Our arrival in Penallt, and a visit Monmouth

Monmouth was an area which we had not explored before, having just passed below it on our way to Pembrokeshire in the past. We had a good journey, despite moderately heavy traffic, stopping at Reading service station on the M4, which looked as it had been invaded by hundreds of pensioners - bus loads of them.!!

Having left the M48, we descended rapidly onto very narrow Welsh roads until, and without too much trouble, we arrived at Annie’s Cottage. It was in a beautiful spot and was really well equipped and spotlessly clean.

Annie's Cottage 

The view from the cottage toward Monmouth soon after we arrived. 

Sunday was a different story (below) with mist rising from the valley and providing a great backdrop to the Old Church just a few meters from our cottage. 

Penallt Old Church as the mist cleared 

There are indications of a church on the site in 1254 and an internal batter to the north wall of the nave, that suggest that the present church is a rebuilding of an earlier structure. But most of what survives today is of the late C15 or early C16, with the lower half of the tower probably early C14 and then heightened in the mid C17, probably to accommodate the bells, the earliest of which is dated 1662. The new St Mary's Church had already been built in Pentwyn in 1869 with a resident curate, and this was much closer to the centre of the local population; St Mary's, Penallt then became known as the Old Church. 

The remains of a Preaching Cross in the churchyard. In the 6th and 7th centuries, wooden crosses marked the spots where priests or monks preached to the local community. The wooden cross was replaced by a more permanent stone cross, around which services were held. Later still a wooden church might well have been erected, perhaps the forerunner of the existing church? 

View from the church door. 

On the door centre is a carved heart, symbol of love, containing the initials I H S, the Latin initials for `Jesus Saviour of mankind`. with the date 1539. 

An old Parish chest, carved out of a single tree, in which the records and treasures of the community were kept in medieval times. 

The octagonal shaped font from the C17, the bowl being carved from a single stone block. One of the industries of Penallt used to be the manufacture of millstones, which were then rolled down the hill and loaded onto barges bound for Bristol. 

The original stone altar retrieved from the floor of the porch and now located in the aisle.

A record of the days when people left monies, or as in this case land, for the church and the poor of the parish, usually so that prays would be said for the soul of the departed to speed it through Purgatory! 

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Butterflies - Fermyn Woods Country Park

We chose to go to Fermyn Woods Country Park as it has a reputation of having a large number and variety of butterflies. We booked into a B&B cottage nearby in the village of Sudborough in what appears to be a converted farm building in the back garden of the owners house. It was perfect, and at a really good price. But first, to the woods to see what was about in the afternoon sun!

The whole area around the villages of Sudburough and Lowick, and also Fermyn Woods itself, were once part of the vast Rockingham Forest. It was named after the village of Rockingham, where the castle was a royal retreat. Over the years the forest shrank, and today only a patchwork of the north-eastern forest remains.

The area became a royal hunting ground for King William I after the Norman conquest. The term forest represented an area of legal jurisdiction and remained so until the 19th century.

The forest boundaries were set in 1299, although the boundaries returned to a smaller area as a result of King Charles I's actions. King Charles II took little interest in the forest and gave away or sold much of it.

By 1792 there was no significant royal ownership of the forest area. The Forestry Commission took over the remnants of public woodland in 1923.

On arriving at Fermyn Woods we nearly walked over this lovely creature just in the entrance. It is the caterpillar of the Buff-Tip moth. 

And yes, we did go to the cafe and pay our dues! Apparently, someone used a portable cutter to detach the machine from its moorings. I hope it was empty. 

Many of the images of butterflies I have posted before, but they were what we saw on the day, so here they are as a record. 

A couple of images of a Silver Washed fritillary,

Another image of a Silver Washed fritillary but with its wings closed - wouldn't think it was the same butterfly would you?

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) 

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) 

Small White (Pieris rapae) 

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) 

And last, but not least, a Six-Spot Burnet (Zygaena trifolii) 

In the village not far from our cottage was church of All Saints. Probably of C12 origins, but mainly C13 with C15 alterations, and then, as appears usual, restored in C19. It is built with squared coursed limestone with Collyweston slate and lead roofs. I couldn't find a huge amount of interesting things about this church which in many ways is overshadowed by its big neighbour in Lowick - St Peter`s. However, it tells a story of people's lives in times past. 

First thing on Tuesday morning we made our way back to Fermyn Woods to see if the early morning would produce more varieties of insects. There wasn't too much different, but it was worth the visit.

The caterpillar of the Cinnabar Moth 

Mating Six-Spot Burnet 

Pupa of a Burnet moth? 

A Harvestman ( Phalangium opilio) - what long legs you have!

The Harvestman is very distinctive with a round, compact body and extremely long legs. Although it looks like a long-legged spider, it isn’t one. It is one of the Opiliones, a group of arachnids closely related to spiders. Unlike the spiders, it has no silk glands so is not able to spin a web. It does not have fangs and does not produce venom. It catches its insect prey by using hooks on the ends of its legs. These arachnids defend themselves by secreting a foul-smelling fluid. If they are caught, they are able to shed a leg to escape. 

From Fermyn Woods we headed to Titchmarsh Nature Reserve via Lowick village.

Although Lowick church has early 14th-century origins, it is mainly late 14th and early 15th century, being built for the Greene family of Drayton House. The list of clergy shows the appointments from Nicholas de Nevil in 1217, so the current building must have been a replacement for an earlier one. Unfortunately the church was locked when we visited so I have images of the exterior. 

The tower is topped with an octagonal lantern, flying buttresses and 12 pinnacles with golden weather vanes. To me, the tower is its crowning glory, as I cannot remember seeing another like it (although there may be somewhere in England) 

An entry in the churchwardens' accounts records "taking down the rood-loft and filling the holes in May 1644. In July 1645 payment was made for the "glazing of the windows when the crucifixion and scandalous pictures were taken down" - good old Puritans! 

