My walking boots finally lost their long struggle with life and got replaced recently. The just as I was about to go and try breaking them in, the British weather did what it normally does and decided to complete mess all my plans up. I spent the bank holiday weekend here the UK lying in the shade panting like an old dog as the country was suddenly subjected to 30+°C temperatures. In May. Crazy. ...
Just outside of the town of Stromness in Orkney sits a piece of land around two lochs - the loch of Stenness and the Loch of Harray. This piece of land is probably one best collections of neolithic sites until you reach Turkey. I’ve already discussed the amazing Maeshowe and the chambered cairn at Unstan but there are other sites here and all warrant a viewing. Prior to my schedule booking I had some time to spend in the area around Maeshowe and Stromness. I’d started off with considerably more recent history, exploring a WWII gunnery battery but eventually the rain stopped and I fancied doing the 5000 year old stuff. ...
(Or Chambers that are Maeshowe) I did start struggling to write a blog on Maeshowe so I started with the other chambered cairns I visited first. Not because the visit wasn’t excellent (it was), not because Maeshowe isn’t one of most amazing neolithic sites I’ve visited (it is), but simply because Historic Environment Scotland makes some of the experience so utterly unpleasant. First off, the booking problems I mentioned previously. When I’ve been on Orkney prior to this trip, I’ve tried to get in on a tour on the only day I’ve had free, and been denied every-time. This time, I had to book 3 months in advance to get the day (but not the time) I wanted. There were empty seats on my tour which suggests they can fit people in - they just couldn’t be arsed with me. ...
Neolithic Orkney (Part 1 - Chambers that are not Maeshowe) I’ll get to Maeshowe in a later blog and following from my moan about Scottish tourism, I was able to visit. The moan stands (there were two unused places on my trip) but the site is remarkably and I’ll discuss my visit when I have time to write it up. Someone will have to fact check me, but it feels like mainland Orkney (which is the largest island, not the actual British mainland) must have more Neolithic ruins per metre than anywhere else in the British Isles, and unlike the modern landscape further south, here it really feels like you can see why our ancient ancestors chose these spots, even if their reasons for doing so remain opaque. There are stones here too, huge solo standing stones as well as stone circles. Also neolithic villages showing a life and housing beyond the more ceremonial buildings. ...
The Orkney islands off the top of Scotland form almost a ring around Scapa Flow a piece of water that was used by the British Navy as a deep water achorage in both wars and held the intered German Imperial fleet at the end of WWI. It was in the 2nd world war however when one of its greatest tragedies occurred. On October 14th 1939 - HMS Royal Oak was at anchor with a crew of 1234 men and boys (teenage sailors in training) when U Boat U-47 was able to penetrate the defences and get into Scapa Flow. There she unleashed torpedoes, an action resulting in the death of 834 men. I may do a full blog on the story of the ‘Bull of Scapa Flow’ commander of U-47 and how she was able to negate the British defences at some point, but for now, the story is well documented elsewhere. ...
This blog will contain a large amount of swearing. Don't read if you're of a sensitive disposition. Also if you disagree with me, I don't care and don't wish to hear about it - good for you, call me something under your breath but don't post or email me And I’m not even talking about the absolute shit show that is the current administration in number 10. A Prime minister that no one wants challenged by no one, probably leading to months of a neutered government that won’t do anything as they wait and hope Andy Burnham gets elected somewhere and can come and take over. ...
Pretty much this is now a yearly ritual - go out of find species of British native orchids growing in meadows, woodlands, and roadside verges. I now have a list of sites I return to year after year where I know I can find a specific species. Last night - Anacamptis morio or the green winged orchid. Growing in a lovely meadow, surrounded by bluebells and cowslips this early orchid so called (common name) due to the green veining on its flowers. ...
I may use Russian words for places in this article, this simply reflects both the history (Ukraine was part of the USSR at this point in history) and the fact I'm more familiar with Russian language than Ukrainian. This doesn't imply any political bias on my part! Forty years ago on 26th April 1986 the Chernobyl (Чернобыль) nuclear power plant reactor 4 exploded. Located close to the city of Pripyat (Припять). The story of how this happened and the aftermath is covered in extensive depth in a number of places and I’m not going to go over that ground in this blog. The HBO series and a myriad of books, documentaries, podcasts and such will explain the background for those curious. ...
Away from home for this blog, I recently got to stay in the county of Dorset in the UK, and whilst I had a very very limited time to explore, the property I was in was very close to a fascinating neolithic landscape. Staying inland, the landscape isn’t really different to that of Worcestershire with rolling farmland bisected by roads and in this case the busy A35 that every year ferries tourists like myself into Weymouth and Portland. However, unlike Worcestershire they have not destroyed all remnants of the past. There are a lot of features in one very small area but also more along the coast. Focusing on the area I was in, as that’s really all I had time to explore, there was a long barrow, lots of bell barrows, a lone standing stone, and as I’m cheating and counting in a previous visit to the area, just down the road a really nice little stone circle. ...
A look at modern orchid growing, and which plants I've had success with in UK conditions that don't involve a greenhouse. Hopefully helpful to other growers. Paphiopedilum bellatulum or the egg-in-a-nest orchid with the Latin etymology appropriately coming from ‘bellus’ meaning beautiful, grows in Myanmar, Yunnan province in China and nearby areas of Thailand. It entered cultivation initially as a result of the British Raj (well indirectly!). During the 2nd Burmese war, the British founded Fort Stedman on the shores of lake Inle in modern day Myanmar and its later commander, a Mr Moore, was responsible for collecting the first specimen plants and shipping them back home to the nursery of Messrs Low & Co in England. Described in 1888 as a Cypripedium it was reclassified in 1892 as a Paphiopedilum. ...