'I never loved England more than when covered in snow'

Christmas in Grassington: deep snow dealt with effectively but with a certain amount of grumbling.

Looking down Main Street the day we got there. There were several more inches of snow to come.

Icicles galore - these are on Chapel Street where we were staying. These older houses are quite difficult to insulate so the heating was warming the snow on the roofs, and the water was trickling down and making the icicles.


Isolated farm above Grassington: we did short walks from the town rather than travel, but there are so many lanes and paths around that it's possible to do a week's worth of walks without too much overlap. And it all seemed a lot more exciting in the snow!

The River Wharf below Grassington.

Linton.

View from above Grassington. The trails of footprints are rabbits.

It's good to get a different view of the world: as well as seeing where the rabbits run, the snow highlighted the ancient field patterns of Wharfdale, hinting at a very different landscape.

Title courtesy of Laura Marling, from 'Goodbye England covered in Snow'.

Brussels Spouts

A bit of a cheaty title as one is from Leuven! But irrestistable, as is Jeanneke Pis, who was created by Denis-Adrien Debrouvrie allegedly under the instigation of Belgian feminists in the 1980s. It's a shame she has to be behind a cage up a blind alley (called the Impass de la Fidelite or Fidelity Alley)...
My search for websites featuring Jeanneke turned up this one, with another little-known peeing statue (as well as the well-known one... )

Over in Leuven The 'Fountain of Wisdom' seems wonderfully ironic for a city which has the largest and oldest university on the low countries. Or maybe I'm just cynial about education!

Brussels

Half-term holiday and a trip on Eurostar to Brussels. Stayed at an 'apart-hotel' for a change as it meant we didn't have to eat out so much, the exchange rate not being what it was. But we treated ourselves to a couple of meals out, both at places which cater excellently for veggies, and which we remembered with fondness from our last trip - Dolma and Cafe Novo.

Saw lots of great art and architecture, but what captured my imagination the most were the Art Nouveau houses which we spent a lot of time searching out, and the art which we came across by accident in the streets.

Part of Oxfam's campaign for an agreement on climate change at Copenhagen. Signed the petition, had an interesting chat with one of the campaigners. One artist created all these miniature refugee shelters, which are travelling Europe this autumn.

Not sure what this is making a statement about - street trees maybe? A surprise anyway.

Pretend cracks in the walls, and drifts of Cosmos instead of builder's rubble. Not the usual building site! (In Ghent).

Also in Ghent, this is apparently another effort to raise the plight of the world's poorer people in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.

It's a real tree, and somebody has cleverly painted an extra branch on the wall behind.

Art Nouveau houses next post!

A Derbyshire Walk

Bradbourne All Saints. A largely Norman church, some Saxon remnants round the back, and the cross shaft in the foreground is Saxon too. More info here.

The eroded but still beautiful tower doorway. The shapes around the outer arch were once beakheads.

The church also has a fine corbel table.

It's a fascinating churchyard, with many old and unusual gravestones, such as the circular one at the left. A fine view also.

Wigber Low, a barrow used from Neolithic to Anglo-Saxon times.

Near Parwich.

Garden Diary: September

Isn't it funny - all that fuss about 'what happened to the promised barbeque summer' but hardly anything about what a lovely September it's been. John Humphrys has even been complaining that it's been too dry. It's true, the sunny weather has caught me out a few times, but overall for someone who works outside a lot, it's been great.

The garden doesn't look bad either.

Tagetes blooming at last, having survived slug depredations. Sorrel in too great an amount for even our salad-eating habits. I will have to give some away. Oregano also allowed to flower, for the sake of the bees and hoverflies. Plastic yoghurt pots turned in slug-proofing for winter salad mustards.

Part of the potato crop - Pink Fir Apple. Very tasty, but not a prolific potato at the best of times. I've been slightly disappointed about my potatoes, and will try old compost sacks turned inside out next year, with better compost.

From the front: sunflower, Achocha, and runner beans. The Achocha (the 'Lost Fruit of the Incas') has only recently flowered so I'm not sure whether it will get enough sun to fruit. Lovely leaves though.

The main garden looking lovely and lush, with white Japanese anemones and tomatillos.

Our apple tree doing what it does best: producing more huge apples than we can ever eat, on branches which droop down and make hanging out the washing a limbo job.

Finally, indoors are three 'Ring of Fire' chillies. It's the first time in 25 years that I've grown chillies; the last time was at university and resulted in a mini-riot.

Bottesford and Stamford

A pleasant day in a town which epitomises much of what is lovely about England. History, architecture, local shops, tea and scones.

First an accidental visit to Bottesford and its glorious church chock full of old tombs with carvings of people with very solid ruffs and rows of children like tiny adults. There are also some interesting late medieval carvings including this one, possibly one of the deadly sins.



Below, two of the four Stamford churches we explored: St. John's Church: a grinning hand rest and an angel roof, and St. Mary's: a glimpse of the lovely arts and crafts chapel ceiling. More information about both churches here.

3 nature reserves, 3 art galleries

Wednesday last, my class for the day having been cancelled and it being a nice day, I headed off on my bike in search of late summer flowers and a few art galleries too.

First stop was the Stables at Wollaton Hall. I used to come and talk to the police horses here back in the 70s, now it's a cafe, gift shop and art gallery. The gallery has a wildlife and animal theme, and this time it was Pollyanna Pickering: hyper(un)realistic paintings of animals and landscapes. Not my thing at all.

