Well done!

Just a couple more pictures today, from our walk around West Hallam.  The Well Dressings were holding up very well despite the bad weather.  The West Hallam Readers' Group had a mobile library with The Queen stepping on board, leaving her Corgi behind the van.

The 'dog' motif was stronger in a nearby, small Dressing of a Fox at sunset.

A Large, round Well Dressing took on the theme of John Scargill again.

All those Well Dressings but, we thought, just one problem.  Not an actual Well in site!

Well Dressing

The weather held for us this morning and despite a few threatening clouds, it stayed dry for our 8 mile round-trip walk to the village of West Hallam.  We went to look at the Well Dressings which decorate the centre of the old village at this time of year.
Well Dressings in Derbyshire have been popular for centuries and are said to have Pagan origins in making sacrifices to the Gods of wells and springs.  The Christian church has adopted this tradition (doesn't it always?) and have turned it to their favour by giving thanks to God for safe, fresh water - and as a means of tapping the onlooker for money!
Whatever the true meaning and whatever the origin, they brighten up many towns and villages all over Derbyshire each Summer.  The themes this year in West Hallam, seem to be the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.  Certainly crowns and Olympic symbols proliferate.

The other theme to feature often this year is the life of the Rev. John Scargill.  The local Rector died in 1662, aged 72, leaving money to fund the Scargill School and Scargill Trust.

Maybe more to come..!

Still Flooded

Yesterday's walk took us round the lakes of Straw's Bridge once more.  With the the flood waters receding somewhat, we thought we would safe to walk round the lakes, but how wrong we were.  We made it round the largest lake - just!  The lake was still doing it's best to encroach on the paths and to that end, was keeping the lakeside trees standing in water.

At the end of the lake, we would normally have taken the path under the old railway bridge and on to Swan Lake, but as you can see from the next picture, that was not possible without wellington boots.  But, the two Coots swimming about under the bridge where the path should have been, seemed happy with things.

Yellow

No walk in the park this morning, so a couple of pictures from a few days ago - both of yellow flowers found growing about the area.  Firstly, a small and rather pale member of the pea family.  Hop Trefoil (Trifolium campestre) is an important fodder plant and also - as with most of the pea family - they help to 'fix' nitrogen in the soil.  They get their name by virtue of the fact that the flower heads look like small Hops as they lose their pale, yellow colouring and dry out.

Secondly, a member of the Daisy family.  Commonly known as Goat's-beard, this plant is closely related to the well-known Salsify and indeed is also known as Meadow Salsify (Tragopogon pratensis).

The roots are edible, as are the flower buds and it is to be found almost all over Britain, except the coastal fringes.  When the flower sets seed, it forms a 'clock' rather like the more familiar Dandelion, but the clocks of Goat's-beard are much larger and more open in structure.  Apparently, the sticky, white latex which exudes from the cut stems, is collected and dried and then used by children in Armenia, as bubble-gum.  I'll not be trying that one!

Marshy

With all the recent rain, it's not surprising that the ground is saturated and the ditches around Shipley Park are all running with water.  The open ground is a bit 'squelchy' too, but not everything is fed up with it.  The Marsh Thistles (Cirsium palustre), growing in one of the path-side ditches are looking very happy indeed.  these were playing host to several 5-Spot Burnet Moths.

Marsh Thistles are rather formidable to look at, covered as they are with thousands of spines, but the clusters of purple flowers which top the tall stems make them among the most colourful of our wild flowers at this time.  and the insects love them too.

Much smaller, but showing flowers of a similar colour, are those of the Seafheal (Prunella Vulgaris).  Growing only a few inches high, they are rather common and often cause gardeners some trouble when they take over your lawn, but the 17th century herbalist, Nicholas Culpepper has it as a very useful herb.  Also known as All-heal, it was used as general cure-all and as a means of hastening the healing of wounds, both inward and outward.  Mixed into a tincture and applied to the temples, it was also said to cure headache.  He also said that Selffheal "cleanses and heals all ulcers, in the mouth, and throat, and those also in the secret parts!"  Very useful!

Wet, Wet, Wet

Despite the doom-laden forecast for this morning, the promise of yet more heavy rain and the 'amber' flood warnings in force, Malcolm and I were not in fact 'confined to barracks' today, but managed to get a short, dry walk around Straw's Bridge once again.  Following the flooding at the weekend, we wondered if we would be able to walk around Swan Lake today and were delighted to see that the water level had dropped to a more normal state.  But, the sight of such huge quantities of water last Saturday was so jaw-dropping that I thought we might have a few more pictures.  Firstly, the path we took this morning, which was about a foot under water on Saturday morning.

Another of the lakes had out-grown its boundaries and was encroaching upon the woodland surrounding it, making it impossible to walk through the trees to get a better view.

One more result of all this wetness, is the proliferation of slugs and snails.  Our garden, like many others, seems to have been taken over by these slimy little devils.  Now, I quite like slugs and snails (except when they're eating our beans, basil and peppers), so here is a close-up of the face of a garden snail (Helix aspersa).  A face only a mother could love...!

Nymph

Following on from our aborted walk around 'Swan Lake' the other day, here is a picture of a nasty-looking creature which we found struggling along a dry part of the path.  at the time, I thought it was a Dragonfly nymph of some sort, but on closer inspection, it turns out to be the nymph of a Great Diving Beetle (Dytiscus marginalis).

At about three inches long and sporting an enormous pair of jaws, it made a formidable image as it inched its way along. Not wanting to risk a nip from those jaws, I picked it up on a large leaf and transported it back to the water where I managed to take its picture before it swam into the vegetation. The jaws are used to great effect when it hunts its prey. They are sunk into the unfortunate prey item like hypodermic needles, while it injects a digestive enzyme. The resulting 'soup' is then sucked up by the nymph. They will eat anything they can get their jaws into. Tadpoles are their favourites, but they will tackle small fish and even turn to cannibalism. They breathe through a spiracle (or air hole) at the end of the tail as can be seen from the photo above and will often be seen with the tail breaking the surface of the water, taking the air.
We will have to keep a look-out for the stunning adult beetle in the lake when the water has gone down a bit.