Monday 11 July 2011

Stake Pass Update

What a difference 24 hours makes. From sweltering (well, by Cumbrian standards that is) heat on Monday to cool, rainy days for the rest of the week, we certainly had our fair share of changeable weather. Indeed, by Thursday our latest stretch of path was so wet that wheelbarrows and pushers alike sank to a standstill as they tried to cross it. But we have made some good progress and the path profile along the whole stretch is now almost complete. All that is required now is re-turfing and the final cap of pinall (gritty stuff, rather like concrete slurry and which occurs in pockets under the fell, put on the path surface to provide an extremely hard-wearing surface).
The wildlife continues to be a point of interest as we walk to and from the work site. Wild thyme and stonecrops are now in evidence as is a localised patch of Pineapple Mayweed near Black Moss Pot. This interloper from north east Asia, and which can commonly be found on dry, stoney waste ground, is remarkable in that its flowers resemble tiny pineapples both in appearance and scent. The Ring Ouzel seems now to be a fixture and juvenile wheatears are quite evident everywhere. We were also thrilled to see a group of four goosanders on the beck recently but not so thrilled to be continuously pestered by the midges, possibly distant cousins of their notorious Scottish counterparts.

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