Royal Progress

May is queen of months. Up here one measure of its progress is by the appearance of flowers. We've had the whites of wood sorrel and wood anemone, followed by violets and the spectacle of bluebells in the woods. We enter a new stage with the arrival en masse of cotton grass before yet more whites take over in succession with rowan and then hawthorn crowns the month with May's very own blossom. Compared to the strikingly exotic rainbow effects seen now in suburban gardens it may be fairly tame stuff but there's a purity in the restrained and, yes, 'naturalness', of unmanaged land which lifts the spirits without straining the senses.

Cotton grass is interesting. It's not that long ago that people were telling me that it was a problem. In those days it had not become as widespread as now and many like what they're used to. The heather on the moors, boring as it seems to me, is for them them a link to their childhood and that of their parents. Any invasion however natural takes some effort to adjust to.

But the big decision makers in the conservation businesses seem to have decided that cotton grass is 'a good thing'. That may be a reaction to those of us who have complained of the 11 month visual boredom of the moors. The species-ism of the professionals is amusing. Now they are planting the stuff on the high moors as a 'restoration' project.

So where is naturalness in all this?

Up on Blacka Hill is a section of the heather moor that has now become white all over. Some may think this pretty. But this is not an urban park with mass plantings of annuals. It's the result of an unfortunate decision to cut the heather with farm machinery presumably to provide grazing for cows. It's not remotely natural. More like a white stain on a dark tee shirt.

Down near the bog is an area that is not exactly natural but at least it's been preserved from farm machinery. The cotton grass here blends in with its surroundings. There's a lot that could be questioned about this area but the spread of the cotton grass does look more natural.