Stubborn and Selfish

More and more incidents of biking on Blacka – not bridleway biking which is allowed but on public footpaths and even informal routes. I’ve mentioned the mindset of some of these bikers before. The one I spoke to this morning (the second time) is not without an element of rationality but when all’s said and done you know there’s an attitude that can be summed up as ‘I want to do this so that’s just hard luck! I know there’s an impact on paths but I can live with that. Anyway everything has an impact.’
I can only assume he’s typical. The eventual result is not hard to predict. The dire destruction on tracks like the Devil’s Elbow route will be replicated on each of the narrow paths across Blacka, with wide, rutted surfaces spreading uncontrolled across the route, bad enough when dry but an utterly unpleasant mess when wet. One MTBer once told me as he stopped for me on a narrow footpath that he rode on these paths because he refused to go down the Devil’s Elbow bridleway – it was such a mess. He looked on it as the landowners job to arrange to have it improve, claiming he and fellow MTBers would help. Hmmm.


Those of us who have used these paths over many years, during which they remained unchanged, despair at the sheer bloody mindedness of these attitudes. The prospect is utterly dispiriting. Those actually responsible are in fact irresponsible - those who should be accountable but shrug their shoulders - the wildlife trust, who themselves create erosion on paths so are shy of criticising others, and the various officers in council departments and on committees reluctant to discuss the problem.


The way it starts - how long before this becomes just another sodden rutted bike track?

Getting Sweeter

Already we have purple bilberry in pickable numbers. I don't think they are yet as sweet as they could be so will not be harvesting for a while. The risk is that others can't wait and the favourite spot you thought you were keeping for yourself has been picked over by the time they're ready. Thrushes don't wait and may eat them before they are purple. Wood pigeons are also greedy; they ravaged my garden redcurrants when still green.

Odd Perspective

Instinctively I expect to see land becoming more wild as we go up. To see the valleys and slopes around them as well kept and domesticated and then as you get higher and more remote man's influence should become less pronounced. So this photo turns this round and I see it as odd. There's not much in it with the sheep at the top then the cattle and the deer slightly lower but it sort of touches on an issue about the remote exploitation of the hills.

Rarely Praised

Many of the most common wild plants don’t get a moment of glory. The early spring flowers like coltsfoot, wood sorrel and wood anemone have the stage largely to themselves in March and April and capture attention after winter months without flowers; even people who show little interest in wild plants are quick to enjoy them.
If bedstraw or sorrel appeared in March they might get similar appreciation. But then part of the appeal of these plants in June is the combination with other species in the unplanned arrangements of the wayside.
Sorrel and fern, tall grasses against an old wall and bedstraw mingling with bracken are all part of the mix in June but it’s more than likely that something more spectacular will come to mind in December when hankering for milder days.

Farmification and the Lookerers

Cow-lovers will be celebrating the return of cattle to Blacka. For these people no area of our landscape should escape the process of farmification.
What are the charactersistics that the farmification enthusiasts (sometimes known as 'Lookerers') look out for when appraising the landscape? A few to be going on with, each one spotted scores points. 'Farmification Lookerer' score sheets are available from your local wildlife trust:


1 Fences, long stretches and conspicuous, preferably of barbed wire but other styles are acceptable. (though not too many stiles.)
2 Access arrangements associated with the above - gates should not be too convenient or well sited and should always present some kind of challenge. This all gives the vital message that the countryside is no easy-going outing for idle townies and their wives, dogs and children.
3 Plenty of mud around gates and other access points to remind visitors that this is a place of work with all that goes with it.
4 The animals themselves usually with that delightfully gormless facial expression characteristic of farm livestock and utterly lacking the wariness and quick intelligence of wildlife. Bonuses for sheep and especially lambs with splashes of dye across their backs. Numerals in red yellow or blue have now become standard for the progressive and aesthetically-conscious livestock manager.



5 Er, shit - plenty of it - cow pats, splatters, soggy puddles of the stuff, plentifully inhabited by those charming yellow flies that live on it, all tastefully decorating the paths which are the cows' preferred dropping zones. Wildlife, such as deer for example, are such a disappointment in this respect and very rarely drop on paths.



