Nature Diaries

I have been browsing around a few nature diary sites recently, just to see what other people have been doing. There is some great stuff out there, not all strictly nature sites some more concerned with sense of place. There are a few examples below with a screen shot and a link. As I develop this blog I intend to assemble a link collection for my own benefit if nothing else.

Wild West Yorkshire. Richard Bell's wonderful nature diary with entries for nearly every day since 1999. A mixture of quick black and white sketches and more detailed colour work. Also some photography. A very large site to explore with hundreds of pages.

Bird artist Catherine Hamiltons Home Page.In the form of a nature diary, all images and text hand drawn by herself.

Fujioka's Home page. The home page of a flyfishing enthusiast in Japan. Illustrations hand painted by Fujioka. These are particular favourites of mine. You can also download 3-d card models of fish to cut out and assemble yourself.

Tintwistle Memorial Stone

I have just returned from a couple of weeks camping near Cambridge. Nothing of great importance to note. Upon my return I was pleased to track down and see for myself the marker stone (shown above) which is set in the wall next to the busy A628 just outside Tintwistle. The text of the stone reads "BURNED DOWN. TWO CHILDREN BURNT TO DEATH AGED 3 AND 5 YEARS. AUGUST 17, 1853." The tragic incident was reported in the Manchester Guardian on the 26th August of that year. Apparently the two children were alone in the thatched hut where the family lived, their father had gone out to work, their mother was weeding a patch of potatoes close by. When she saw the hut enveloped in smoke, she tried to go in for the children but was unable to save them and the roof fell in. The two children were buried in one coffin. At the inquest which took place at the Black Bull Tintwistle, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death but stating that there had been gross neglect. The marker stone is well known to Tintwistle residents particularly the older ones but the background story was brought to my attention in the book "Reservoirs in the Hills" by Tom Quayle. The book tells the fascinating story of the construction of the reservoirs in the Longdendale Valley but is now out of print.