We went for a walk on Saturday afternoon. A particular favourite at this time of the year is Ewbank Scar, a beautiful area of woodland with a carpet of Blue bells and Wild Garlic. I last went up there around 3 weeks ago and there was not a sign of a Blue bell bud, just the leaves. Yesterday however there were Blue bells, and not only them for we spotted a few Orchids and primroses. The Garlic sadly is still in bud only, I am keeping a close eye on the garlic in my garden at the moment and once its in flower I am off back to the Scar, I just know there is going to be a magnificent display this year, not only visual but aroma too.
As it was such a lovely day we decided to continue the walk up to Nine Standards. I always remember the first time i walk to them in 1998 when i was doing the coast to coast walk. It was a miserable day in August, wet, windy and foggy and we were literally 5 yards from them before we saw the stone piles. Not yesterday though, such magnificent views all the way up. I always complain because the spacing of the piles of stones is quite wide and any photograph taken on the way up is mundane, to fit them all in you have to use a wide-angle lens, and then you can hardly see them in the frame. And when you are right by them there is only one spot to stand to get them all, and I have taken that shot many times before. We decided to continue the walk to Rollinson and Haggs and downward to Nateby and a pint a the New Inn. Leaving the summit at 5pm we set off – never attempt this without a map – we didn’t take one because we know the route we had planned, the extension was not planned and we got horribly disoriented as we bog trotted to the Haggs needless to say the trip to Nateby and the New Inn will have to be saved for another day!!!
Finally we got off the hill close to 8pm, weary from clambering across tussocks navigating around peat bog – just got back in time for fish and chips at the Coast to Coast and a well earned beer at home.
The next picture is of 9 standards from to topograph.
ARP Journal 