Not Over Yet

To hear some people speak you would think that it will all now be plain sailing and mild inoffensive weather. But it's only April and Easter itself gets more snow than Christmas.

The new waterfall vista has now become a fine feature of the Terrace Walk. I emphasise 'walk'. No riders - whatever they're on. Now roll on the removal of the power line. Then we can really believe that somebody cares about the place.

Sightseers

The sightline for the waterfall going down to Blacka Dyke worked well this morning. This follows a suggestion that SWT's chain saw operators take some time off from felling that we don't like and help visitors see one of Blacka's more spectacular views; this involved the removal of a fallen tree and some others. To see it at its best you have to be prepared to brave some poor weather and muddy paths. But there's a chance that heavy spring rain followed by bright sunshine could bring it to life even better.

Snow on the highest parts and a stiff north west wind meant stags kept to the shelter of the north woods for most of the day.

Changes

After weeks of slow progress towards spring there's now some movement. No coltsfoot yet but curlews have been flying over for a week now and yesterday there were chiff chaffs at the edge of the woods. Blackbird, song thrush and mistle thrush were singing away gustily.

On the debit side an increase in litter can almost certainly be put down to mountain bikers. When I mentioned this before the blog was subjected to an orchestrated campaign of abuse from MTBers. They divided into mainly two groups. One comprised those who knew little vocabulary outside 4 letter words. The other was frankly in denial, claiming that all who ride mountain bikes are like themselves who only used special drinks containers so MTBers could not possibly be responsible. These latter people are a menace because they have persuaded themselves that everybody who has chosen their particular form of activity behaves exactly like them. Their indignation became increasingly hysterical after my post was copied onto their message board by one biker. What was fascinating was that this biker has his own website on which he had himself been complaining of other bikers leaving drinks containers on one of his favourite routes!!

But the biggest problem here is SWT who refuse to do anything about the appalling damage done by MTBers to the route from Devil's Elbow to Shorts Lane. Some regular walkers on Blacka are now starting to talk about banning bikes from Blacka altogether. Not fair on the responsible ones of course, but what do they suggest?

Regrettably I've had to restrict comments to those who are willing to identify themselves. Who is to blame for this? Well, MTBers of course.

Bloated?

With the budget happening today there's been much comment about when cutbacks in public spending will come. Will they be immediately after the election or somewhat later, and what exactly will be cut? So from the point of view of conservationists this may be a sensitive time for me to raise again the question that's puzzled me for several years now.

Why is it that Blacka became the wonderful place that it did at a time when little or no management took place ? The grouse moor section evolved from a dull predictable heather dominated landscape into something vibrant and intriguing with groups of trees and diverse vistas invigorated by an influx of native wildlife such as songbirds and deer.

But since the new century and the interest taken by conservationists in the place there's been little or no improvement. I would argue in some respects it has got distinctly worse. And during these ten years the number of publicly funded agencies that have been involved writing reports and attending meetings and handling grant applications has been truly astonishing.

I have tried to compile a list of the organisations involved but have the feeling I've left several out:

Sheffield City Council,
Sheffield Wildlife Trust,
Peak District National Park Authority,
Natural England,
DEFRA,
Charity Commission,
Rural Payments Agency,
Heritage Lottery Fund,
Forestry Commission,

I should add, as always, certain arms of the European Union and also the largest bird charity RSPB.

As I said the mind boggling thing is that you will struggle to point out any improvement in the fabric of the place that reflects this massive involvement. And the most significant , emblematic and positive development during this time happened with no input from any of these agencies quangos and bureaucracies, nor any mention in a management plan.

Yet one thing you can be sure of:

those organisations whose existence depends on justifying their actions will be spinning and exaggerating the results of any projects or initiatives at their work stations. I know that many of the people who work for agencies in the above list are very decent and well-meaning (there are also some stinkers), but they are drawn into the culture very easily and one cannot be sentimental when faced with nonsense on this scale.

Spring Could Be Here

Even so there was ice on the puddles. Residents with weight distribution problems around the head were looking as if something was not quite right, leading to a gingerly manouevre when settling down into the bracken straw.

It must be satisfying after a cold night to allow even the muted sunlight to get to your back while you watch your breath floating before you.

A Mega Rip-Off

The pasture land on Blacka referred to in a recent post is as artificial as the grouse moors yet government money is paid to keep it free of trees by grazing it with sheep and cattle. So how does this square with Natural England's position of wanting 25% upland tree cover - currently only about 10% ? Various grants are paid through Single Farm Payment by the Rural Payments Agency and also stewardship schemes. Anyone trying to get to the bottom of the way money is passed around by public bodies to get desired results that are suddenly found to be not quite so desirable is likely pretty quickly to become seriously and giddily confused. The muddle and botching of the administration of this scheme grow worse as more is revealed. Why do they try to stop trees growing? Apparently because the SSSI designation mentions its importance for 'upland breeding birds'. Yet it's never been 'important' for these birds. But, they say, if it's managed properly it would be. Isn't that true of many places ? So why not let nature decide ? All comes from a decision taken ten years ago to tack Blacka onto a list of numerous other sites which were becoming SSSIs. Some of them may have have been deemed important for these reasons with rather more justification so Blacka gets the label by association. This allows various groups and individuals to claim grants and subsidies that the public can hardly afford in order to manage the land according to criteria of dubious relevance.

One Down One To Go

They were a bit touchy and quick to be disturbed in the woods, six of them. Once over the wall they made their way towards the Hollow, some faster than others.

One looked distinctly odd as if an antler was just about due to drop, all difficult to see through branches. When seen less than a minute later he was three pounds or so lighter making his way up the hill. I searched for ten minutes, certain I would find the antler. But no luck.

When last seen they were spread out lying down on a north facing slope. The wind at that time was brisk and from the south.