Wishing Tree

It was a fine Sunday, so we headed up to Bolton Abbey with a picnic. It's been a while since I've been, and the first time since I started this journal. It's a very popular weekend destination hereabouts, with nice walks along the Wharfe, lots of spots for the children to paddle, and the ruin of the Abbey itself.

One of the features of the riverside walks are three wish trees, where coins have been hammered into the bark. There seem to be quite a concentration of these in the Pennines: Hardcastle Crags, Malham, Aira Force and High Force all having examples. This picture doesn't do justice to the scale of this particular tree, which blew down in the 80s, but has been retained as a pathside feature.

Later, on the other side of the river, I had only my second ever lifetime sighting of a Kingfisher, gleaming like a blue dart as it tore downstream. Later, I communed with the Jackdaws in the abbey ruins. A special day.

laden
with hopes
and dreams
treasure
of a wishing tree