Corenvirons-20, Part 2

Today's episode of 'What Tense does on his daily perambulation' is, rather unromantically, half a mile of tarmac called the Tieve Road. There have been a few mentions of this lane in the blog over the years, so this post isn't going to be hugely ground-breaking in terms of knowledge. I thought I would admit that fact straight away, as I would hate to pull the wool over your eyes, but I sheepishly thought that I might set the post in a slightly different context.

1882

1903

2019

As can be seen from the maps and satellite view, not too much has changed in nearly 140 years, other than extensions to the kirk cemetery. Most of the field boundaries are still as they were in the 19th Century.

We will begin our mini-travelogue at the junction with Cornquoy Road, down by the shore and adjacent to the old kirk.

The latest extension to the cemetery can be seen on the right in the above photo. Proceeding in a generally northerly direction, we will proceed up the Tieve Road to the junction with Greenwall/Warthill Roads.

At this time of year, before the grass has begun to dominate the verges, Dandelion and Lesser Celandine provide some vibrant colour, and I guess also pollen and nectar for early insects.

But perhaps the most impressive flora of the moment is Marsh Marigold, which abounds in the ditch bottoms, as this part of the lane has plenty of flowing water.

And all that water is emanating from springs in this small paddock, 'teeve', 'tave' or 'tieve' being the dialect word for a well.

The paddock itself is usually home to a few sheep, but at the moment contains just one ram who, to my consternation, was a bit of a photo-bomber.

The final stretch of the road is much drier, with no obvious ditches, so our eyes tend to stray to the fields on either side, on the look out for Brown Hares hunkering down amongst the tussocks of grass. None today sadly.

Corenvirons-20 data

Target: Tieve Road
Location: begins HY511006, ends HY515012
Distance from Tense Towers (as the dragon flies): 1.45km (maximum)
Hazards: Still carrying my work phone, photo-bombing ovine
Mission accomplished: Yes
Comments: I seriously mis-calculated my ability to ignore the constant sound of running water...