When out for a walk with Jack last Thursday, we found a kestrel sitting on the side of the road. It was lovely to see such a beautiful bird so close up, but equally, worrying that it was not trying to fly away!


So we contaced the RSPB who suggested taking the kestrel to the Falconry Centre near Settle. We contacted them yesterday to check on how the bird was doing. It is eating well, but they had nevertheless contacted a vet to come and check the bird professionally.

Gaping Gill

7am. Nudge Diane, sleepy, next to me in bed. Lovely morning - do you fancy doing Gaping Gill? Ooooohhh, errrr, NO!
7.30am. Left the house. The valley mist has almost gone. It's bright & sunny, only a light breeze. The Bowland Hills behind Keasden, across the valley are clear & full of colour.

A brisk walk the quarter mile to Newby Cote. Nothing moves. A gentle "Coo" from Richard's racing pigeons as I go by. Over the stile & up the track. Short stop at the top of the first pull to remove the 'top' - it's a lovely day!
As the wall to the right veers away, head for the shallow valley straight ahead & follow up that until after about ½mile a tractor track comes in from the left. Follow that uphill to the right. On top there's a level area of "moss". Keep walking, now "off-piste", in line with the escarpment coming off Simon Fell and you'll see Fell Beck against its backdrop. As you get closer, you'll see the tented city that is the Craven Pothole Club's Gaping Gill Winch meet. Time 8.15am. Its taken 45 mins brisk walking.

£15 gets you down (& back up again!) They start 9am weekdays & 8/8.30 weekends. Morning waits may be about an hour, afternoons possibly 2 hours, depending on traffic. Message is - get there as early as possible. And they don't stop except if a flood is forecast.

Descent is damp (ascent is wetter!). The shaft varies in width. Mosses give way to bare rock as the daylight recedes. Soon you're at the bottom & being ushered away from the chair on uneven ground. Need time for your eyes to adjust to the low light. A huge cavern, towering height, did the guide say 100yds long, 300 ft to the surface? Three (more?) waterfalls falling into the chamber, air swirling with spray. Dimly lit. Next time take a torch, with a focussed beam, so you can see details. Photos, don't use flash.
Take it in. Absorb the feel. Gosh! Been down here an hour. Time to go home.
What a wonderful morning!

July

Phew!
A really busy July and finally one night off . We've had walkers & tourers & cyclists, visitors coming by train & car & motorbikes, and people just escaping to the peace & quiet. Some know the area better than we do, others discovering the Dales for the first time and seeing what a beautiful part of the country this is.
Working in the garden was interrupted one day by a succession of probably over 50 old cars, mostly of pre-war vintage (similar in appearance to my Dad's first car - a Morris 8). We later found out that there had been a rally at Harrogate, at which a Dutch couple who stayed with us, had been with their Triumph TR3. What a wonderfully deep throbbing sound! It was absolutely spotless - outside, inside, engine - absolutely gleaming! A pity it rained!

The Pygmy Shrew!

Sitting on our kitchen doorstep this morning, in the sun, without a care in the world, was this little one - a pygmy shrew. Nose to tail no more than two inches! It hopped in & out of the crevices between stones in the wall & between the paving slabs.

We did move it though, further up the steps & popped it under the lavender bush where it can get access to more wall and away from being under Jack's nose!

Bees again!

The last week has been the busiest for Crooklands bees! Tuesday saw Sue and James help me go through the 3 hives we now have on site. First was to check that the new queen had successfully hatched, mated and returned to my first hive; and all was successful, as not only did we see new eggs, but spotted the new queen!

Then it was to go through the new hive, as I had not seen any pollen going in for some days. It was evident that the queen had left, so, after some manipulation, hope the new queen cell hatches with the same success as my first hive.

Finally, on Saturday, had to re-unite the queen that had left this pictured hive and taken up residence in the nuc box that I had set up in case the bees decided to swarm. Hopefully that has been successful too. In all, must have spent close on 8 hours dealing with bees in a week! John has declared himself a "Bee widow"!

We have had a number of guests recently who are all keen gardeners, yet all of us do not know what this perennial is! It is about 3 feet high, the leaves are rounded at the base, yet palmated further up. All have admired it, but what it is remains a secret so far!

Have resorted to e-mailing Julie who planted the garden in the hopes she can give us the name of what is a lovely shrub!

The Bees

It's two months now since our new bees arrived making a total of three hives at Crooklands. It's been a difficult year for beekeeping as weather patterns have been different from last year, with early sun & warmth followed by cold & damp, & latterly close & thundery, which has resulted in grumpy bees!

The Clapham Bee Group, of which Crooklands is one has been trying to "grow our stock" by encouraging new queen bees to develop. With the help & advice of our BBKA inspector(www.bbka.org.uk), we hope to raise 3 or 4 more queens this season.

As we only began a year ago, it is still early days - we are very much still on "L" plates - we do not expect to take honey from our hives yet, but hope to soon. Home produced honey for the Guests' breakfast table? - not yet, but we, or they, the bees, are working on it!