Sunken Lanes

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 We went for a walk around Kirkby Stephen this week and part of the route went via a "sunken lane". (see this National Trust blurb Sunken Lanes.

Footsteps - time - and rain have eroded the path to a couple of metres below the fields on either side. I would not be surprised if this path was over 1000 years old. As such this presents a very special ecosystem and wildlife corridor. The plants that line the paths preserve the ancient flora.
As a bonus on this walk we saw a kingfisher on the edge of the River Eden - too fleeting a glimpse to photograph.
This is a milestone post. I started this blog a year ago this week. There have been 232 posts and over 2000 visits are recorded to the site. I started this as an antidote to Covid lockdown without any idea it would carry on. I am going to keep going - but perhaps include wildlife that I have seen outside of the Eden valley now that travel is a bit easier.

Diary.
A polecat on the camera trap last night and a fox the night before.
Its little milder today with temps above zero C. We saw some roe deer a couple of fields away the other morning.

Books.
For more reading about ancient tracks I recommend "Roads and Tracks of the Lake District " by Paul Hindle.
My Christmas reading was another book about the local area called "The Stream Invites us To Follow" by Dick Capel. A sensitively written book exploring the area around the River Eden from source to sea.




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