A River Goyt Update from Andrew Griffiths Many of you will remember that last year was not a good year for our rivers here in New Mills. First the Sett was polluted when a sewerage pipe cracked and spilled raw sewage into our little stream (from which it is still recovering) and then a long …
Since the middle of October our garden has been home for a one-footed robin; two legs but one foot, and I’ve no idea how it lost the other. It gets chucked mealworms and crumbs of cheddar from time to time and seems to do well on them, but does struggle perching, preferring to rest itself …
Eagles or Doves? Aquilegia is a really common and splendid sight at the moment on roadside verges. Originally a wild flower, there are also many cultivated varieties in gardens and many of these have escaped back into the wild leading to a confusing picture! Original wild varieties are deep blue but can also be pink or …
An exciting yet reasonably regukar visitor to New Mills the Goosander is a medium-sized duck and a member of a group called the ‘sawbills’ because of their long, narrow bills with saw-like ‘teeth’ which are excellent for gripping fish, especially the brown trout found in the River Goyt. This long sleek, streamlined bird, is perfectly …
The midpoint of the Sett Valley trail is a perfect place to stop and savour the delights of the beautiful Bird Cherry tree. A tree that loves to grow near water, there are several dotted around here in the wet woodland and by the stream bank. A particularly lovely one lies in the field by the public footpath leading up to Hayfield Road. At the moment these trees are covered in clusters of creamy blossom which have a powerful scent of almonds. Eventually the tree will develop black berries. Like most plants it had a range of uses in the past: its bark was once used to ward off the plague and its berries to dye wool. PC
Spring has well and truly sprung here in New Mills with the surrounding fields and hedgerows now blossoming. This along with the excellent weather recently has brought out some very busy bees. There is no mistaking the tawny mining bee: a honeybee-sized ginger species with a thick orange coat and a black face. They feast …
Author, Michael Ross, is appealing to children everywhere to draw and colour fairies and send them to him to be included in his new book, My Fairy Garden Book 2 There will also be a grand opening of his new bigger fairy garden in New Mills on Saturday the 8th of May at 11am. For …
Our friend Alan Howarth at Kinder Mountain Rescue has recently been doing some work on analysing the Kinder MRT callout data. Where people walk on Kinder, what the most popular routes are and if possible, where people struggle with their navigation. Having looked around for data he hit on the Strava Global Heatmap. This is …
Here’s the latest update from BEING Outdoors: To all our Forest School families, We hope you are all well and managing to get out into nature as we move forward. We are so pleased to share that we can look ahead and re-start some of our programmes as we move out of lockdown. Its been …
It’s starting to feel more like Spring, but there are still not many flowers out yet. One brightly coloured fungus that does offer a cheery dash of colour at the moment though is the scarlet elf cup. If you’re taking a walk along the Sett Valley trail or Mousley Bottom, look into the wooded edges, …
