Vaccary Wall

I'm running very late tonight, only getting around to my blip just before midnight. I've had some final work things to deal with after cycling back home tonight via Lancashire! It always amuses the boys when I tell them that. They can't quite get their heads around why I would want to turn a 12 mile commute into a 36 mile one! The reason is the desire to keep the training going in this fabulous weather, but also because it is simply an epic ride, via Cullingworth and Haworth, Stanbury and Laneshawbridge, Black Lane Ends and right around the top of the ridge to Cononley, then up and over into Silsden and the back road to Ilkley via Addingham Moorside.

I was well organised and took a little rucksack with a number of layers. I started in shirtsleeves in wonderful warm evening sunshine, but had three layers and my mittens on by the time I got home. It was stunningly beautiful on the tops towards the end, with the crescent moon still accompanied by Jupiter and Venus, and an orange glow in the sky to the west. I love riding high in the hills at dusk. The strangest thing tonight was continually moving between pockets of alternately cold and warm air. In the dips, which had been out of the sun for a while, the temperature had dropped significantly, but it was never long before you climbed out of them to encounter warm air again.

Today's blip is from Wycoller in Lancashire. As I was descending at speed from the old Herders Inn towards Laneshawbridge I caught sight of these stones in a field. It was just a glimpse, but I was compelled to stop and track back to take a closer look. I've not seen anything quite like it before. After a bit of googling it turns out that this is a so-called Vaccary wall, dating back to the 14th century when this estate was used for breeding cattle. It's amazing to see it so well preserved. With the sun very low in the sky, setting close to Pendle Hill, these ancient stones were almost glowing in the evening light.

I've had so many strands of thought in my head while doing all this cycling, but I never seem to have the time or energy in the evening to give voice to them. I was going to talk about yesterday's shot, which has rather fascinated me, but I think that will have to wait for now. It was one of those shots that I only casually brushed over at first, but surprised me with the feel it had after a bit of processing. It's kind of grown on me more and more since posting it ... but I'm not sure why!