Unfavourably Red

It's maybe only in land condemned as unfavourable by the controllers of landscape that we get such surprises. But I can't think of anywhere else where this red effect dominates as it does here in the first days of September.

Rowan has grown unchecked by grazing livestock, has enjoyed the opportunity to spread as it wishes and rewards us with creamy blossom in May and red berries in late summer.

This is not a permanent feature, just a stage on the way to something else. It could be called overgrown or unmanaged by those who only value natural life to the extent that it has been influenced and managed by man. The gorge of Blacka Dike is full of it and seems as close to wildness as we can hope for in this country - and is wonderful.