Over Derby Road to Nottingham University and a large area of grassland surrounded by halls which is called the Downs. If you want to feel dizzy watch this. Anyway, it's a nice acid grass land and has some slightly startling Great Burnet, below, as well as the yellow composite Smooth Hawksbeard, Yarrow, Common Sorrel, Common Knapweed, Catsear and Lady's Bedstraw. (Aren't common names lovely? Latin names are good too, but I've slipped more and more towards the English ones over the years. You can tell a plant I learnt at University if the Latin name comes into my head first!)

Then on to the Djanogly Art Gallery in the University grounds which had some interesting works in its open exhibition. I particularly liked some paintings of demolition but failed to find out who they were by of where they were of as you had to pay 50p for a sheets of artists and titles.

Over University Boulevard to the Science Park, past one of the most hideous buildings which has gone up in Nottingham over the last few years. At the other side survives Dunkirk Pond and Beeston Sidings, below. Here I found many plants found on limestone grassland; Greater and Lesser Knapweed, Wild Mignonette, Haresfoot Clover, Wild Carrot, Marjoram and Bladder Campion, as well as plants of wasteland such as Evening Primrose and Rosebay Willowherb. Not a restful place: there is a metal recycling works over the railway line which grinds and rumbles loudly.

Next, along cycle tracks to Kings Meadow, a tiny gem amid remnant industry and new offices. I spotted some Yellow-wort immediately - a favourite plant of mine I first saw on a site in the middle of Sunderland in the '80's. Lots of other familiar plants and another yellow composite which got me searching my flora: Narrow-leaved Hawkweed. I'm trying to work harder on yellow composites - and I do know they are now called Asteraceae!

It was a hot mid-afternoon, so I headed back north through Lenton and Hyson Green where I popped into the New Art Exchange, originally for a cuppa but I ended up going round the exhibition instead. It was about modern-day slavery, so a thought-provoking and rather sombre end to the trip. There were some rather beautiful pictures of elderly Japanese women who had been 'comfort women' in the Second World War: the artist had chosen to record their strength and resiliance rather than their tears.

Knowing ones onions

Whitemoor Allotments Show, 22 August. We (Nottingham Organic Gardeners' community allotment crew) entered 6 categories, and were delighted to win three prizes. I was especially pleased as I'd volunteered to choose the produce we entered, and I'd 'dressed' the onions. I can't claim to have done much to grow them, though I did plant them back in the spring. Nature did most of the work!

Garden Diary: August

So, July got missed out due to having fun cycling round the West Country in the rain, and the sun. Never mind, here's the container corner, probably too crammed with plants. Air circulation could help a little to prevent disease. And sadly, disease there is - blight, like everyone else. I've just had to get rid of some of the tomatoes in the picture below. As you know, potato blight affects tomatoes too, being in the same family, and in a way it's worse. With potatoes - if you catch the blight early - you can cut off the haulms (stems) and compost them, so the potatoes can just stay in the soil till you need them. If you let the blight progress, the potatoes get horrible and slimy and stinky and inedible. Unlike the poor Irish in the potato famine, we have many different varieties to choose which have varying resistance to blight. However, my pot potatoes are King Edward, not resistant, and Pink Fir Apple, not very resistant. So far they look OK, but I'll be keeping a good eye on them.

The tomatoes are another story - once they get it there isn't much you can do except collect the fruit and make green tomato chutney. The Tumbling Toms in the hanging baskets look OK for the moment but are strange dwarfed things, and with the baskets being rather shallow, they suffer water stress very easily - NOT good for tomatoes. Can I claim to be doing it all wrong so you don't?


The Gardener's Delight in the mini-greenhouse frame at the back look OK too - they are in the best place and the biggest pots and are in a shallow tray which catches rain so have had consistent water. The courgette just in front is progressing fine too - for a container plant. I'm not making excuses, but growing food crops in containers can be much more difficult than in the open soil.
Talking of which: here's the little plot. All change here - been have been abandoned and I have got the leeks in, better late than never. The untidy leaves in the middle are sorrel, a tasty and easy addition to salad. The onions are small but tasty.

And below is the main garden - abundant, I think you'll agree? It's going to be another good year for apples - once a biennial bearer, now our apple tree seems to be more consistent year on year. Maybe I am doing some thing right!

Summer Holiday

'On Me Bike' came back from her summer holiday at the end of last week. Two weeks cycling through Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, camping mostly, and catching up with friends and relations. Two days torrential rain, three days some rain, the rest of the time a mixture of quick showers, sun and cloud. Actually not bad!

Mainly following the West Country Way section of Sustrans National Cycle Route 3, stopping after a 'moving-on' day to explore the local area.

Here's some pics. Charlestown, near St. Austell, where I camped for three nights while visiting the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Roadsign above Bodmin, in the rain.

Camel Estuary, from the Camel Trail.

Lane in North Cornwall.

Wind-sculpted tree near Coombe Valley, north of Bude.

Lane in North Devon (I had just crossed the infant River Tamar!)

Duckpool. (Yes, this is what this was signposted as...)

From the Tarka Trail over to Appledore.

Hill farm above Barnstaple, on the way to the campsite on an organic farm that I was staying at.

On the top of the world on Exmoor, looking over to Dartmoor in the rain, after a morning pushing the bike uphill!