Post 90 05/05/2017 - Exploring the South and Eastern Edges

It was a lovely morning on Friday 5th May with fantastic light and I was making my way around a loop that would take me out to the South and East edges of the estate.

I was actually working on a survey I carry out annually recording the condition of all external furniture in the Park; this extends through stiles, gates, signage, footbridges, steps, rails and, believe it or not, more; in all approaching 600 items. Each item is checked over, GPS recorded and photographed and items such as spring closures and whether and how gates are locked are all noted. Any concerns are reported to the professional team to review and initiate action if deemed necessary.

My only camera available for general photo's was my phone so the quality is way below when I was patrolling and blogging regularly but I hope you enjoy this selection showing some of the varied textures around the Park.

Passing behind the Gardens the House looking grand the other side of Reflection Lake

Ewes with their young lambs bleating loudly and echoing around Calves Crof

Heading into Knightslow Wood;

I love Beech woods at this time of year with a bright overhead sun lighting up the vivid lime green of the young freshly bursting leaves.

That green :)

Heading West along the bottom of Park Moor looking up to the summits.

Approaching Middle Moor Wall, the sightline is out across the Cheshire Plain.

The lower hills as the Pennines fade into the Plain are covered in brilliant flaming yellow Gorse

View back into the Park with Paddock Cottage catching the sun on the ridge, Drinkwater Meadow centre and Knightlsow Wood to right.

Supposed to be a selfie with the wonderful views in the background. I need a shave!

Having reached the first summit along the Southern boundary this is the view along the boundary wall towards Derbyshire. The white gable end on Bowstonegate Farm can be seen right of centre which, when the sun is low, can be seen from large areas of NE Cheshire.

The remains of Stag House

Stag House is marked on OS maps and for many years I was puzzled that I had never seen any building in that area. A few years ago I located it finally - anti-climax warning!

another look East, this time from Stag House

The string brown dots left and below centre are a group the of red deer from the Moor Herd 

 

Now passed Bowstones on the SE boundary looking North toward Disley:

Cage Hill in the sun - The Cage is just left of centre in shot. Lantern Wood to right.

Looking back along the high boundary I have just walked.

Derbyshire Hills now in view: Kinder Plateau to right and Lantern Pike centre. 

Using the definition of 'Greater than 2000ft', Kinder Scout is our local Mountain

As flow of the terrain changes, the House comes into sight way below

Entering Lantern Wood; this path is always pretty meandering among the young pines.

Being at the top of the wood a lot of light spills in in spite of the canopy with the result that the woodland floor is full of life.

I always connect Wood Sorrell with the Beech leaves seen earlier; at this time of year the vivid apple green of the leaves lights up the floor and the white bell flowers bounce about in the breeze.

 

Next time you pass some Wood Sorrel, rub a leaf between your fingers and smell the wonderful fresh green apple flavour.

another shot of the lovely path through the top of Lantern Wood

and here's where Lantern Wood gets its name - The Lantern

 

 

Walling Report

I have explained that the regular blog ceased when I moved from Patrolling to the Drystone Walling team. After more than a year with the team, I finally feel that I am getting to grips with it. There are many frustrating days but the previous day to this walk had been a very satisfying day which I though I'd share.

A 'nip' had appeared on the wall between the Eastern Moor and Hampers Wood. A section of the skin on the wood side had collapsed and the outer skin was hanging in there 'on a wing and a prayer'.
Peter and I went out to try and effect a repair in the one day. A shove of the outer skin took it down and we set about removing more stones until we reached stable material. This left us with a large 'U' in the wall which we set about rebuilding.
It soon became evident that we had insufficient stone as a lot had degraded and the wall either side took a lot of repacking to restore its strength. This forced me to build to the last stone I had regardless of shape, which was a good exercise. Having both exhausted our stone we set about walking along the wall in both directions looking for waste from previous repairs and fortunately found enough odd stones to complete the repair. There are a few stones that we would have liked lower down that went higher up due to when we found them but compared to the original wall it looked good..

I could have been overawed by working on my own side of the wall but Peter the other side is a great support to work with. The experienced wallers help you build your confidence whilst at the same time helping you identify and correct weaknesses.

We finished the job and I was able to look back very content with my work, especially the 'built to last stone' aspect; I had successfully placed a lot of stones which given the choice I would have previously designated unusable.

My side.

I'm still improving. I can see a couple of close to running joints which I don't like but it's all locked and weight bearing and there's no front pinning. Wish I'd found that big one at the top earlier.

Regardless of the slope, we build using horizontal lines as a sight guide. I don't think the people who built the original wall at the bottom here did. Interesting waves.

