When checking the weather forecast on Saturday evening we were pleased to see that Sunday morning would be bright, dry and sunny (if a little bit chilly). What awaited us in the Peak District, however, was not what we were expecting.
Instead of being greeted by sunshine, we were dismayed to find the skies grey, dreary and completely uninspiring. Not to be perturbed, we ploughed on with our walk and had a thoroughly wonderful time.
A section of our route was undergoing deforestation, as part of ongoing conservation efforts. Japanese Larch trees were being felled to be replaced by native species such as Oak, Birch and Ash.
The area looked a mess, but it was all part of a grand plan. This got me thinking about human involvement/interference in a whole host of ecosystems. 'We' like to think that we know best, but often it is our own mess that we are clearing up after. I wouldn't profess to know the first thing about forest management, but it seems odd that forests (and other ecosystems), that have coped just fine without human interference for eons, suddenly need 'managing'.
I took this picture as I thought that the topography of the hillside was very interesting.
The formation of this valley is the result of flowing water carving into the soft limestone over tens of thousands of years. That basic understanding of erosion doesn't help to explain the lumpy bumpy mounds in this picture. One theory of mine is that these mounds will be made of a harder rock, and so as the water was cutting the valley these sections were left.
If there are any Geology Steemers out there I would love to find out how these formations were created?
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Ta ra for now.