Gowk Bank

Today (Saturday 16th) was the day of the Cumberland Show, as per usual, it's raining.

Cumbrian Summer

So instead of ending up wet and muddy, after tramping around the show ground, we decided to go to a little known upland hay meadow, called Gowk Bank and probably get wet and muddy there instead.

Gowk Bank and the River Irthing 

It is "one of the finest examples of traditionally managed meadow systems found in northern Britain", according to the Natural England website.

For More Info...

It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve (NNR).

With Anthoxanthum odoratum - Geranium sylvaticum grassland (MG3) , Cynosurus cristatus - Caltha palustris (MG8) and Molinia caerula - Crepis paludosa Mire (M26) listed as just some of the habitats on the SSSI.

"Please Shut The Gate"

Though if you go into the "Nature on the Map" site and put in "Gowk Bank" into the search, then click the link to the info on the Gowk Bank SSSI, it shows that all is not rosy in the meadows. With the top plateau area - unit 1-  "Unfavorable- declining and Unit 3 - "Unfavorable- No Change". The dates for the latest assessment show 2007, so I'm not sure if this is still the state. I didn't exactly have time to look that closely.

Lone orchid

What flora there was, was looking quite wet today. We got up to the site and it was reasonably dry, just the odd spot of rain. 

Looking towards the River Irthing

We got out of the car.
Walked to gate.
Walked through the gate .
The heavens opened and we retreated back to the car at speed.

There we sat for the next 10 minutes.

Hmmm.... not quite the weather I was hoping for!

At one point there was a slight break in the rain, so I took the opportunity to walk a bit further along the road and see what I could see. As the reserve is made up of a number of different fields (See the Map for more info).

Eyebright

As I was just bent over taking some photos, there was a flash of lightening and the most humongous crash of thunder right overhead.

If anyone was watching they would have seen a 26 year old, overweight female doing an excellent impression of an Olympic sprinter!

So that was that.

Lovely Weather

The only other thing that was kinda funny was on the way back down from the reserve, there were a lot of cattle stood across the road. We had the windows down (as 2 miles down the road there was bright sunshine!) and as we moved slowly through the cows, I had my camera.

This is a cow.

This is NOT a cow!!

I'm once again writing this from the back room as the thunder is crashing over head and the rain is bouncing about a foot back off the road!!* Hopefully tomorrow might be a better day and we'll have another little wonder up


*Hence why this has been posted today, Sunday 17th.