Too Straight

Whenever man intervenes in views be they landscapes or skyscapes he has to leave behind him straight lines in some form or another. Perhaps we should blame the Romans with their roads. As well as the vapour trails overhead Blacka has to contend with an intrusive power line and the unmentionable b****d w*re. But then it's the mission of many humans including SWT's Director to "improve on nature".

Even the pictures which litter these posts are bounded by the tyranny of straight lines. Curves are nearly always preferable.

In The Woods

Beech besieged by birch.

What was mid afternoon a few weeks ago becomes early evening now, so without any bright sun to penetrate even three thirty can feel gloomy.

A Shocking Waste

The accident on Saturday which killed two young sisters on Hathersage Road should cause many people to feel guilty. Every fatality and serious injury on our roads is the result of a failure on the part of the Highways Authority and just as much on the part of those whose duty it is to hold them to account. Yes of course individual responsibility for how we behave and how we drive is paramount. But anyone who has driven along that section of the A625 around Blacka Moor knows how dangerous is that bend. I cannot remember a time when the wall opposite the Piper House car park has not been broken down in one part or another from recent collisions.

In most areas of the country this stretch would have had signs in place years ago warning motorists to reduce speeds because of the hazard. I personally cannot believe that speeds over 40 mph are suitable anywhere along this road. Yet it retains only the national speed limit. A scandal and a tragic one.

A favourite path newly characterised by frost.

Managing Cold Fingers

The first ice of the season on the higher and more exposed (and windy) sections rather than the sheltered spots. Gloves are necessary but inconvenient when you want to use the camera to record something like this charming stonechat on the dying bracken and small birch.


Another reason for resisting the temptation to buy a more advanced camera. I can't do with carrying bulky packages. I'm a walker who takes snaps, and will never become a photographer. Still it would be good to get a really fine picture of birds like this.

Deer and Managers

In SWT’s first management plan for Blacka Moor the existence of red deer was not even acknowledged!

They were occasional visitors to the site even then but unknown to the trust and the majority of visitors. But since then the deer have established themselves as not just regular visitors but as a permanent presence and numbers have increased year on year. Their influence on the site’s vegetation is also increasing and will continue to do so. They browse on the low vegetation including birch and they occupy the bracken stands in ways that the cattle are unwilling to do.

They are there throughout the year and have started to breed on the site, at least one fawn having been born here this year. They are looked on by local people as their own wild animals however much SWT goes on about “Beautiful Beasts of Blacka” in various publications – meaning the cattle!!!

The astonishing admission from a 'wildlife' trust is that they don’t think that deer will do ‘the job’ properly. In other words deer don’t obey orders and conform to the management plan; more evidence if it was needed of the impoverished imagination of the trust. They seem incapable of the imaginative thought which means that wildness does not always give you just what you demand; in fact that’s almost a definition of it. But then what can you expect of those who want always to be ‘in control’?

Close Ups

I find I'm usually looking towards the middle distance when walking on Blacka Moor. This is to do with the qualities in the landscape and the chance to see red deer and other wildlife.

Down at one's feet and also sideways can be rewarding.

In fact it pays to look more than once at any view on Blacka.................

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More Spun Gold

The much maligned birch coming into its own on a bed of the even more maligned bracken. For those who have eyes.......................