Rudyard

 A short walk from the car park at the Leek and Rudyard Railway, following the railway line, gets you to Rudyard Lake.

From the first train stop, called The Dam, you can walk onwards at the side of the lake or turn left onto the bridge and down by the lake on the opposite side where there are visitor facilities.

We walked along by the railway.  Just us and a few dog walkers.  Well I say a few but each of the walkers seemed to have several dogs.

 It was quiet, sunny and for once quite warm.  There were several birds calling. 

We heard Chiff Chaff, Robins, Wrens, GreatTits and also a Nuthatch.

We spotted a Heron and also a swallow, swooping over the water.

We stopped for a while on the other side of the lake and sat outside with a coffee and shared a piece of banana bread.

 

 The lake was built by the Trent and Mersey Canal Company. under the guidance ofJohn Rennie, to supply water to the Caldon branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal.  It was begun in 1797 and completed in 1800.  It still supplies water to the canal system it was designed for. It is now owned by the Canal and River Trust.

 It was here that Rudyard Kipling's parents, John Lockwood Kipling and Alice MacDonald met.  Here is more about the Kipling connection.

Writer George Orwell visited Rudyard Lake between the two world wars when he was researching for his book The Road to Wigan Pier.  He didn't think much of it. 

'Not a soul anywhere and bitter wind blowing. All the broken ice had been blowing up to the South end and the waves were rocking it up and down making a clank-clank, clank-clank.  The most melancholic noise I ever heard.'

Thank goodness we had bright, Spring sunshine for our walk.  Next time, if the train is running, we may take it to the other end of the lake.

All for now.

Castles and Dragons

We've been into Wales, just for a short break.  It only rained once and that was during the night.  We could feel the air gradually warming up as the wind dropped and each day got a little brighter.

A few photos below of some of the sights we've seen.  I'll be back with more about some of the places later.

Ruithin -  Post box topper

Denbigh Castle

Rhuddlan Castle

Twithill ancient castle mound or motte just behind the 'newer' castle in Rhuddlan.

 

Sculpture in Rhuddlan by Mike Owens

 

Rhuddlan Nature Reserve.  Sculptures by Mike Owens

 

RSPB Conwy - refreshing tea after a walk around some of the site.

 

Rhyl -taken from near the Lifeboat Station.

 

St Asaph Cathedral

 

When I got back to writing here I found loads of comments from way back had been put in spam. I've gradually reinstated them.  Some of them were my own replies to comments.  I see from reading other blogs that some of you are having the same problem. All very strange.

I'll be back with more on Rhuddlan Castle later this week.

Blogtober - Day Fifteen

It was raining first thing this morning but it soon cleared and a watery sun appeared.  We drove down into town and parked near the library from where it is just a short walk to the doctor's surgery.  As we were going for flu jabs I didn't take a camera but wished I had as all the trees down the street were showing autumnal colour and the street was covered in orange coloured leaves, still crisp and dry even though it had rained.

We had expected a queue but we went straight in and registered and someone was waiting to give me my jab we were out again in less than five minutes.  I'm quite pleased about that.  My arm is just a little sore and itchy as I type this but I expect this won't last long.

As we drive around now there are signs of Autumn everywhere.  Below are a few things spotted recently on walks not all Autumnal of course.

 

It's so good to get out and about into green areas and spot wildlife and even in the city we don't have to go far to find it.  

This and That

I've found my Mum and Dad on the 1921 Census available on Find My Past. I've just realised that makes me sound very old and perhaps I am at 71 (a month away from 72) although I don't feel it, well perhaps I have just a little recently. I was a late baby for them.  My father was born in 1909 and my mother in 1916.  My father would have been a young child of 5 or 6 when WWI broke out and my mother was born in the middle year of the conflict.  Two world wars in their lifetime.

On Ancestry UK they have refined and advanced DNA results so that we are now able to see which parent may have given us our genetic background.

As you can see from the above I have 85% Western Europe - English East Midlands and Potteries,  8% Scotland, 3% Sweden and Denmark, 2% Norway and 2% Wales in my genetic make up.

A new feature of the DNA survey is the breakdown of the ethnicity inherited from each parent. 

From this they can determine which parent gave you which regions in their genes if you know of ancestors from these regions.  I know I have a 3 x great grandfather from Scotland on my mother's side so I think parent one in the diagram above is my mother.  I find it all quite fascinating.

