Things Ancient and Modern

This is Arnside Tower. Well over 600 years old. I have blipped it before but not, I think, from this angle. From here it still looks handsome and in quite good condition.

That is the ancient part. As for the modern. As I stood taking this photograph there passed behind me, on an embankment not more than 50 yards away, a train pulling three concrete flasks of nuclear waste from power stations.

For the next mile this led to contemplation of just how different were the lives of those who built Arnside Tower from our own. Their existence was harsh and often violent as it still is in many parts of the world. Ours is comfortable and some would say luxurious. So different and yet the trees which frame the picture are mainly still the same. However you don't want to know the thoughts which occupied my mind for the next mile.

Now to yesterday's puzzle.
Two blippers got the right identity of the plant. One of them had lived in South Africa from where it grows wild.

It is a succulent called Euphorbia meloformis. Euphorbias are an extraordinary genus with about 2,000 species worldwide. Anyone interested can look them up in Wiki.
I bought it at a Cactus Nursery near Matlock in Derbyshire about four years ago.

As for the prize, both winners live a long way away, one on the south coast and one near Edinburgh. But if they are ever over in this direction they have their invitations.