7 May 2022

Lund

Running down the centre of The East Riding of Yorkshire, there's a river called The River Hull. To the west of it, chalky downs known at The Yorkshire Wolds undulate gently like languorous ocean waves. To the east of the river  and composed of boulder clay deposited by the last great ice age, The Plain of Holderness stretches out to The North Sea.

Growing up east of the river meant that I was much more familiar with that landscape - Holderness. To the west there were villages that were only names and seemed unembodied - Lockington, North Dalton, Beswick, Lund and Hutton Cranswick. They were but a bicycle outing distance from my home but the river divided us.

Village green in Lund

Yesterday, I visited the charming village of Lund for the first time and walked with Tony to Kilnwick - another heard of settlement never seen. The farmland in that district was was well-drained and fertile but young barleyfields of this current era are invariably bereft of insects, birds, wild mammals or weeds. It's like farming in a factory. Old hedges ripped up and fertiliser spread by machines.  The holy grail is always abundance but where are the insects meant to live? Where our feathered friends and the hedgehogs?

In that arable desert, you sometimes see lone woods like islands in a sea of green. As luck would have it, we stumbled upon Lund Moor Wood at just the right time for native bluebells. They hung on the plantation floor like a blue-violet mist cherished rarely by passing ramblers in the month of May before their beauty evaporates like the sweet songs of youth.

It was a marvellous show though I freely admit that, partly because of the light conditions,  my images  could not begin to do them justice.

Kilnwick Beck

24 comments:

  1. I've seen bluebells carpeting the forest floor in England, from a distance it almost looks like a blue lake in the woods.

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    1. And that is exactly how Lund Moor Wood looked as we approached.

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  2. Love the river of bluebells. And Kilnwick Beck too, what is the other name for Beck? Stream? Creek? Pond? I'm happy to see all these pretty parts of England. I know there must be parts that aren't so pretty.

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    1. A beck is another name for a flowing stream, River. Kilnwick (pronounced Kinnick) Beck is lovely and clear as most chalk streams are.

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  3. For some reason I'm rather taken with the name Hutton Cranswick - it seems such an unusual name, though I know there are many places with similarly unusual names.
    The bluebell woods are beautiful, but the need to feed an ever increasing population takes precedence over beauty and natural habitats.
    The grass on the village green at Lund looks as though it might be left as a wild flower meadow, but it probably hasn't had it's first cut yet.

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    1. You are very observant Lady Hutton-Cranswick.

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  4. Anonymous9:31 am

    Such tranquillity. While we can see mass flowering of daffodils, the bluebells just look so lovely.

    Well, we have to be fed and land must be given to agriculture, and destruction of the natural environment is going to become worse. Population growth needs to stop.

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    1. Population growth? That seems to be the nettle that world leaders only ever park. They never address it properly.

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  5. Bluebells in the woods! I‘ve been dreaming of experiencing that for decades, but so far my Yorkshire holidays have always been too early or too late in the year. One day…!
    Lund sounds very Norse, the place probably has Viking origins.

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    1. I expect there are some lovely bluebell woods around Fountains Abbey. I believe you are right about the Viking origin of the name "Lund".

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  6. It looks like a very peaceful rural idyll.

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    1. Yes - apart from the paucity of insects, birds and mammals. We have to imagine them.

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  7. I love the sight of bluebells in the woods. Our local park and woodland is covered with them at the moment. I also have some in my garden sown by birds.

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    1. You make birds work as your horticultural slaves? That's shocking.

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  8. It is noticeable how strong and bright in colour the bluebells are everywhere this year, well, at least in the north. I don't know about further afield.

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    1. Memories can play tricks on us but I am also aware of what seems to be a real bounty of apple blossom this year. How is it round your neck of the woods Tasker?

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  9. I walked through a Dorset cornfield along a designated trail in 2017 and didn't see a single weed or wildflower.

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    1. I have a romantic soul, so when I think of the countryside, it's different from that.

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  10. "Arable desert..." Perfect description of factory farmlands. But oh! Those bluebells!

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    1. It was a delight to stumble upon those bluebells. We had no idea they were there.

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  11. That's an amazing bluebell wood!

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    1. And unspoilt too. I wish the sun had been shining upon it.

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  12. I was happy to walk through the bluebell woods near me last week. It is a wonder and joy that I look for each year. I am glad you got to explore these areas and share them with us!

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    1. Bluebells do not last long but while they are here they can fill your heart with delight.

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