Getting Out Moor

Also very overdue has been getting out and about with the Folks.

Yesterday this was remedied [only been 4 months...] as we went for a nice wander about Fernworthy.

The biting NE wind had rendered our list of choices quite short, but Fernworthy is always worth a visit and this was no exception. We even got onto the Moor proper [for the first time in nearly 11 months.!].


The sun was shining [well, mostly] and out of the wind it was pretty warm - you'd almost think it was summer [apart from it not raining] - and so we in a fit of optimism decided to try what the weather had stopped us doing last time. To whit, wandering up onto t'Moor proper to have a look at the circle which had been rediscovered last year.

The trip out included a small incident of amusement - well, looking back on it - as Tilbury Dog decided stone sheep were just as worthwhile targets of her barkfrenzy as the wooly version... Dearie me. I'm talking about the twin circles known as the Grey Wethers*, which we passed on the way and she barked at quite determinedly both going and coming. Mad dog...

Now that the stones have been uncovered, the 'new' circle is really not hard to find, so I won't bother listing directions. Its also very flat, due to the stones all being fallen. But the views are something else. This being the first time I'd been there when you could actually see them, I appreciated the Ancestors' sense of location.

The wind [which was powerful enough to blur any attempts at pictures] and the whole soggyness thing decided us on not going any further out, so we retired to the nearby Hornbeams for lunch. Being out of the wind, this was very nice - though the views are somewhat limited, I must admit.

Now you get piccies;

It's a really subtle name for the place.

With Hornbeam Gate in the background.

Looking along the perimeter wall

See what I mean about limited views? But you're sheltered from wind while usually in the sun and out of view of any passing livestock. Which matters when you're in the company of a LBD..


After lunch we wandered about the plantation, taking in a couple of the loops. Or at least, we tried to, but unfortunately, the FC have been playing with their great big mecha again, and with all the rain, the tracks are in many cases somewhat impassable. They've actually put warning signs for deep mud up, and they really aren't kidding...

But we did find some routes where you didn't need stilts and had a nice meander. Finding somehwere to stop for coffee that was out of the wind was a bit problematic, as even the hide was a bit chilly. But what can you do?
A w/pl GC Grebe and 5 Tufties were on the res, and a big flock of Starlings and winter thrushes [200+] were messing about the fields near Thornworthy Tor.


It was most definitely good to be back out.


Switching gears.. This year has been an odd one to start with [though Feb lurgy is nothing new..]. perhaps March will come marching in with a change?



And a Wheatear?


Be Seeing Them...
:D


[[*'Wether' being a name for sheep around here. The stones so named due to them being sold to a gullible fellow who saw them from afar in the mist, or so the story goes...]]