Category: Nature

Ancient trees and the Spanish Armada

One of the loveliest things about visiting Croft Castle in Herefordshire is to see the many ancient trees planted there. Majestic chestnuts and oaks some going back hundreds of years.

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A story tells that sweet chestnuts were taken from captured Spanish ships and planted at Croft between 1580 and 1680. The avenue is said to represent the formal battle plan of the Spanish Armada with rows of chestnuts representing the Spanish ships and oaks the English. This was the original formal approach to the castle.

Continue reading Ancient trees and the Spanish Armada

autumnal colour

Ailsa is looking for intensity this week so what about this apple orchard inside the walled garden at Berrington Hall? There was a lot of vibrant colour there this week: the fiery reds and sulphuric yellows were in competition.

Berries
Spanish Flag
Mulberry leaves

I’m delighted to see so much colour around at this time of year. I shall soak it in to get me through the grey days of the coming winter.

little things in life

A fellow blogger and friend has been posting some images of spring in Australia including close-ups of moss starting to sprout. It prompted me to take my new macro lens down to the river where I knew moss grows abound and where I had seen some tiny fungi growing just the other day. Unfortunately it was quite dark by the river (it is flanked by a high cliff and trees on the one side) and moss isn’t as attractive in its latter stages, but I did find the fungi and a few interesting little things to photo. They are not the sharpest of images, but as I have mentioned over on the flower blog where you will find more macro images, I am happy to record my journey with the new camera with the hope that as time goes on I will improve!

We will start with this quite small leaf covered with tiny hairs on which there were beads of moisture – from the early morning fog I imagine.

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Next a look at some fungi – note that the puff ball ones are actually very, very small, probably the size of the nail on my little finger.

Then some moss – again with the droplets – ferns and a couple of flowers. I had not realised until now how much the spores on a fern look like tiny eggs.

Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes)
Herb Robert
Spores on harts tongue / Asplenium scolopendrium
Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens)
Moss with droplets
Spores
Moss

And finally one insect (there was a spider too but the quality of that shot is far too embarrassing to post here) a bright red-brown fly. If you click on him to enlarge the image you will see the hairs on his back.

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