Heritage and landscape

I spent a wonderful morning with JS and KP exploring the landscape and heritage of a low-lying area north of Ufford and east of Southorpe and Barnack, which is criss-crossed with streams emerging from the adjacent limestone as well as man-made drains. JS has undertaken a lot of historical research around this area and we were able to see areas with evocative Medieval names such as 'The Moor' and 'Moor Closes' now sadly in arable cultivation.

But even so we found plenty of treasures: a spring-fed pond and crystal-clear watercourses whose banks were smothered with Primrose and Lesser Celandine,;woodlands developed on the former site of a Medieval moated manor; and the track of the railway that ran from Wansford to Stamford, complete with with remains of the old platform of Ufford station, a Victorian road bridge with tufts of Wall-rue and the largest Grey Poplar I've come across, probably planted about the time the railway was opened. 

At lunchtime KP and I headed over to the Hayloft at Uffington for a farewell lunch with the Treasurer of our local Wildlife Trust group. Fortunately it was mild as were were sitting outside under a canopy. The food was excellent and it was wonderful to catch up with friends, a couple of whom I hadn't seen face-to-face for over two years. A smaller group of us stayed on for coffee and a very decadent slice of chocolate brownie, dark and not too sweet, relaxing in the warm spring sun which appeared rather belatedly.