 

Looking at the wall at the left you can see the stone isn't exactly 'brick' shaped

Heading back to the Stables contented after a good day, these trees on the ridge heading up Cage Hill deliver wonderful varied silhouettes against all sorts of skies in all seasons.

Today's is a spring fluffy green against a blue sky.

Today's Track and Profile

 

 

 

 Total: 5.00 miles

 

This Time Previous Years

2016 Week 88 04/05/2016 - Workplaces, Spooked Deer and Springtime

2015 Week 67 13/05/2015 - Blue Skies and Bluebells

2014 Week 23 14/05/14 - Sunny, Green and Clear

Week 66 06/05/2015 - Brief and Late but WIth Promise

Photo Blog Week 66 - Wed 06 May 2015

Miserable weather again meant that the camera had a limited outing.  I'm really looking forward to a nice day when I'm in on patrol on a Wednesday as the Park is coming alive with wild flowers, especially the bluebells which are going to be amazing in a few days time. I have had a couple of weeks of giving prospective new Volunteer Rangers a tour and that involves a lot of chatting and stopping to take random pictures is not conducive to maintaining a flow conversation. I have almost finished the Survey project I've been working on which has also distracted me so, hopefully, normal service will resume shortly.
Apologies for late publishing, I have had a lot of pulls on my time in the past week.

Bluebell Sites

The best bluebell sites are along Westpark drive below Pursefield, Crow Wood (beyond the Playscape) and Elmerhurst Wood. If those names make no sense, pick up an A4 whole park map free at Admissions, Information or in the Cafe.

A grey Kinder Plateau. 

Notice the herd of red deer to right of picture.

Heading up toward The Cage

This tree snapped by the wind clearly shows the power involved

Outside the Park

Parts of the boundary of the Park are virtually inaccessible. Two of these are the southern end of Elmerhurst and the extension of Crow Wood. To cast an eye over these fence sections and check for gates I walked outside the Park through farmland leaving at the north end of Elmerhurst Wood and re-entering over the ladder stile at Four Winds.

Lots of lambs on farmland adjacent to the Park

Mr & Mrs Duck with their first pond. You have to start small.

Looking across the Cheshire Plain to the Welsh Hills in the far distance

Red Deer Stags with this year's antlers developing.

The stags look rather ungainly at this time of year. Most have lost last year's antlers now and some, like these three, already have considerable new growth. Long from the rut, muscle tone and bulk is low and coats are shedding and tatty. These three are quite large and mature but it is difficult to see them as the magnificent beasts they will be again by October.

Highland cattle on the Eastern Moor. 

Big, menacing but very placid. Just pass calmly and chat to them if you feel nervous.

Rain pattering on the surface of Reflection Lake - no reflection.

North Face of the House from near the Stables Building

Knotty Lime trees on the way up from the Car Park to the House.

The shapes comes from coppicing in the past.

Eagle post top by North Face

Cuckoo Spit

Very pretty, unfortunately named

The old larder by the orangery share as a design feature used in Austrian villages. The house or store is on legs with mushrooms at the top preventing climbing animals from gaining access.

Today's track and profile

total: 7.8 miles (12.6 km)  6 hr 45 min

This Time Last Year

Have a look at This Time Last Year  

Week 22 07/05/14 - Bluebells to Velvet

Week 65 29/04/2015 - Spring Continues and Lambs arrive

Photo Blog Week 65 - Wed 29 April 2015

I've been in the Park several times this week as I am still working on the survey I mentioned last week but I tried to remember to take photos of more than gates and sign posts on Wednesday.
A day of varied weather.

The Park vegitation has a half-way feel about it with some trees covered in abundant fresh green leaves whilst others are barely past the bud stage into leaf burst. The grasses in the lower meandows are bright green and lush whilst on the higher moorland areas, the tan colour of long winter grasses is only just fading as a tinge of green pushes thyrough.

Wild flowers are appearing like jewels of colour on the woodland floors with Wood Sorrel and Lesser Celandine delivering white and yellow and along Westparkgate Drive and in Crow Wood a carpet of Bluebells is on its way.

Group of trees on Turfhouse Meadow silhouetted against a bright sky at 08:45

The high part of the Moor and top of Lantern Wood appear over the trees

Reflections in the pond on Turfhouse

Crossing through onto the Moor I was greeted by some of the new residents

(soft ould things the lot of them, just chat to them as you amble by)

The lower grasses of the moor changing from tan to green

This 'Lunky' hole is in regular use going by the track passing through it

Larch with young needles sometimes looks like misty water falling through the air

Brilliant Gorse coming into flower

Oak Apples? No actually. 

These are Oak Marble Galls, the Oak Apple Gall is larger and differs in colour and location on the host tree. Both are however the left overs from a type of wasp larvae, the eggs having been laid into a bud.

