Yorkshire Wolds Way Stage 4, Fridaythorpe to Settrington Beacon

It was obvious that it was a Saturday, as there were two or three other parties of walkers parking up in Fridaythorpe and setting out on The Wolds Way.  That said we had it to ourselves for most of the day. We had hoped for the cloudless skies of the Friday, but it was not to be and, although fairly bright for most of the day, it was overcast.

The start of the day's walk was along the side of fields of rape before we descended steeply into West Dale, the first of several steep-sided dry valleys.  At one time much of the wolds would have been given over to sheep walks, but now sheep pasture is to found mainly in the dales.  The plunging banks of the Yorkshire Wolds seen at numerous points on today's stage, form one of the few landscapes in Britain that have been preserved more or less intact for the best part of a thousand years.  From the calcium rich soil there springs a highly distinctive flora including cowslips, salad burnet, rock rose, thyme, mouse-eared chickweed, mouse-ear hawkweed, fairy flax, pignut, sheep's fescue, eyebright, burnet saxifrage, harebell and dropwort.  We were too early for many of these, but we did see large numbers of cowslips, water avens and bugle.  Such large numbers of flowers attract large numbers of butterflies.  We found orange-tip, peacock and tortoiseshell, but the beautiful marbled white, small copper and  meadow brown also occur.

Our route climbed out of West Dale almost immediately and over the high tops and quickly down into Thixen Dale.  Way below us, as we walked down the steep track into the dale, we could see runners and walkers who were tackling the 'Wolds 20' challenge event organised by the Long Distance Walkers Association.  Also in the bottom of the valley we could see what looked like earthworks.  These turned out to be a piece of land art commissioned and made by the artist Chris Drury.  It is called Waves and Time and is part of Wander - Art on the Yorkshire Wolds Way. (link here)

At the end of Thixen dale we came to Thixendale village itself where we were able to avail ourselves of a welcome cup of tea at the challenge walkers refreshment station in the village hall.  The village may derive its name from the fact that six major dales and ten more minor ones all radiating out from the village like the spokes of a wheel.  We left the village by climbing up out of the dale on a very steep chalk path which glared dazzlingly bright in the briefly appearing sun.  After crossing open fields we descended briefly into Vessey Pasture Dale and out the other side.  Here we stopped at the top of the bank for our lunch with wonderful expansive views.

Shortly after lunch the route turns sharp right and follows a fine green road along which I have biked with Thomas on a mountain bike orienteering event several years ago.  At the end of this we descended gradually into Deep Dale where lies the remains of the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy.  This is an excellent spot with much of the ruined church still standing.  It continued to be used until relatively recently and served Thixendale until 1870.  On the plateau above the church are the outlines of houses and the information boards around the site are excellent.

From Wharram Percy there follows a short distance of tarmac through Wharram le Street before we struck off up another chalk road and then descended into Nine Springs Dale, up the valley side and to our finish point at Settrington Beacon where we had parked the car.

Despite the lack of sun, an excellent day's walking.

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A Day With Green Hairstreaks.

I had been waiting for a reliably sunny day to visit Donna Nook on the Lincolnshire Coast to try for the small colony of green hairstreak butterflies that can be found here.  Although the cold easterly wind persisted, I knew that the site is on the sheltered side of the duens and should be warn and sunny.  It was.  I wore a hat but it was my winter beany which I soon discarded.  Being somewhat follicly challenged, I now have a sunburned head.  That apart, though I had a wonderful day and the best I have had there with the hairstreaks.  At one point I had three pairs of displaying insects around me which also readily settled on the hawthorn blossom.

Avocets could be heard calling from the pools on the adjacent rough land and a cuckoo paid a very close visit.  My first of the year; this is always a good spot to find them.  Whitethroats called in the bushes.  Splendid.

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A Return Visit to the Louth Canal

I made a second visit to the Louth Canal to retake some pictures of Willows Lock as I had not been entirely happy with those from last week.  The weather was much brighter today and, despite the easterly wind we have been suffering from lately, it felt warm and pleasant.  This time I parked on the roadside at the delightfully named Ticklepenny Lock and wandered along the canal side to Willows Lock.  I was pleased to spot both my first brimstone butterfly of the year and my fist whitethroat.  I got chatting to two fly fishermen who were prospecting for natural brown trout that can be found in the canal, some, apparently weighing in at a pound or two.  They had had no luck; they thought that the water was too low.  They did mention a pair of grey wagtails feeding chicks at the lock though.  

After taking some more shots of the lock itself, I changed to my 100-400 lens to try for the grey wagtails.  Having watched them fror a while from above I realised that they were feeding chicks in a hole in the brick wall on my side of the canal.  Just downstream of the lock I scrambled down through the nettles and settled myself low down on the bank hidden by the vegetation - and stung by it.  I didn't have to wait long before the wagtails continued their feeding activities unfazed by my presence.

A very pleasant morning.

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