After a stunning couple of days inland, I’ve finally got time to sit down and catch up on paperwork, and blogging…
Saturday dawned bright and clear. By breakfast time it was already incredibly sunny and warm. Ideal for a wander through some of the hidden woodlands of our inland areas. Large clearings within plantations were carpeted with cottongrass. Under a brilliant yellow sun, and with a cool breeze blowing, the tufted heads at the end of each stem were like a raft of candles floating on a green sea. Buzzards soared overhead, chiffchaffs sang from dense stands of spruce and, out on the moorland edges, Black Grouse wheezed and cooed at each other. Birdwatching in a Northumberland woodland is sometimes hard work, but with the trees alive with birdsong, sheltered glades filled with (Red) squirrel-nibbled pine cones and woodland rides carpeted with sphagnum moss, heather and bog-rosemary, the cares of the world just melt away.
Sunday saw us concentrating on Upper Teesdale. Black Grouse were there again but the artic-alpine flora was our focus for the day. Mountain Pansies and Common Dog Violets were everywhere that the eye could see. I’ve yet to take anyone to Upper Teesdale who wasn’t amazed at just how small these flowers are. Then, a real speciality of the area, Bird’s-eye Primrose Primula farinosa. The striking pink flowers formed a narrow ribbon across the fellside, paralleling the line of a small stream. Spring Sandwort Minuartia verna could be found around the bare areas amongst the grassland, but we were still searching for the real prize. Then, as we looked over another swathe of pansies, a stunning blue caught my eye. Spring Gentian Gentiana verna; a plant of alpine meadow and moorland in central and southeastern Europe, and only found in Upper Teesdale in mainland Britain. In the blazing sunshine, the flowers were wide open and we found four separate plants – which is twice as many as I found in 2008. The blue of the gentians is indescribable; search for it on Google Images and you’ll get an idea, but to actually see it in real life, under a clear blue sky, in hot spring sunshine with a warm breeze blowing from the southeast, really can’t be bettered.