The gloves are off......for the moment

Expecting a cold day, much the pattern of the winter, now declared the coldest for many years, it was a delight to go without gloves. On the previous day, I was walking above Sheffield around Redmires reservoirs. It was bitingly, stingingly cold with each of us, red faced from the chill factor, were glad to get out of the sharp, southerly airstream.

But this day was, in contrast, quite balmy.

This meteorological feeling was supported by the evidence I can provide. We sat, during our interval flask break, on the base of Wentworth's Queen Anne monument, for 15 minutes, and did not feel any sense of chill. The monument is a simple sandstone obelisk. Erected to the political sponsor of Thomas Wentworth, Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs. She was the daughter of James II, who was nudged off the throne during a period called the Glorious Revolution. Her sister, Mary was married to William of Orange who became William III, once her father was allowed to flee his kingdom. Thomas' successful career during the reign of Queen Anne must have fuelled Thomas Wentworth's hope of a Jacobite restoration.

But today, blue tits sang and flitted about and hares, at least a pair, approached and then set off at a dash perhaps 30 yards away. It was a very restful spot and has been earmarked for future flask stops.
We had a further purpose to our work. We passed the pathway markers with a critical eye, in view of the possibility of a new walking map for future visitors. Despite all the efforts of many people, the signs are straight forward enough but are, at times, vague. There are plans to identify colour coded routes with guidance to distance and points of interest, both natural and historical.
Our patrol took us along the wooded bank for the Serpentine. This was once a wonderful waterway constructed in the parkland and a complete artifice. Now it is reduced to several watery ponds. Plans are ahead to restore and reveal it was intended to be seen.

Spring is not yet here

I stood at the end of the parkland, near Keeper's pond, a peaceful and an off the beaten track part of the parkland. At that place and moment, I distinctly felt that spring could not be far off. The sun shone, the sky was clear and blue, sheep clustered around and the birds, particularly great tits, were clearly heard.

Ian, my ranger partner, was distanced from me and searching for visual evidence of bird life, while I stood and drank in the tranquil scene. That spring was here was a thought that was, two hours later, as in a blizzard of hail in greying, cloudy skies, wiped away, as we finished our patrol.

But the moment seemed to herald some kind of turning.

Carried away, once again, by the family history of the place, and approaching, once again, the Argyll monument, I have learned since last time that Thomas, pro Jacobite, and his son's father-in-law, the Duke of Argyll, the 1715 Jacobite crusher, were old army buddies. They were military colleagues during the War of the Spanish Succession, so I guess that their get-togethers, if there were any, were perhaps not as bitter as I anticipated. The memory of being together and beating the French and associated French political ambition was perhaps stronger than a domestic over Argyll's military efforts stifling Thomas' Jacobite dreams. It still does lead to an interesting conjecture.

In the park this time, I was delighted to observe a bird moving up and down the trunk of a tree, about twenty feet above. Drawing on names and evidence that they could be seen in the woods, I whispered to Ian that I thought it was a nuthatch. I had seen one before, at close quarters in the grounds of the Peterhof, outside St Petersburg. Its behaviour then was like that of a chaffinch in English picnic areas. It was quite happy to come very close to us. This together with a small charm of goldfinch made my bird spotting day.
A hare sprinted in a curving path ahead of us as we walked from the Rotunda to the house. Its always a treat to see a hare beat a sprinting path away from us. They are quite wonderful creatures, strong and athletic bodies making for supreme sprinting. In a few weeks, as March approaches, their apparent mad behaviour will be there to see - their athletic behaviour being replaced by pugilism.

The cloud now was greying and threatening and the snow was now blowing in. Time to finish the day and report our patrol was over.
There seems to be an issue with the customers finding their way around the parkland. It may be a problem over better signage or clearer maps. We have been invited to comment on the possible need of better route indicators and map information. We will give it some thought.