Watchtree- Summer

Watchtree is our local nature reserve this I've previously spoke about here, so I'll not go into how amazing the place is again but just show you some lovely photographs from out latest walk here from a week ago.

I love foxgloves, the hues of colour always in-trance me, more sun when a rare blast of sunlight shines through them.

They were shooting up everywhere in the woodland area, a shot of colour amongst so much green. Although the Summer has been a let down for us it looks like the trees and shrubbery(love that word).
It was sad to see walking round at the nest notes (little messages left by staff about nearby nests) that a lot were washed out by the rains. 

For a frugal day out with family this is amazing, it costs nothing to go in the reserve but donations are welcome and well deserved. You an take a picnic but there is a cafe onsite at various time. They do various talks, special walks and nature investigation sessions, check out their website for further details.

Even though this Summer day was overcast and we had 2 very noisy smalls with us I managed to spot a Hare, Dragonfly, various lovely birds and a group of dear running off into the woods.
I love the meadow setting left free to go wild under the whoosh,whoosh of the wind turbines; showing that even if people don't want to live near them nature isn't so fussy.

You'd not know it was Summer around here but we're not letting that stop us, Lucas loves this place as we can run round like a mad thing, although that doesn't help when looking for wildlife. 

When out on day trips lately we seem to pack for every weather prospect, I think our car boot contains coats, wellies, hats, macs, shorts,t-shirts and suncream.

It's always best to be prepared.

I hope you're finding lots of lovely activities to do during the holidays. Feel free to link your posts about them in the comments section below.

Love Amanda.x.

Watchtree - Winter

Watchtree is a local nature reserve, but one of those places that although I knew were it was I'd never actually been there.

It's always the way that you forget the beauty that's just on your doorstep.

During the Foot and Mouth crisis in 2001 Watchtree became the final resting place of many infected cattle, the site was chosen due to it's proximity to many infected farms, but also for its bedrock geology that would prevent further contamination from the buried cattle.

It's story could have just ended there, leaving the site a barren wasteland, however the ecological consultants assigned to the restoration of lands after the outbreak choose to turn the space into a community asset and a positive feature to local wildlife.

In 2003 Watchtree became a nature reserve, water areas were created with wildlife in mind, huge areas reseeded, 80,000 trees planted to enhance local woodland and create extra habitats.

They have educational programs for  school visits and run Watchtree Wheelers and cycle group for people with learning or physical disabilities. 
This amazing site is free to visit but has a donations box.

When we visited the site it was a cold frosty but clear Winters day, most of the ponds still had ice skimming the top of them. 

Maisie and Lucas enjoyed running around the wide open pathways of the site, trying to spot any wildlife which was unfortunately in hiding for us most the time. Maisie took to hiding in the wooded area while Lucas and I looked out for the Guffalo, of which we didn't see any.

We did however find this awesome wooden spider in the wooded area.

These insect holes are all over the site providing homes for little beasties, quite a lot had spiders in them when we were looking, and I think we may make some of these for our next garden project.

Maisie was map holder while we were there, she has her no one is listening to my command face on here, and took around the site to find the hides which look out onto various wetlands and feeding areas for birds. We saw a few sparrows, a finch and some ducks. The hides are very comfortable, with carpeted seating and one has a telescope too much to the children's delight. They all had posters inside to say which animals and birds were in that location.

The area is also the site for several wind turbines, I know that they get a lot of stick for being ugly and a blot on the landscape but I'll admit I find them hauntingly beautiful. Stood underneath one listening to it slow thrum thrum sound was a simple kind of peace and meditation.

I think will be regular visitors to this wonderful site, and hope to do another Spring time update. You can find out more about Watchtree Nature Reserve here.

Amanda.x.

Photographs courtesy of Stuart Ryan. 

Ten Years Past.

During the year of 2001 the foot-and-mouth crisis gripped British agriculture, over 10million sheep and cows were killed trying to stop the spread of it. Cumbria had 843 cases being classed as the worse effected, and had a huge impact of The Lakes being a tourist destination.

Photograph from Toadfish on Flickr

At the time of the outbreak my family lived on a farm in Cumwhinton a small farming community just outside of  Carlisle, time were never easy living on a farm but they managed, my little Sister was studying GCSEs at the time, and although I no longer lived at home I was still connected to it. It was difficult during the outbreaks, at times I couldn't visit home, and my sister had to move into a friends house for the worry she'd end up trapped in the farm when she needed to be concentration on her exams.


We did not get Foot-and-Mouth but it was the end of our farm, there was a complete halt on moving and selling  livestock, but we still had to feed and look after them, and there was no compensation for that. A lot of other farmers were in the same situation, we heard of farmers trying to get the disease just to start again.
I can not imagine the grief the farmers who saw their whole livestock shot and burned went through, your emotional ties to your stock is more than just a stock number and price, you have to really respect the cattle to successfully owe a farm. Living in Cumbria a change of wind and you could smell the death in the air, I think a lot of farmers felt they'd failed their stock, and just never went back to farming.


For us the financial strain was too much to bare, the farm(which we rented but had lived in for 50+years) was given up and then sold to a building company, they turned the farm into a housing estate of which we, nor anyone I know, could afford any of the homes. The other farms in the village have went the same way, or changed business.
The village is no longer a farming community and seems cut off from country life, so many villages have went this way after Foot-and-Mouth, I think it's one of the highest prices of the outbreak.


However one of the things I love about being Cumbrian is that we'll take a bad experience on the chin and turn it around.  
Great Orton Airfield is the resting place for 466,312 carcasses, comprising 448,508 sheep, 12,085 cattle and 5,719 pigs buried between March and the 7th of May 2001 in 26 trenches, the site is now a nature reserve called Watchtree.  
Watchtree provides a range of habitats for many birds,bats, Red Squirrels, toads, newts and small mammals.  As well as providing an education centre of future generations to come and hopefully building back some of the bridges from Town to Country.




Amanda.