Cyprinus Carpio - breathtaking scope, sweeping in scale, worth the time and pint. "Desert Attack" as it was known in the States, was released in 1958 along with Lean's epic Bridge on the River Kwai.
Cypripedia (sp?) growing conditions list was a cause for mirth - but really, it seems 89.999% of plants require the same!!! Plants will grow when and where they wish, I’ve learned. And while I’ve been taught many a lesson about care of seedlings, cuttings, established perennials & shrubs, etc, I am still being schooled and surprised, almost daily, by what grows. So the care you’ve taken to note the various natives you encountered on your adventure and their details is much appreciated!
You are right of course, and I grow a lot of other orchids and if "something" isn't right they just die on you, quickly or slowly. But with Cyps the margin for error, environmental tolerance, is so much less. Get it right and they can grow like dandelions!
Thanks for the links Geoff, I will check those out.
I've done some climbing wall stuff, but not the real thing.
Some years ago I visited the Kakadu NP and did the classic Nourlangie lookout walk, looking out over the floodplains to infinity; and another to see some 2000yo aboriginal rock art. The Blue Mountains visit also prompted a walk.
It was an incredible 3 weeks and I'm overdue another visit. But no scamdemic lockdowns again please 🙏
Can't say I've been to the Yorkshire dales (yet) but I have been to the peak district a couple of times.
Even basically commandeered a replacement rail coach service in one instance. British rail couldn't organise themselves for toffee so I stepped up to the plate during one of my days off wanting to travel, got passengers to their respective coaches and annoyed the hi-viz twats so much they pulled a spare coach just to take me to the one obscure train stop I was going to just to get me to stop showing them up.
The coach driver then said he doubted they'd send another coach to pick me up from my stop and offered to take me on a tour of the peak district instead given no-one else was onboard, which I gracefully accepted. He was a local of the area. Didn't even have to get my feet wet!
Hey, well played. "If life gives you lemons.." and all that. Our new WEF Marxist government is committed to renationalising our rail service. 'Nuff said? 🤦
And Starmer is wasting no time in putting a jack boot on democracy. Try voting against avian flu totalitarianism, see what happens.
***
Labour suspends seven rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap
Former shadow chancellor John McDonell among Labour MPs who have had whip suspended for six months
I've been around long enough I can honestly say there's no real difference between nationalised and privatised trains. Only in the last few years have they finally scrapped trains that have been around since I was a child (back when British Rail was still government owned!) and I can honestly say the only thing that changed were the livery designs; an apt descriptor of our democracy.
The newer trains are basically overpriced, outsourced, imported, foreign (usually Japanese) trains that somehow make the overall experience worse; the plug sockets don't work (the mainline power source cannot supply enough energy), the toilets randomly unlock themselves with their super-sophisticated digital interfaces, there's fewer toilets net on the train (a crowded 7-8 carriage train had like... two), somehow there's even less space in the standard toilets, and on top of scrapping first class (no more tables!) they've somehow made the gangways *painful* to get through by installing large, chunky metal "handles" that stick out into the narrow gangways so you can injure yourself as the train wobbles like a fat politician chuckling to himself in Parliament.
It now comes complete with digitalised 'you are here' displays because apparently everyone is an idiot with zero space perception, and it can automatically sense when a carriage is a sardine tin (full). You can only find this information out after you get squashed on. It'll even broadcast to the entire carriage when someone is in the loo, because what we really needed was even less privacy.
Can't help but feel the basic LED displays were a lot cheaper than these high resolution laptop screens found in every section being used to show me what my own train looks like. Someone made bank.
Thank you for sharing your hike through the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Very detail orientated, I would be concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and trying to avoid breaking a leg never mind taking note of the flora and fauna. Lovely photographs and they helped me appreciate your adventure.
Cyprinus Carpio - breathtaking scope, sweeping in scale, worth the time and pint. "Desert Attack" as it was known in the States, was released in 1958 along with Lean's epic Bridge on the River Kwai.
Thanks! I prefer the more well known title. Good film.
That was lovely. Thanks.
Cypripedia (sp?) growing conditions list was a cause for mirth - but really, it seems 89.999% of plants require the same!!! Plants will grow when and where they wish, I’ve learned. And while I’ve been taught many a lesson about care of seedlings, cuttings, established perennials & shrubs, etc, I am still being schooled and surprised, almost daily, by what grows. So the care you’ve taken to note the various natives you encountered on your adventure and their details is much appreciated!
