War on Nature

Blacka is being managed as agricultural land, in accordance with Unnatural England's drearily mind-numbing and prescriptive Landscape Character Assessments;  so we don't expect to see many wild flowers happily enjoying the summer. For that we need to walk along the edges of roads, putting aside tranquillity and risking death. Along the A625 go quarry vehicles exporting the fabric of the Peak District in the direction of the M1, much to the approval of those members of the National Park Board who like to see economic value in the land. The verges are often picturesque in their way. Another repository of nature friendly wildlife is found to the west of the track bordering Blacka fenced and walled off to prevent too much nature spreading onto the moor.

There are parts yet which the bovine anti-nature storm troops have not yet found and converted to something brown. They will eventually we can be sure. The variety of plants may be unexceptional compared to elsewhere but they have their beauty. Tormentil (above) and Bedstraw seem to be better than most at resisting annihilation.

And the grasses that have grown taller are now in their prime having benefited from the late start to the cow-invasion. It's not simply the lack of other flowers that highlights their appeal. They each display special characteristics, sedges too.

 

Needless to say you won't find them anywhere near here:

You're more likely to see this:

And there's more than a hundred acres of sheep enclosure claiming nature reserve status too, even more prescriptively denied any natural freedom. One has to conclude that the essential role of the sheep is to promote a habitat suitable for thistles.