The Quiet Paths

Helmshore – 17th July

The heat is back.

Pepper and I have been rising early to enjoy our morning walks before the day becomes too hot, although I must admit I’m finding it a little hard going.

We escaped to the coast for the weekend, spending two nights at Red Bank Farm overlooking Morecambe Bay.

Even there, with a light breeze drifting in from the sea, it was simply too warm to do very much. Saturday was spent happily lounging outside the van, interrupted only when a sparrowhawk flashed over the roof and into the hedgerow, missing a family of sparrows by mere inches.

Back home, the moors are alive with the constant chatter of meadow pipits and skylarks.

Our early morning wanderings have also rewarded us with fleeting glimpses of both short-eared owls and little owls. Neither lingered long enough for a photograph, but some encounters are no less special for remaining only in memory.

On Friday morning we climbed Musbury Tor. The smell of smoke from the Dovestones and Darwen wildfires hung in the air, while the view across towards Manchester was softened beneath a hazy sky.

Watching the devastation unfold on the news leaves me feeling deeply saddened, particularly for the wildlife that makes these moors such a special part of my life. The landscape will recover in time, but for this year’s fawns, chicks and cubs, there will be no second chance. It is a heartbreaking reminder of the lasting consequences that can follow the carelessness of a few.