Pom Poms Of Pink.

My hometown is adorned with pretty pink blossom, pom poms of pink. Take a walk with me up to the castle park and stop to admire the blooms. They look particularly striking , offset by a beautiful blue sky.

Bonnygrass Terrace.

Japanese Cherry Blossom.

Pink pom poms.

This poem made me smile as mother’s today were snapping their children amongst the cherry blossoms too. 😊

Cabbage White Butterfly.

Magnolia.

Pink 🌷

Clitheroe Castle.

Labyrinth.

Holly Blue Butterfly.

Tulips.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of some of Clitheroes blossom trees. ❤️

Along The Riverside At Sedburgh.

At the weekend we made our first trip of the year to stay over at the caravan. 🥰 We decided to deviate from our normal route up the M6 after Kirkby Lonsdale. Instead we meandered through the Dales and into the Eden Valley via the charming town of Sedburgh, nestling at the foot of the Howgills. This part of the Yorkshire Dales is pretty new to us, we usually only view the Howgills from the motorway. Alfred Wainwright once described the fells as ‘ looking like a herd of sleeping elephants’. 🐘🐘🐘

After parking in the town we made our way to the River Rawthey. It was certainly turning out to be a beautiful Spring day.

A well maintained Playing Field.

Pebbles at New Bridge.

Those Sleeping Elephants. 🙂

A stoney brook. No water but lots of pebbles.

By the river Rawthey.

Presently we came to a field where three Highland cows were residing. They seemed completely happy for us to pass by. Very chilled in the morning sunshine.

Highlands in the Howgills.

Happy Highland Cow.

Watching. 🙂

I had a plan of course! A little further on along the Rawthey I had read of an old Victorian Wool Mill. Farfield Mill hosts art & craft exhibitions, has a shop and a tearoom ,presently open as a takeaway with tables outside.

Farfield Mill.

Refreshment stop.

Views over the Rawthey.

A cottage by the mill. If I were to name this little house, I would call it ‘ Wild 🍓 Strawberry cottage’.

Lungwort.

Country Lane.

Wood Sorrel.

Heading back now along the river, there are more cute livestock to see. 🙂

Hebridean Sheep..

A wooly white donkey.

I think Hugo likes the Rawthey. 🙂

Obligitary Goosander.

Sunbathing.

Back into town.

So Sedburgh Is England’s Book Town and has more second hand book shops than Birmingham apparently!

Clutter books.

Sleepy Elephant.🐘

A disused bus shelter, now a book shelter.

Three Hares Cafe Bakery.

One of many independent shops.

St Andrews Church.

After buying some bread from the Three Hares Cafe Bakery, it was time for us to continue on to our van in the equally lovely Eden Valley. I am sure we will be visiting Sedburgh and the surrounding area again soon though. 🙂

Ribble side ramble. 🦆

The weather is so surprising at the moment. Blue skies then snow. Warm sunshine. Then snow. And repeat.

I am wondering what to wear for a week night beer garden drink. Looking in my wardrobe, I seriously haven’t bought any new going out clothes since 2019! Pjamas ~ yes. Walking pants~ yes. But no new tops or dresses. However I suspect I will still be frequenting my warm puffa jacket for any approaching social activities!

At present social activities still revolve around walking, so here are some photos from yesterday’s walk along the river to Chatburn and back. A repeat of a post I did earlier in the year, but a little more wildlife on display. 🙂

One of many picture slabs in Brungerley park. A fox and a hare gaze at the moon.

A hunched heron.

Greylag and Canada Geese.

Golden forsythia blossom.

A lone mute swan.

Hipping Stones.

Mary Horner’s bench.

Gushing.

Beautiful blackthorn.

Twisty tree.

Bridge at Grindleton.

In the Woods.

Primrose.

By the Ribble.

Hipping Stones.

Hipping Stones.

Female Goosander. A favourite water bird. Love her Nut brown quiff.

Hugo waiting to play ball.

Wood Anemones or Wind Flowers.

Dog Violet.

Love this cherry blossom painting.

Hope you have had a pleasant weekend.

A New Nature Reserve In Town. 🦆🦋🌳

Recently Hugo and I have spent a lot of time
treading the boardwalks…..at the new Nature Reserve in town. Primrose Nature Reserve has opened at last! What was once an overgrown wasteland containing a mill lodge of stagnant water has been transformed, with walkways, a viewing platform and even a Monet style bridge spanning Mearley Brook. A fish pass has been installed close to the old Primrose Mill to allow salmon, trout and eels to travel upstream and gallons of silt has been removed from the lodge. I have taken a few photos which I hope will give a feel for the place. The reserve is suitable for wheel chairs, push chairs and prams and it doesn’t take very long to walk through.

