Seasonal Treats

Some visitors only know Blacka in summer. Others make the occasional visit in better weather at other seasons. Those who come only in settled spells in July and August see a side of Blacka that flatters some parts and can misrepresent others. More than any other local landscape Blacka's appeal is about change. It's what makes it fascinating.. The change is ongoing, from day to day and week to week. But above all it changes through the years. Its destiny is to move forward from a place once exploited and over-managed to one characterised by the integrity of natural determination and restoration. Only those who fight this transience with heavy-handed and misguided interventions can upset this benign progression. It goes through one phase after another, each one characterised by its own rare beauties. Some of these repeat themselves, more or less, for several or many years before the slow changes are seen to have taken over just as a child's appearance develops year on year each new phase being cherished.

Nobody in their right mind would want to hold a child's development in suspension by artificial means and neither should we do that with landscapes. It can be hard to give more independence and there are always misgivings but it has to be done.

Sun in early August is a point of time in this process and is not hard to enjoy. Leggy heather and abundant bulging shrubs are full of food for insects, birds and mammals. How tall they can grow is anyone's guess but already lots of lovely birch scrub is pushing through as the next phase advances, the whole effect entrancing in bright early morning light. All we should do in the face of this exhilarating life force is celebrate it. Earlier generations might have called this God's work had they not been hooked on a fundamentalist belief that the Almighty expected his servant humans to control everything. We should know better now.

As predicted some more deer have come down from the higher surrounding slopes to sample the edible delights on offer. The proud flare of the nostrils was a high point in the walk.