The building stands on high ground at the north end of the village and, with the exception of the tower, is faced with rubble. It has plain parapets and flat pitched leaded roofs. Internally all the walls are plastered. There were restorations in 1869 and 1887. 

What about this for a tower! 

The massive door of St Peter`s church Lowick. 

The villages in the area seem to have an abundance of cottages like this one in Lowick. 

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) seen on the path near Lowick Church 

Having left Lowick we drove a short distance to see what Titchmarh nature Reserve was like, as it appears to be by the river Nene and with some lakes formed by old quarrying. The idea being that perhaps we would see some dragonfly. 

Titchmarsh Nature Reserve is a 72.7 hectare Local Nature Reserve and is part of the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest. 

The River Nene runs through this site, which also has large areas of open water and grassland. There are nationally important numbers of goosanders, widgeons and gadwalls in winter, and banded demoiselle damselflies nest on nettles along the river bank.

We walked around one of the lakes using part of the Nene Way, and did see, at points, numerous Dragonflies. Photographing them? - well I had no luck with the Sony RX100 I was using, but it was great to see them. The day was, by this time, very hot, when we were expecting it to be more cloudy. Did manage to capture these Common Blue Demoiselle in a mating pose.

Just before we finished our walk we came upon these Common Blue butterflies, again in a mating pose. Must have been the hot day! 

 Index of posts

Hardknott Pass & Eskdale

Tuesday we were heading for Eskdale to do some walks which were listed as `reasonable easy`. The obvious route, which looked to be up a very steep road not far from our holiday cottage, was abandoned for a slightly longer route - mistake!

Rosey drove and the first part was narrow but very pretty including a stop we made at an area called Tongue House. The views were stunning and there were bluebells everywhere.

Birk`s Bridge Picnic spot

Moving on we stopped by the river Dudden at a bridge called Birks bridge - a very pretty picnic site as well. In the background was Dunnerdale forest. 

Motorcyclist about to go `over the edge` 

A few mile further on we turned left onto what I thought was a larger road - oh dear!! We were on Hardknott Pass. To quote Wikipedia : 

A single track road highway runs between Eskdale in the west to the edge of the neighbouring Wrynose Pass in the east. On the western side is Harter Fell and the remains of Hardknott Roman Fort (200 metres (660 ft) above sea level). 

The Hardknott Pass stands at a maximum elevation of 393 m (1,289 ft), and descends steeply at a gradient of 30% (1 in 3) into the Duddon Valley. 

The challenging 1 in 3 gradients make the route popular with cyclists. It is part of the annual Fred Whitton Challenge, a 112-mile ride around the Lake District 

The pass is described as one of the most challenging roads in Britain. A series of hairpin bends make visibility difficult in various places. 

……. and Rosey drove right through it - I was well impressed. Frankly it was an amazing experience. The photo does not show it very well at all, but on the right is the road which disappears left, and then you can just see a thin line of the road again, far below.

So we arrived at Eskdale, or more precisely Dalegarth Station for our parking spot and a well earned coffee. (We needed it!) 

The walk we had picked was only two miles but was beautiful and followed the River Esk. The Esk can be spectacular after the rain but unfortunately (depending if you are on holiday) it has been a very dry period. 

On the walk we walked along Anne’s walk, passed Stanley Gill Beck, visited St Catherine's church and admired Hartley Cragg and finished along Parsons Passage (stop smirking) and so back to the start for lunch. 

I don`t think I would have been standing here when the river was flooded to this marker in 1962. The stone marker is on the top of the bridge near the figure in red. 

Every where was yellow with great clouds. 

St Catherine's Church, Boot 

A church has been on the site since the 6th century. Who built the chapel, and when, is unknown. there is, however, a strong tradition linking it with the loss of the white ship in 1120, on St. Catherine's day.

The River Esk is easily crossed at Saint Catherine's and there are old stepping stones still used by those coming to Church and those walking from The King George up to Doctor Bridge - one of the best riverside walks in the area.

The position of this Church is determined by both the presence of the Holy Well and the Stepping Stones - it is very ancient. Fortunately the Victorians did not spoil its simplicity when they rebuilt it - a barn, beside a river, under the mountains where the Christian God has been worshipped by generations of valley people and their visitors.

All the stained glass dates from between 1889 and 1896.

Parsons Passage (the mind boggles) I guess the pathway the parson used to get to the church 

In 1445, the people of Eskdale petitioned the Pope, complaining of the hardships of the journey to St. Bees for baptism, burials and the sacraments. In the 10 mile journey, they said, there were broad waters, mountains and streams which were often in flood. The petition was referred to the Abbot of Calder Abbey to deal with as he thought fit by the Holy See. He was instructed, if the facts were true, to erect, i.e. promote, the chapel to a parish church, with burial ground, font, bell-tower and other parochial insignia, after due compensation for loss of revenue had been paid to the mother church at St. Bees.

We then decided to take a train journey - on a small steam train! This line at Dalegarth railway station is the easterly terminus of the 15" gauge Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway in Cumbria. We went both ways, taking about 40 min each way. There on a diesel engine and returned on a steam. It was brilliant.

The original Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway was a 3 ft (914 mm) line opened on 24 May 1875 to transport hematite iron ore from mines around Boot to the Furness Railway standard gauge line at Ravenglass. In 1915 Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke and Robert Proctor-Mitchell, two model makers, converted the line to the 15 in (381 mm) gauge that it is today. The first train operated over the re gauged line on August 28, 1915. By 1917, the entire line had been converted and trains were running along the whole length.

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