Owl carving at the Woone Lane entrance.

• 

Number 24 Boundary stone, one of only 7 surviving town boundary stones from Clitheroe. Found in the lodge and now set in the reserve wall, it dates back to the 1500s.

Wildlife the reserve hopes to attract more of.

Green Winged Teal. There are several of these. Such pretty water birds.

Bird accomodation.

Moorhen.

Habitats have been created using fallen logs.

Butterbur frequent the brook side.

Monet style bridge.

Facing Woone Lane.

A bluetit furnishes its new home, number 5. 🙂

Little Egret seen from the bridge.

Sluice gates were used to control the flow of water to the mill.

Old Industry.

Mallard and ten ducklings.

I was happy to see there are actually primroses at Primrose Nature Reserve. 🙂

Flowering currant.

Dunnock.

Willow arch near the Whalley road entrance.

Reserve map at the Whalley road entrance.

To view the fish pass you have to walk up Woone Lane to the top of the nature reserve and you will be able to see it from the road next to Primrose Mill. At the moment the mill is being turned into apartments so whilst renovations are going on, here’s a photo from Instagram.

Alaskan Fish Pass, one of the largest in England.

I am looking forward to the changing seasons ,to see how the area becomes established. I think the reserve is a lovely little addition to Clitheroe. A wild space in an urban landscape. 😊

Easter Staycation.

It’s not often that Wil and I have a week off work together and don’t book at least a few days away. . So recently it’s actually been quite nice for us to spend some time at home pottering, doing a few jobs and erm ….eating cheese!

We started our week with a ginormous order of cheese from Tipsy Cows in Great Harwood. Their amazing cheese bags are £35 and include a pie, pate, smoked sausage,  crackers, bread, a bottle of wine, chutney, grapes and of course a shed load of cheese. Still getting through it now..

From Monday we were allowed to meet up with friends & family for outdoor walks again. We met up with my sister and the kids and walked further into the Dunsop Valley. A truelly beautiful place.

On Wednesday we decided to go up to our caravan in Cumbria, mostly to check that it was still in one piece. Luckily it was! And everywhere we went there were daffodillions of daffodils. On the way we stopped in Kirkby Lonsdale for a walk.

Daffs at St Mary’s in Kirkby Lonsdale.

The caravan ~ still standing.

Daffodillions of daffodils on Melmerby village green.

Gallivanting Geese.

Hugo amongst the daffs.

Easter display.

A pew with a view.

We turned the water back on at the caravan and gave it a quick spring clean. The weather was really warm.


Back in Clitheroe, the new Nature Reserve has opened at last. As we live nearby it has definitely become our go to place for a stroll with Hugo. One morning we bought breakfast from Marks Artisan Bakery on Whalley road after our walk. Sooo good! I am making a note of the wildlife I have spotted at the reserve, which includes Little Egret, Mallards, Teal, Grey Heron and Canada Geese. I will get working on a post soon.

Worsaw Hill.

Looking towards Pendle.

Hugo and Jo having a moment. Or maybe Hugo is watching a ham sandwich, out of shot. 

On Good Friday we met some friends for a walk from Worston to Downham and back. We are so lucky to live in the lovely Ribble Valley and have definitely discovered lots of new local walks and rediscovered old favourites during the numerous lock downs.

There have also been less energetic pursuits. On Saturday I met some friends for a Hip flask walk. We didn’t get very far. From one bench to another in the local park..😀

Park Bench Crawl.

We had planned to stay home on Easter Sunday and enjoy our new fire pit. 🔥

Wil bought a fire pit. 🔥

But after checking the weather forecast we realised we would have to head back up to the caravan again and drain it down. Forcasted minus 7 temperatures meant we had obviously been too previous in opening the van up for Spring. So here are some more lovely Easter views from Melmerby where the van is based.





We also called in at my Mum’s in Askham and had a brew in the garden. Got introduced to these cuties. ❤️

Cute calves.

Farm kitty’s.

Today ( Easter Monday) the sky outside is deceptively blue. It is freezing out there! There was even a smattering of snow this morning.

Happy Easter. 🐇🐣❤️