Thorn

thorn tree
on the boundary
knitting
land
and sky

A fine day provided an opportunity for an extended back gate ramble on the local moors. I had no plan, but started with the stiff walk directly to the top of the hill before descending to the far corner of the moor. A stretch of the Dales Way Link took me to Eldwick Crag, where I perched for a while as John Nicholson, the Airedale Poet is reputed to have done.

Seeing as I'd made it onto Bingley Moor, and unusually the sun was still shining, I went off path across Cornmould Heath and Wicking Crag Stones to Horncliffe Well, before returning the usual way via Weecher, Sconce Lane and Baildon Moor.

I saw a Red Kite at High Eldwick and later circling over Hawksworth Moor, possibly the same individual working its way back to to the Chevin. Kestrel and Buzzard were also about, as were numerous Red Grouse and Pheasant. It wasn't quite warm enough for butterflies though, and I now haven't seen any since October 8th. My last last year was October 14th.

Today's thorn tree sits on a field boundary between Baildon Moor and Golcar Farm, just a few yards from the historic boundary of the parishes of Baildon and Bingley. OS maps still record a boundary stone near here but I've never been able to find it.