On the turn

So to the Westwood where there was still plenty of greenery about but quite few trees giving up on the year and getting ready for an exceptionally early Autumn.

Of course I had to say Hi to that old chestnut that I always photograph whenever I come up here. There's still a bit of a problem with parked cars but not as bad as it was.

There were dozens of these Red Admirals, it's been a really good year for them from what I've seen. Also dozens of dragon flies which wouldn't sit still so could not be photographed.

And finally the mortal remains of that old lime tree which was hanging on to life by a thread last time I was here. I like the way it's been chopped up and left to rot away, no tidying up in these parts.

Media morte in vita sumus

This old tree, I think it's a lime tree, is huge, not tall particularly but wide; some of its branches must be forty or fifty foot long. And by all that is right and proper it should be dead. Quite apart from this massive gash where a branch has fallen off, three quarters of its branches  are clearly dead and bare. The saprophytic fungi have moved in already. And yet ... and yet there are still leaves sprouting from  a few branches. Clearly not going to gentle into that goodnight.

The weekend in black and white is here.

Hazy with buttercups

I made a brief sojourn to Beverley Westwood on a hazy June day. I don't think I've ever seen so many buttercups. The cattle that roam about this place must have read that buttercups are poisonous and are carefully avoiding them ...

A little late colour

And while I was on the Westwood I thought I may as well take some more Autumnal pictures. This Autumn has been a particularly colourful one in these parts with many trees holding their leaves still in the first week of November. I suspect that after the unsettled weather forecast for later today though most will be stripped. It's going to be a very soggy Bonfire Night.

I'm experimenting with slightly larger images, don't know if I like them.

Persistent parking problem

So, back to see that old tree again and, well, as you can see the roadside is still one big car park. These are not day-trippers enjoying the scenery or taking the dog for a walk but long-stay people working in town or on the redevelopment of the Westwood Hospital nearby. The problem is Beverley either lacks sufficient parking spaces or is charging too much (is £5.40 for all day too much? I don't know; I don't drive) and there is no such thing as a Park and Ride scheme (a what now?). So increasing numbers choose to leave their motors on the common for nowt causing damage to the verges and generally making place looking a lot like a car park. Well all that is about to change as the Pasture Masters, who run the Westwood (it's an ancient throwback thing), are putting up signs and expect the police to enforce parking restrictions. Now Humberside Police has recently been branded "inadequate" and as "failing to provide a quality service to the public" I wouldn't expect too much from them, but it's good to live in hope. If this doesn't work they could always try charging (£10 per day obviously); on the 'if you can beat them, join them' principle

Upon this blasted heath ...

Well hardly, this is the well grazed almost manicured common land that is Beverley Westwood and much of what you see here is a golf curse. This was taken sometime ago so it's a good bet that that wreck of a tree is no longer there especially as it was being used as a swing by the locals. Far away, off on the horizon you can just make out (with a magnifying lens) the old black mill.

Festive fun

And how did you spend your Christmas morning? Why trying to identify this fungus since you ask. And did you succeed in your mycological quest? Erm, no. The best I can come up with is that it's a bracket fungi (well, d'oh!) possibly an Alder Bracket though, as all the guides say, identification is tricky.  These guys are sprouting out of that dead chestnut tree I posted a while back on the 'decay' theme day .

Here they are with a bit of colour.

The weekend in black and white should be here if it hasn't been consumed by all the seasonal goings-on.

Westwood Road

I mentioned in passing many months ago that Westwood Road, Beverley had the most expensive houses in this area. Personally I can't see the attraction of these Victorian terraced mansions nor even the grand villas opposite (that's not to say I wouldn't take one if offered). I suppose once you've made your pile you must find a suitable place to flaunt it.

Taking liberties

So I go to see that old tree as I always do when I'm around the Westwood and I found it surrounded by cars. There's usually a couple of cars parked here, people visiting the place and that's no problem but the other day I counted sixty or so cars on this stretch and I doubt there were sixteen people on the Westwood that afternoon. Clearly the place has become a 'free' car park for people working in the town. I could see there's damage to the road edge and footpath so this is going to cause trouble sooner or later. I read somewhere that cars spend over 90% of the time parked up and I guess they have to go somewhere but on the local beauty spot? Surely not. 

