Cycling in early Spring at Ingram
Cycling along the Breamish Valley is one of my most pleasurable experiences. It’s an easy, relaxed ride along the Breamish Valley to Ingram Village:
River Breamish (Ingram)
Tranquility
The River Breamish at Ingram was tranquil today, despite the high winds.
What more to say? It’s just so peaceful here. Beautiful!
Mundane nature?
Mundane nature?
Is there anything about the natural world that’s mundane? Is there such a thing as ‘mundane nature’?
In our daily lives, we can get into a daily grind of just going about our business without thinking. If we have particularly pressured, busy lives, where we’re always clock-watching and rushing to the next business meeting, we can feel that we’re caught in ‘the rat race’. Life seems to be telling us what to do, rather than us taking a step back, taking a deep breath, and deciding what we want to do with our lives.
Solar Eclipse
Did you see the Solar Eclipse in Breamish Valley today?
We had near perfect viewing conditions in Breamish Valley, with hardly a cloud in sight. Not so for several friends of mine living in Teesside who were stuck under cloudy skies.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between us and the Sun, casting a shadow onto the Earth. The timing and degree of any eclipse varies with location but in the Breamish Valley we had pretty good views. In all parts of the UK today, the eclipse was about 83% complete but in our part of north Northumberland we enjoyed closer to 95% of visible partial eclipse. The darkness peaked at around 09:35am (GMT) and lasted around three minutes.
Basking adders
Basking adders in the Breamish Valley
Because adders are reptiles, they are cold-blooded. This means that they are reliant on external energy sources – especially the sun – to maintain their body temperature. They regulate their temperature through basking in the sun or seeking shade. Their body temperature is, therefore, approximately the same as the outside air temperature (ambient temperature). They can, however, be active in temperatures as cold as 6°C. Which was about the temperature yesterday when I saw these two basking adders coiled together at Branton Nature Conservation Area, close to the car park entrance.
My place to be
My place to be…
…is the Breamish Valley!
Where’s your place to just do nothing…and just be?
#MyWildLife
Road safety campaign letter – 2 Mar 2015
Letter received today from Julie Pörksen
Dear all,
Please find attached the letter I have sent to both the head of the Highways Agency (responsible for the A1) and Northumberland County Council. I hope we can get some action on the main routes first as there are known road safety problems on these then put pressure on for any other works required on smaller roads.
I will let you when I get a response.
Kind regards
Julie
My Wildlife
My wild life is in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland. Being in nature gives me a better life. Why not connect with nature?
Tales from Northumberland: Robson Green
So…my village’s annual Show gets to be on national TV this evening, eh?
Who’d have thought it? The Powburn Show on national tele!
TV star and famous Northumbrian Robson Green will be appearing on (More) Tales from Northumberland tonight on ITV at 8:00pm. The episode will feature Robson engaging in a bout of Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling, one of Britain’s oldest, and toughest, sports.
Leisure cycling to Reaveley
Glorious sunshine
Some glorious patches of blue sky and bright sunshine yesterday. So…just a bit of leisure cycling from Powburn to Reaveley along the flat valley floor of the Breamish Valley was in order.
I think I’ll just let the pictures do the talking…
