tess. And the first thing we noticed was that the many Rowan (Mountain Ash) trees had not lost a single berry. Our tree by the kitchen window had all the berries eaten by the blackbirds within a week of them being ripe. Here, every rowan tree is heavy with berries - what a feast for the fieldfares and redwings just beginning to make an appearance. The other thing I noticed on the walk was how nature can effortlessly make the most beautiful "works of art" - just take a look at the photograph above showing a fallen tree trunk with a fern growing at its foot and a sprig of blue-green nettle foliage in the bottom corner. What a beautiful combination.
We turned off out of Wensleydale towards Kirby Stephen. Here the trees were really beginning to show their Autumn colour. Then, by Pendragon castle, we were up on the common and hoping to see some of the wild horses who live up there. We were not disappointed. Scratching its rear end on a signpost was the most beautiful little foal. We stopped and opened the window of the car and he came close to investigate - what a treat.
We arrived at The Black Swan for our Sunday lunch - roast pork, apple sauce, roast potatoes and vegetables - doesn't it look inviting on the plate?
Then it was back over the common where the cloud had cleared enough for one photograph of Autumn leaves. Then as we came back through Wensleydale the cloud began to come down again. Two maple trees shone like beacons and behind them, where there should have been green rolling hills, just a blanket of cloud.
Home again in time for the farmer to watch the Grand Prix and, as neither of us feel like tea at the moment, time for me to post my blog.
If you like reading about Autumn, can I recommend an article in yesterday's Times (I am sure you can find it at Times on line) by Jeanette Winterson, called "A Season for Senses and the Soul" - I love her writing anyway but this piece is brilliant.
All aboard the Poetry Bus again tomorrow morning - wonder where we are going next week.

12 comments:

Paula RC said...

Glad you had a great lunch! Your word drew a wonderful picture of your landscape.

Thank you for sharing

Travis Erwin said...

I love fall.

Elizabeth said...

Ah!
Sunday lunch!

Heather said...

What a lovely drive that is Weaver, though I can imagine that if the weather does it's worst it could be a nightmare. I have just listened to the Countryfile forecast and it sounds as if we are going back to wet and windy by Tuesday. Oh well, we can't expect sunshine everyday. How nice to get home to your cosy sitting room and log burning stove. See you on the Poetry Bus - I had a change of heart.

steven said...

hello weaver - thanks for the lovely drive! i went after the article you recommended and for comment readers you might like to go here to read it: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6878493.ece
it's both lovely and funny at the same time. have a peaceful evening in the dale. steven

Totalfeckineejit said...

Before I die I will have a pint in The Black Swan.And if Pendragon castle doesn't sound exciting, then I don't know what does.(is it anthing to do with Cornwall? By Tre, Pol, Pen, you shall know cornish men?)Lovely horse, saw asimilar one near here and it had the most astonishing saphire blue eyes.The bus has a few passengers aboard already, YABBADABBA, not forgetting, DOOOOO!

Susan said...

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. I love the wild horses!!!

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

It looks like you had a very nice Sunday including your very tempting lunch.
Our weather has been very mixed, yesterday was beautiful with sunshine and today low cloud, a touch of winter weather.
Your countryside looks wonderful.

Pondside said...

I'm glad that my Sunday supper is spitting and wafting delicious smells from the oven, as the description of your lunch might otherwise have done me in! What a lovely afternoon you must have had. That foal is the 'icing on the cake'.

Midlife Roadtripper said...

This might sound odd, but I like the crunch the roast pork puts on the potatoes. Almost like caramel.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Glad you all liked the look of that lunch - and the dear little foal.
A note on Pendragon Castle - I did a blog on it a long time ago - it was one of the homes of Lady Anne Clifford - don't rightly know where the name comes from - maybe something to do with Uther Pendragon - but I don[t think there is a Corish connection (TFE)

Country Girl said...

I love seeing autumn through the eyes of so many different people all around this world. Your trip photos are lovely and I did enjoy that little foal.