Today's walk - Soyland's Green Lanes

Eleven of us plus the very cheerful and enthusiastic Meg the dog went on today's walk  which was a mixture of green lanes, woods, pasture and country roads, walking the paths which  folk would have taken many years ago to go to and from the mills near Mill Bank and Kebroyd up to the 18th century textile entrepreneur Sam Hill's Making Place Hall in Soyland. We saw a variety of things - including a bumblebee's nest which had been disturbed; an English Oak (Quercus robur) which is a rare find in Calderdale; a Marsh Harrier being mobbed by crows; the wonderfully named Pick-a-back plant (Tolmiea menziessi) on the river side; a deer bounding over a meadow; Changing Forget-me-Not; different walling styles and scratchings of vegetation by a badger.  Peachysteve taught us how to recognise Broad Buckler Fern easily and showed us fascinating aspects of specific trees.  Everyone added to the mix of knowledge and of friendship and it was lovely to see new faces join us!  And the rain came only at the very end of the walk!