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

"When gorse is out of bloom kissing's out of fashion"

Took myself off to Beverley Westwood and had the place practically to myself, just an occasional dog walker, an errant golf player or two, a few crows, oh and a couple of skylarks to lighten the spirits. There were banks of wood anemones and this large gorse bush blooming away which was just as well if that old saying has any truth to it.

That dead old tree

And while I was on Westwood I had another visit to that decaying tree that I posted in June. The tree itself didn't appear much changed, it's still hard and not crumbling in any way. I did, however, notice a large number of stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) which weren't there last year. Now nettles like acidic soil but the Westwood sits on chalk which is alkaline, indeed this tree is near Newbegin Pits; the old chalk pits. So looking this up on the web I find, as I vaguely remembered from my student days, that the decay of the tree will produce acids that alter the soil around it. So some subtle changes are happening.

That old chestnut

As I was in the neighbourhood I  did what I always do and paid  a visit to this old chestnut which I've posted a couple of times before but only in Winter ( 1 2 ). It and the dozens of other chestnuts on this tree lined road seem to be doing well contrary to tales of a blight affecting them nationwide. 

The Westwood is common land and cattle are grazed on it throughout the Summer and Autumn. They're fairly harmless but you have to watch where you put you feet 'cos they're not house trained by any means.

A change in the weather

Beverley Westwood

The blues skies and fine weather of Summer seem for the moment to have left us. Some really dark clouds looming throughout most of the day brought some sharp showers (and had me sheltering under trees) but not the deluge that forecasters had promised. Indeed it brightened up by evening time.

The Weekend in Black & White is here.

Decay

The good folks of City Daily Photo have chosen as today's theme the 'Beauty of Decay'. Easy I thought just point my camera just about anywhere in Hull and click. It's all around me this decay malarkey but then on second thoughts there's hardly any beauty in it and the shabbiness that could be mistaken for decay is really mindless economic neglect. No, real decay leads to something new, it's a transformation, a recycling; it has a purpose. So it's back to nature and besides it's prettier than any tatty building in Hull.

A few years ago this  large tree, I think it was a horse chestnut, was felled on Beverley Westwood. Instead of clearing it away in some fastidious manner it was simply left lying. Over the years fungi and insects will no doubt eat it away and I will no doubt take pictures of them doing so.

 

Water trough

This old water trough stands in a hollow created by hundreds of hooves over the years as the commoners' cattle seek to slake their thirst in the heat of Summer. It's next to the old black mill that I showed last week when the heat of Summer was the last thing I was thinking about; avoiding hypothermia was my main concern.The cattle aren't allowed on the common until May; hopefully it will be a bit warmer by then.

More monochrome stuff at the Weekend in Black & White here.

Monochrome Mill

I took a stroll on Beverley Westwood the other day, I don't think I'd been so cold all Winter and it's supposed to be Spring. Absolutely no blossom on any of the trees and no sign of leaves about to burst into life. The only thing moving was the strong Easterly wind that came all the way from Omsk or Tomsk or some such place. I got as far as the old black mill before admitting defeat and going home.

In what seems like a bad joke British Summer Time starts today, I can't imagine what I'm going to do with all that daylight that's being saved.

There's more monochrome fun at the Weekend in Black and White here.

Under the Beech

So to Beverley Westwood in search of some Autumn colour. Surprisingly most trees were still mainly green and to make matters worse the sky was overcast and dull. So I had to make do with this massive beech.

Trees

These are on Beverley Westwood. If you peer closely you can just make out the black mill.

Beware of cattle

Beverley Westwood is common land which means that commoners can and do graze their cattle. There's over 400 beefy beast on the Westwood and no fences so you've got to drive carefully.

As this summer has so far failed to load I'm showing you something from a couple of years back. 

Bluebells

On the edge of Beverley Westwood lies an area called Burton Bushes, it's said to be the remains of a primeval forest. It's also a great place to find wild bluebells.