Burnmoor Tarn

Burnmoor Tarn in the Eskdale Valley.

This was formally my last day of employment with Natural England, though in practice because of leave arrangements I had finished work a month earlier. I went to Burnmoor with my colleague M, who visits on a quarterly and volunteer basis to take water samples as part of a national monitoring network. As you can see, I magicked up a blue sky in the Lake District for our walk up to the Tarn from Boot, this after some grotty weather earlier in the week, and in contrast to most of M's visits to this and the other tarn in the western fells that she monitors.

Burnmoor is a natural tarn sitting in the foothills of Scafell in what is said to be a moraine hollow. The photo is taken at the point where it first becomes visible on the ascent, given that it sits in something of a bowl.  Its maximum depth is 13 metres. It's what is called an oligotrophic water body, low in nutrients and minerals, sitting as it does in an acid catchment. This was originally selected for monitoring of the effect of acid rain, whereas now that is no longer such an issue, it will have its value in detecting any atmospheric nitrogen deposition.

It was a good day out, and a fitting end to my paid employment, spending it in M's excellent company. I had gone back to work in January 2018 after being treated for leukaemia, and I had been in two minds as to whether to return to work at all. I'm glad that I did, or else I never would have had the chance to work with M who had started with us when I was on sick leave. My last two years were a real joy, just what I needed to end my career on a positive note after a couple of difficult years of illness.

Hopefully I shall be invited back to Burnmoor later this year.

Back blipped on 21 January 2020