A Butterfly Walk to Kelham

I had a terribly lazy day yesterday, brought on by grey windy weather, but I did manage to get out for a good late run when it was too dark to show you anything.

Today, therefore, was marked by a long walk on a much nicer day to see what I could find you. So I headed out to Kelham again.

The thing that struck me the most was how overgrown the verges were, full of corncockle, ox eye daisy, wild carrot, groundsel, thistle and in particular knapweed. Long may the council not bother to mow them.

This in turn attracted many species of butterfly. On wk walk today I saw:

Red admiral
Ringlet
Meadow brown
Small skipper
Small tortoiseshell
Large white
Small white
Green veined white

A decent haul, I'm sure you'll agree.

Another beautiful, if very sad sight, was a dead yellowhammer on the pavement, possibly after being hit by a vehicle.

I feel that today has been a much better day!

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.06.20

Goddess Mario Kart

Out to Kelham this afternoon, for a look at the hall, and to see what flowers are growing there at this time of the year. It's famous for snowdrops in Winter, but I'd never really looked at a different time of the year before.

There weren't actually all that many flowers; however there was a Greek goddess wearing a Super Mario cap for reasons that aren't totally clear. I don't know if it is an important element of ensuring a fruitful harvest; if it is I hope it works.

Perhaps it helps her collect magic mushrooms and power ups when out an about in a chariot.

It was a good two hour walk, lots of life fluttering about the hawthorn hedgerows, mainly whites and orange tips. When I found my way onto a dusty farm track, small tortoiseshells and peacocks were out drinking up the sun. Most of these species by now are in a very tatty condition, but hopefully they have done their job and managed to breed for the July second flight.

I listened to music, no-where near anyone at time, still wondering how you can enjoy a walk in the middle of an apocalypse.

The fact is, you have to try.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 06.05.20

Around the Villages by Bike

After a wet, miserable day yesterday where there was barely any light to take a photograph all day, today was rather better and despite quite a fresh wind I was determined to get out on the bike and have a bit of a ride around.

I say determined, this wasn't quite the reality. I like riding my old mountain bike, but some days I'm a bit nervous about it - Will I puncture? Will any of the roads be dangerous? Will I get rained on and end up like a drowned rat with an annoyingly wet backside?

I decided I would be OK, and headed out in the opposite direction from normal, out to Kelham and the villages to the north of Newark. There are some narrow roads and some nasty blind corners, but I took it easy, taking in the views of the lowering sun and the  power station, the hills around Kelham and the various churches on my route.

I only did 20km, but you take in the villages of Kelham, Little Carlton, Bathley, and North and South Muskham on this route, and there's stuff to see all the way along; folk like to have cute summer houses in their gardens in these villages, and there are birds to see; fieldfare in the hawthorns, crows in the fields, and an echelon of big waterfowl overhead; no idea what these were and my photo will not help identification!

I had a look at North Muskham Lake, where a cormorant was doing its pterodactyl wing drying thing out on a raft in the middle of the water, and compared those waters to the sterile building site that are the waters of the former sailing club.

I hate what the fishing club done to that place.

Si

All text and images copyright 02.12.18

The Muddy Road to Kelham

After an aborted start in the morning, I set out on a walk to Kelham just to see what I might see. And frankly, to give you people something relatively new to see.

My poor cricket club is suffering a bit from the wet weather - there are standing water pools on the outfield - and the Trent is very high making me nervous about flooding. Our ground drowns in flood conditions as the water table is so high. My route took me past the club, then over some very very boggy meadows that left my new black walking boots rather brown in colour!

I would have taken in a game of rugby if there was one in progress, but there wasn't. They were all being forced to do boring training by the looks of things.

The walk to Kelham I think highlights one of the problems of the immediate area, and Nottinghamshire in general. It is rather boring, and isn't very pretty. The land is mainly flat and boringly agricultural, and usually very muddy. The footpaths are short cuts across mud between boring things. The main stand outs in the landscape are industrial ones.