You are right of course, and I grow a lot of other orchids and if "something" isn't right they just die on you, quickly or slowly. But with Cyps the margin for error, environmental tolerance, is so much less. Get it right and they can grow like dandelions!
Makes me homesick for England! Good friends took me from Bristol to the dales in 1980.
My 9th cousin twice removed paid a visit in 2021.
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/yorkshire-folk-love-joanna-lumley-19761045
In my days at Monash I went rock climbing at Hanging Rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJzQB_H5-0
Thanks for the links Geoff, I will check those out.
I've done some climbing wall stuff, but not the real thing.
Some years ago I visited the Kakadu NP and did the classic Nourlangie lookout walk, looking out over the floodplains to infinity; and another to see some 2000yo aboriginal rock art. The Blue Mountains visit also prompted a walk.
It was an incredible 3 weeks and I'm overdue another visit. But no scamdemic lockdowns again please 🙏
Can't say I've been to the Yorkshire dales (yet) but I have been to the peak district a couple of times.
Even basically commandeered a replacement rail coach service in one instance. British rail couldn't organise themselves for toffee so I stepped up to the plate during one of my days off wanting to travel, got passengers to their respective coaches and annoyed the hi-viz twats so much they pulled a spare coach just to take me to the one obscure train stop I was going to just to get me to stop showing them up.
The coach driver then said he doubted they'd send another coach to pick me up from my stop and offered to take me on a tour of the peak district instead given no-one else was onboard, which I gracefully accepted. He was a local of the area. Didn't even have to get my feet wet!
Hey, well played. "If life gives you lemons.." and all that. Our new WEF Marxist government is committed to renationalising our rail service. 'Nuff said? 🤦
And Starmer is wasting no time in putting a jack boot on democracy. Try voting against avian flu totalitarianism, see what happens.
***
Labour suspends seven rebels who voted to scrap two-child benefit cap
Former shadow chancellor John McDonell among Labour MPs who have had whip suspended for six months
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/23/labour-mps-vote-to-scrap-two-child-benefit-cap-in-first-rebellion-for-starmer
I've been around long enough I can honestly say there's no real difference between nationalised and privatised trains. Only in the last few years have they finally scrapped trains that have been around since I was a child (back when British Rail was still government owned!) and I can honestly say the only thing that changed were the livery designs; an apt descriptor of our democracy.
The newer trains are basically overpriced, outsourced, imported, foreign (usually Japanese) trains that somehow make the overall experience worse; the plug sockets don't work (the mainline power source cannot supply enough energy), the toilets randomly unlock themselves with their super-sophisticated digital interfaces, there's fewer toilets net on the train (a crowded 7-8 carriage train had like... two), somehow there's even less space in the standard toilets, and on top of scrapping first class (no more tables!) they've somehow made the gangways *painful* to get through by installing large, chunky metal "handles" that stick out into the narrow gangways so you can injure yourself as the train wobbles like a fat politician chuckling to himself in Parliament.
It now comes complete with digitalised 'you are here' displays because apparently everyone is an idiot with zero space perception, and it can automatically sense when a carriage is a sardine tin (full). You can only find this information out after you get squashed on. It'll even broadcast to the entire carriage when someone is in the loo, because what we really needed was even less privacy.
Can't help but feel the basic LED displays were a lot cheaper than these high resolution laptop screens found in every section being used to show me what my own train looks like. Someone made bank.
Progress eh? But then it wasn't true privatisation before. Profits were privatised but losses were nationalised. Made bank indeed.
Ah, yes. I call that 'socialism for corporations'.
Bankers need their welfare handouts too! Just ask Goldman Sachs!
Thank you for sharing your hike through the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Very detail orientated, I would be concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and trying to avoid breaking a leg never mind taking note of the flora and fauna. Lovely photographs and they helped me appreciate your adventure.
Thank you. I was lone walking so needed to be especially careful. And I didn't pass a soul going up round Gordale until I'd passed the summit.
What an incredible hike! Absolutely beautiful.
I'd been to the cove a few times, but somehow never did this classic hike until a couple of weeks ago.
That meadowsweet contains salicylic acid and is an excellent anti-inflammatory, multi use herb. Perhaps one for your future stacks.
Good tip, thanks! I will add it to the list.