Darwin on line

Cambridge University Library have now put the Darwin manuscripts and publications on line. This facility has made his work available to everyone for the first time. The works include the draft of his theory of evolution from 1842 and notes from his voyage on the Beagle 1831-1836. I have just downloaded his 1871 book - The Descent of Man (first edition) - in its two volumes. This will be the first time that I have read this early work. I read his 1882 The Descent of Man (second edition) some years ago.

Link to Darwin on line

I am in favour of making such works available for everyone to read. In the past I have transcribed and translated papers on fossil pterosaurs to make them available on line. Lets have lots more of this type of work on the internet.

Pterosaur Papers

Teversal Manor

Teversal Manor is a house in Derbyshire which is run as a cafe and gift shop. The food is first class and the service is excellent. Attached to the house is a splendid garden which is arranged in two parts. The main area behind the house is laid to lawn and beds, dropping in levels with steps between. At the side is a maze of smaller beds and features, forming a sculpture garden
We know the Manor from one of our relatives working there. Today we went to meet one of Rosies old friends from the distant past. We had an excellent day.
Walking in the gardens was a delight. The flower beds are just starting to look impressive, with blooms appearing everywhere and trees in blossom. After the rains, there is still some work to do. I was disappointed to find that thieves had stolen the ornate lead roofing from the sun house and the gazebo.
In a few weeks, the garden will be at its best, with more blooms and the developing beds finished to show new exhibits to their full potential.
We are looking forward to a return visit in the summer, to see the changes and perhaps photograph some butterflies and bees.

http://www.teversalmanor.co.uk/

Heron

Heron are very distinctive birds. They sit almost vertically at the waters edge waiting for the world to slow down to their pace. When they decide to move, they seem to do so in slow motion.
This Grey Heron was spotted on the edge of the pond of the Moat House Hotel at Acton Trussell in South Staffordshire. It was clearly at home with the ducks and crows.
I have seldom seen Heron walking around, but this one was clearly content to do so, on the neatly dresses grass lawns amongst the daffodils.
There must be plenty of fish in the pond to keep an adult Heron interested to the extent that you can walk within 20 meters of it without it showing any real concern.

Goin Go Anly

Rosie wanted to go to the museum today. It is ages since we have been there. Hanley is the centre of The Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent. It has an excellent Museum and lots of interesting shops and cafe's, though you do have to hunt them out. The six towns making up Stoke-on-Trent are Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton and Longton (the latter two are known as the Neck End). Collectively, these towns within the city constitute The Potteries.

Our own local cartoonist, Dave Follows, has an exhibition in the Museum at present. His famous characters, "Me an Mar lady" are the centre piece of a very interesting exhibition. This celebrates the unique and querky dialects of the potteries, where phrases like "Jo Jo Tell" and "Serry Duk" often confuse strangers in droves. ("The George Hotel" and "I apologise") See Rosies Blog
Of course, one of the most famous sons of the potteries (Josiah Wedgwood, Sir Stanley Matthews and Robby Williams aside) is Reginald Mitchell, the designer of the famous Spitfire. The Museum has an example of this historic fighter aircraft, which is in the process of being refurbished. RW388 was given to the city in 1969. It is a mark 16 Spitfire, though it came without its guns at the time.
There is a bitterly cold wind today as the weather blows in as easterlies from the Russian Step. I wonder if the swallows that are flying over the local fields and lakes to catch insects regret coming over so early from Africa?

Life near the forest edge

Now that the Lancaster bomber has destroyed our old house (Thanks Robert!) we are left to scavenge at the edge of the forest. What fun.Recently I have been following the lives of a group of Fallow deer who live in the Kings Wood. These deer occasionally come out onto the local farm pastures to rest, and I was really please with my photograph of them on the horizon, This group of hinds can be seen resting, oblivious to the presence of the camera. This is my favorite kind of photography.

More often, the deer can be seen in the forest, keeping a good distance from the public paths and seeking shelter in the trees. The Kings Wood has several valleys, falling away from a ridge. It is difficult to see into the depths of these areas and the deer can quickly nip from one valley to the next, unobserved.
The hinds and the stags form separate groups for most of the year, only coming together at the rut. At this time of year it is quite difficult to know whether you are looking at hinds or stags at a distance - much easier when the stags are in antler.

Recovering Old Pictures

This week I have been rescuing some of my degrading negatives and converting them to digital format. I feel that I have had a very successful time of this, with few problems. These are some of my favourite images from this part of my photographic nostalgia trip.
This seat is at Rufford Park in Nottinghamshire. It is in itself a fine sculpture in concrete, and just good fun. The picture is from the 1980's, when negative film was not always the best quality. (I had more hair then, but my taste in shirts has not changed!)
In 1935, my grandfather had this photograph taken of my father. It is a black and white negative print which has been hand coloured using film dyes. It was photographed in 1988 to record the colour, which was rapidly fading.
Poor quality film, is a problem. The shot of a Lancaster Bomber, taken in 1976, has been enhanced using computer technology. The colour and the grainy quality of the original have been rendered to give a good quality image from a really poor photograph, obscured by plexiglass reflections near the camera lens. This type of work does take a bit of time to achieve.
Most roles of film have the odd shot that is flashed out at the end of the emulsion. Such images are seldom printed, but they can be recovered - I do not have the inclination to enhance this photograph since it is a duplicate of a good one taken at the same time.
Then there is the occasional surprise image. This black and white photograph was taken around 1916 and may include a member of my family. I do not have the original print - but it is interesting to note that there are 4 nurses and 4 medical orderlies in this photograph. All of the uniformed patients appear to be convalescent soldiers from the first world war, or so I believe.
I would be pleased to hear from anyone who can contribute any information about this picture.

The Tissington Trail

This is the site of an old railway track which has been converted into a cycleway and walk. It runs from Ashbourne to Parsley Hay, a distance of about 13 miles. Tissington is a village along the route. Today was such good weather for this time of year that we just had to go for a long walk.The mole is a sculpture in Rose Wood, near Hartington. It is in the centre of a new woodland and picnic area on the trail.
Most of the rout of the Tissington Trail is flat and the embankments and cuttings are protected, providing an ideal habitat for wildlife. For most of the route there is a constant background of bird song at this time of year. It is a challenge to spot and identify the birds as you pass by their territories. Here are some of the birds we spotted today.

Blue tit - Meadow pipit

Immature robin - mature robin

It is unusual to see an immature robin at this time of year. This must have been a late hatchling from the Autumn season. At first I was puzzled as to what this bird was. It soon became apparent when it was seen in the company of other robins.

Chaffinch - Skylark

Wren - Dunnock

The wren is one of the most common birds in Britain. It is a very small and fast bird, avoiding open areas and can often be difficult to spot. This is my first ever photograph of a wren. I often see them around wetlands and in forested areas and their melodious call is quite distinct.

The striped snail, sepia nemoralis, is common along the banks of the path around Biggin. This population is unusual as almost all of the snails have yellow shells. Occasionally a 1 banded snail is seen, but the often more common 3 and 5 banded variants are not found here. It seems that this population has some missing genes in its make up. Thrush anvil sites can be found where almost all of the broken shells from feeding are of the yellow variant. I had to hunt for the two 1 banded snails seen in the top of the picture.

All in all a good day out. The call of the skylarks was a reminder of childhood summers in the countryside - a sound absent in the lives of city dwellers.