Kelham at least is an attractive village, although today I wish that cafe that seemingly used to exist did so. I took photographs, wandered around, then made a mistake by heading for home along the muddiest path imaginable. It only led to the sugar factory as well.

Birds were hiding from the wind today, but I did encounter a lovely charm of goldfinches in a hedgerow, the hazy sun making their gold wing bars really glint as they skittered along as I flushed them.

Tomorrow, another walk awaits. But where?

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 30.12.17

Bicycling Misadventures

Well, today was every bit as gorgeous as I was expecting it to be, and I was determined not to waste it. I'd pumped up my tyres last night in anticipation of going out for a longish cycle, with perhaps a sketching interlude.

It didn't really work out that way.

I'd barely got 2 miles when going over the top of the new cycle path bridge I noticed there was a fair bit of broken glass on it. I thought I'd missed it, but on the way down I heard a horrible flapping noise, and eliminating the thought it was my shirt, I knew I'd punctured.

Yes I've supposedly got self sealing Decathlon inner tubes, but most of the pink gloop had been splattered on my frame rather than stopping the leak.

But I was prepared! For the first time ever.

I tried to pump the tyre back up with my new mini pump, but a hissing leak like a hurricane indicated I was going to have to change the inner. Did I have a new inner? I did indeed.

I also had tire levers, and allen keys. For the first time ever, I was going to attempt to fix my bike on the road.

As ever, it took a lot of heaving, cursing, mess and general physical incompetence, but I managed it! I did it! I was so proud of this nothing task, I even took a picture of it.

I couldn't pump the tires up much with a mini pump, but it was enough to get me back home, where I pumped the damn thing up fully and set off again.

I rode off to Kelham, and flushed with the weather and my rare success, I tried to go up the steepest climb in the area. I hammered up the lower bit, then really had to drop through the gears, and change down onto the middle ring and burn my legs out to get up. Unfortunately, I also burnt out my front shifter, which became totally stuck and left me fixed on the middle ring.

Ah well, I kept going at a slightly daft high cadence, but it was fine and I was able to do 20km, taking in the sights - the first orange tip butterflies, chiff chaffs singing loudly from every stand of trees and a sun shining out of a cloudless sky. Up on top of the hill, there were some amazing views, and the first fields of oilseed rape are giving the land its colour patchwork quilt appearance of spring.

I didn't see any swallows though - I looked on all the telegraph wires and they were all devoid of the twittering African visitors. Very disappointing.

Tomorrow? More of the same I hope. Then cricket nets in the afternoon. Get some colour in my cheeks, and some UV on my exczema ridden body.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 08.04.17

Kelham Hill Adventure

With my cricket team not even able to raise a full side today, despite the riduculously low talent requirements, I found myself with a free saturday afternoon and decided to burn off more calories than a day trundling around a cricket pitch would do.

I've been planning a tram up the hill at the back of Kelham Village for a while, and finding online a couple of Kelham circular walks utilising parts of the TRent Valley Way gave me inspiration for a 7 mile route to follow.

After I'd already run a couple of miles to Kelham.

As it happened, the route proved impossible for me to complete for a couple of reasons; firstly, the fact that some parts are too overgrown to be passable, and secondly, I'm navigationally useless. But I still had an enjoyable trip out, up steeps hills, past remote farms, and photographing bees, butterflies, and the view from about the highest part of this chunk of Nottinghamshire.

In the end I ran 17km, rather less than I was expecting to, but still a good run nonetheless, and hopefully when I get an OS map, I'll be able to do the route properly!

Si

A nice busy bee to start

Path through a barley field

Ran on part of this route

Oil seed rape after the flowers have gone

Bohemian cuckoo perhaps, on rosebay willow herb

hoverfly

Followed this ringlet for ages to get this shot

Viking ship at Cold Harbour Farm

View to the power station

Now across to the sugar factory

Windy miller