Talking of the Potteries, where we have lived for around twenty five years, I read in a recent copy of 'Amateur Gardening' magazine that this year Stoke-on-Trent is one of the top five 'wildlife rich' cities in the UK. How wonderful.  The others are Bristol, Leicester, Reading and Edinburgh. The data is from the National Biodiversity Network Atlas.  

Also in Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley Park in the city centre has been given a Green Flag Award since its refurbishment over the last few years.  We visited the park a couple of weeks ago to see the changes and I took a few photos. 

It was a very hot Saturday morning so we didn't linger out in the open for too long choosing to head back into the cool of the trees.

The Pavilion which now houses a popular cafe.

The Bandstand and behind it the bridge over the Caldon Canal.  The Caldon Canal meets with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Etruria near the Industrial Museum.  You can walk from the park up the canal towpath to the Museum.

Flower borders along the Terrace.

More details - here - about the award.

 
I've been reading quite a lot recently.  I've listed them on the blog pages above.  My last read was another Bill Slider novel by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.  I enjoy these as they are always amusing as well as interesting.  I've also found a couple of interesting new series of books.  A series called The Kipper Cottage Mysteries set in Whitby by Jan Durham which are classed a 'cosy' mysteries on the library website.  I've also read the first three of a series set in coastal Lincolnshire by Jack Cartwright.  A little further south in Lincolnshire is where Joy Ellis sets her novels and I've just read the latest of her Matt Ballard series.

A Muder of Crows by Sarah Yarwood Lovett is the first of a new series feauturing ecologist Dr Nell Ward.  These are also classed as 'cosy' mysteries.

I have five books reserved at the library 'Serpent's Point' by Kate Ellis, 'Godmersham Park' by Gill Hornby, 'Thrown' by Sara Cox, 'Murder before Evensong' by The Rev Richard Coles and 'The Ink Black Heart' by Robert Galbraith.

I can see by the number of people waiting for each book which one will be available first.  I'll let you know.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

The Lovell Quinta Arboretum

The Lovell Quinta Arboretum can be found in the village of Swettenham which is about four miles off the road which runs between Congleton and the village of Homes Chapel in Cheshire.

There is a very large car park behind the church at the Swettenham Arms and the gate through to the Arboretum is easily found off the car park.  You pay the entrance fee into an honesty box near the gate.

The arboretum was founded by Sir Bernard Lovell who is best known for his work on radar and for his telescope at nearby Jodrell Bank which can be seen for miles around.  He bought the land in 1948 and worked on building up the collection of trees and plants throughout the 1950s. In 1996 it passed into the hands of the Cheshire Wildlife Trust and in 2003 it was passed on to the Tatton Garden Society.

There are currently two thousand five hundred trees at the site including national collections of both Pine and Ash.  There are also displays of snowdrop, daffodil and crocus in Spring.

It was dry but hazy with that feeling of rain not being very far away as we arrived at the arboretum.

There are some interesting and unusual trees and most are labelled.
Above a Goat Horn Tree from Western China

Some of the colourful shrubs which we had just missed being at their best.

Conifer -I loved the fluffy spikiness of this one.

Sorbus

Laburnum

One of the paths through the woods

I loved the light on the oak leaves

A view across the flood plain of the River Dane which rises in the Peak District and wends its way through Holmes Chapel to join the River Weaver at Northwich.

At this side of the arboretum is a gate through to the Quinta Nature Reserve which a mixture of wetland, woodland and grassland. We didn't have time to explore on this visit but intend to return to see more. This part is still administered by the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

The nature reserve runs at the side of the field above with trees on the opposite side of the path.

Acer - Snake Bark Maple

It was quite magical under the trees but it had started to rain.  Soft and gentle drops at first turning to more persistent sploshes as we decided that perhaps we should return to the car park.

You can see how heavy it was from the splashes in the pond which is surrounded by ancient trees including two old oaks both over three hundred years old whose holey branches are home to birds, bats, beetles and spiders.  The lake was created by the family of Sir Bernard Lovell close to the family home The Quinta. 

The Swamp Cypress has its own island on the pond.
 

It was lovely to see the place in the final days of Spring and  we will hopefully return in Autumn.