Jodrell Bank

The second in the occasional series of alternative views of familiar scenes and structures. Here is the Jodrell Bank radiotelescope out of focus behind the flowering heads of hogweed. There's an echo of the shape and architecture of the satellite dish in the plant's umbels.

The long drive home from Southampton to Cumbria with the weather getting cooler and greyer as we went further north. We headed for Jodrell Bank for a cup of tea and stretch of the legs, but alas we arrived just as they were closing, so there wasn't chance to have a walk round. I've blipped it before, but wanted something a bit different this time. Another reason for diverting was a massive tailback on the M6, with all carriageways closed for a while. When we set off again, we tried to avoid the jam with a diversion around the Warrington ringroad - big mistake.

Anyway, we eventually arrived home. The runner beans are growing well (the roe deer haven't managed to get to them yet), and Bob the Cat was pleased to see us.

Afternote: it's been troubling me that in my rush to get the photo of JB I didn't really look at the umbellifer, just assuming that on size grounds it was hogweed. Now I'm not so sure, it has bracts below the main umbel - which hogweed is not meant to have. Trouble is, the pics were not meant to be botaniccal, so don't have any leaf details or enough flower detail to go on.