6 As an addition to the previous point, the pervading smell of farm animals and the aroma of urine that wafts enticingly in the breeze, something that is quite absent on a boring natural site with its disquieting and unreal sense of freshness.
7 Vehicle tracks across the land showing good evidence that heavy machinery, much loved by the farming industry has been around. Without tracks like this people might get the idea that modern farmers can walk in the way they used to in days gone by.
8 Farm accessories such as aluminium hurdles placed in areas of high visibility again to remind visitors such as 'townies' that this is a working environment and farming is a serious industry.
9 Plenty of evidence of farm litter such as black plasic and cast-off bags of ruminant feed and plastic buckets of animal lick.
10 Extensive areas of well chewed grass with just the odd manky creeping thistle or a group of nettles still remaining illustrating the need to avoid sentimental appeal to lovers of wild flowers and other pansies.
11 As a concession to towny visitors who mostly work in offices, plentiful notices on A4 laminated sheets telling them what great job the livestock are doing in the landscape and an even better job by the local wildlife trust. Oh and also more similar sheets telling us not to go too near the animals for H&S reasons.



12 A really good farmification site will provide opportunities to see sheep and lambs enjoying the stresses that go with their difficult but essential role in helping to manage our countryside. Evidence that they have been lying in their own excrement is a good example of this. They may have scab or mite infestation identified by fleece peeling from their backs. Or they may be lame. Seeing these will score extra credit points for farmification lookerers. If you're fortunate you may even see the occasional dead animal. A few old bones and even a substantial skeleton are all possible. These give a unique perspective to the reality of a life on the land as it is today and will show that this is modern farming where there is no place for old fashioned sentimentality.
13 Finally there is one feature that will not be seen on the site, but is still important: all that behind the scenes paperwork that is the real serious business of farmification and, alongside it, its essential measure of worth: the cheques for Single Farm Payment or Environmental Stewardship or Higher Level Stewardship. Without these the ignorant public might get the idea that the farmification is not worth going in for.

Singing Lesson

The garden warbler is one of the most accomplished singers and he's been around a lot this spring making any visit worthwhile.
I had not previously known that he was giving lessons.

On the Farm

No doubt that the presence of cattle (and sheep) completely changes the character of a place. The absence of any livestock for most of last year and some of this has given us a break during which we enjoyed the unreal expectation that this was how it might be for the future. And why should we not feel that -after all it's the natural thing. Incidentally I now remember that in 2009 cattle did come on the moor though it was not until July after we had been told April. The notices in 2009, mentioned in the post Being Bothered, were put up early and then many weeks went past with no cattle appearing. The same complaint applies for notices staying in place well beyond the time when livestock have been removed. Similar misleading notices have been left around on gates on the grazing enclosure relating to cattle staying there for months on end. The whole thing is a farce and comparable with the worst highway cone examples. But what can we expect from those who care for the place about as much as a highway maintenance firm does for a stretch of motorway?



The present notices tell us on the heading that 'Highland cattle are now grazing the heathland of Blacka'. This skates close to inaccuracy another of SWT's traits. There are 16 of the beasts, 3 are highlands, and the others are a mixed bunch including some crosses highland/shorthorn. The point about having highlands was certainly that they would have visual appeal for some visitors, especially those who had not had the fortune to see the red deer in the landscape. And they took the opportunity then to try to 'sell' the idea in this way to local people. I like the use of the word 'heathland' which I always take to be land covered with heather, although I know people define heathland in other ways. My observation in previous years has been that the cattle very rarely go into large stands of heather but spend lots of time a) on the paths, and b) anywhere that's grassy. In this they are quite different to deer who can often be found in heather and also in dense, tall bracken and have no particular preference for footpaths.
The mention of build up of nutrients always fascinates me not being an ecologist. It's as if we are being told that there is something almost polluting about grasses being left to grow uneaten by livestock. That's the kind of messy explanation you get into when you try to justify the perpetuation of an artificial landscape.