Common Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)

I love this plant at this time of year. Growing in clusters on the woodland floor among the mosses, the leaves are an incredible luminescent green when the sun catches them and the white flowers sometimes with pink streaks are beautifully delicate. The trefoil leaves fold themselves up like little tents.

Try rubbing a leaf between your fingers and smell - Fresh Green Apple.

Manchester in the sunshine. 

People frequently express amazement at how close the City looks to be and yet how far away it feels with the surroundings of the Park.

South face of the House from the angle originally intended as first sight for a visitor to Lyme.

The high hedge at the side of the Car Park would not have been there so the lower view would have been the Italianate gardens below the walls.

Car Parking Improvements

The Park had to close several times early this year due to car parking capacity being exceeded. The snow and rains had left the grass overflow parkinhg areas soggy and unusable which was a major problem when the good weather suddenly arrived and visitors flooded in.
As well as evening out the main parking area, other improvements have been made which should help maintain the capacity to accept visitors when the ground is wet.

This new high tensile matting on the grass areas of the car park should make it usable for more of the year when weather has been wet. The grass will grow through the matting. This has also been laid on the Equestian field over-flow car parking area.

Another enabler for increased capacity is marked bays. Cars tended to park with massive gaps or diagonally which greatly reduced capacity. The material is recycled plastic waste so they will not degrade as wood would.

Work continues on resurrecting the Nursery Plots which will produce food and flowers for the house.

New Antlers

A few Stags still have last years antlers but most are now cast and this years growth is already obvious

This large stag already has significant growth and the soft 'velvet' protective covering can be seen clearly here.

Deer antlers are bone and grow with blood vessels and nerves before closing off and hardening when fully grown. A broken antler in the growth stage has the capacity to be fatal.

The Lantern

The Cage and Manchester viewed through the side window of The Lantern

The view from the doorway of The Lantern looks across the pond in Turfhouse Meadow to the House.

If you visit the house, notice the tree which has a corner cut out of it to maintain the view of The Lantern. This trimming extends back to when the Legh family owned the property.

Rear-Side of The Lantern

path through Lantern Wood in dappled sunshine

Approaching the summit of Lantern Wood, grey clouds gathering

View over the western boundary wall to the high Kinder Plateau.

If you subscribe to the greater than 2000ft definition, then you are looking at a Mountain as Kinder Scout at the right of the ridge reaches 2088ft.

Contrast: Beetham Tower (Hilton Hotel) and The Cage

The House benefiting from a gap in the clouds

Rain Cells could be seen all over the place and this one seemed to be heading my way.

I missed the worst, just catching the edge of it but that was accompanied by freezing blustery wind and fine hail battering my face. Not nice and a reminder that even though we are close to the city, the weather up on the moors needs respect and appropriate clothing.

Mr Blue Sky over Sponds Hill...

(apologies to Jeff Lynne and ELO)

... and looking the other way hail filled squalls continue reducing visibility

Fungi Fest'

Fallow Deer grazing on the spring grass

Sight line through Knightslow Wood continuing from the Lime Avenue.

This sight line goes through to the location of the ruin of Stag House high on the Moor. Only the foundations remain.

Spring Lambs

This year's lambs in Drinkwater Meadow are stocky little things.

The lambs are usually more curious and less 'skitty' than their mothers ...

... but this year's adults seem more easy going than usual not jumping and running away in mad panic when you approach.

I'm hiding, you can't see me.

Darcy's Pool looking less uninviting than in recent months.

Location of Darcy's Pool

If you or anyone you know are intending seeing Darcy's Pool (above) where the BBC Pride and Prejudice filming of the wet shirted Colin Firth took place, note that it is incorrectly labelled on most of the maps and leaflets distributed at Lyme Park.

It is in the far corner of Drinkwater Meadow next to two oaks and behind a slight embankment which means you don't see it until you get there.

Try to get hold of the A4 printed whole park map usually available at the Admissions Hut, Information and in the Timber Yard Cafe. 

Locate 'Drinkwater Meadow' and the pool is in the far corner from the Car Park.

Cluse Hay greening up nicely

Nature's Artwork: Sun lighting up layers of  young translucent Beech leaves.

Tall Tree

Young Ferns uncurling as they grow

Contrasting copper coloured leaves on the floor and new bright green on the trees in the old quarry in Knightslow Wood

And as I finish for the day, the sun comes out on the Timber Yard.

The Timber Yard houses a Cafe, Outdoor Picnic area, Shop, Plant sales and Toilet facilities.

Today's track and profile

total: 8.3 miles (13.4 km)  6 hr 00 min

This Time Last Year

Have a look at This Time Last Year  

Week 21 30/04/14 - Boundary, Bluebells, Red Deer, Butterflies, Birds and Lambs