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One of our best expeditions with lots to see and a generally
nice day. There were quite a crowd of us: six young explorers,
Calum R., Fern, Robbie L., Roslyn, Rowan and Zack, with eight
adults, Fiona R., Howard, Maris, Pamela, Richard, Sam W.,
Sharon and Sheila W, plus two big dogs, Jamie and Jed. We
arrived at Dalilea in the rain and it took a bit of time to
get the cars sorted out, and when we were on the track we
made a pretty big group.
The first stop was at a gravel pit where everyone saw the
current bedding and the different sizes of pebbles and sand
grains, Rowan spotted some new sand martin holes, possibly
an overflow from Blain Pit, which had over 200 used nests
this year. Then we moved on to the old fank where we found
a clipping stool next to the wall.
We moved down the road and into a small wood where there was
a very tall birch tree and Sharon found a sweet chestnut tree.
Unfortunately there were a few young cattle in the wood who
seemed at one point to want to join the expedition but they
soon left us. We got to the bay where the fish farm was and
looked at the two big silver fir trees before making a detour
up the stream to try to find the bog oak in the water, but
the going got too difficult and I turned back.
Then we walked through the wood next to the shore and Robbie
and Zack found some terrific small caves under the tree roots.
They even found bat droppings in one of the caves. We carried
on and climbed up the hill to look at the memorial to Captain
Philip Howard, who was killed in the First World War.
Continuing down the track there was a small delay while the
boys worked off some excess energy on a swing and then we
set off down the path to the Green Isle Pier. At this point
Roslyn clearly thought she was too dry so she spent some time
jumping in a big puddle and getting comprehensively wet.
Once we were in the open field the explorers ran off in all
directions, making a fair bit of noise, but the ducks nearby
didn’t take much notice of them. We found a lot of peculiar
fungi growing by the path.
When we reached the pier, we stopped for a wafer break, while
Jed swam around fetching sticks. At this point there was a
shower and we hurried off to the shelter of a little hill
for a minute or so. Then we climbed round the next hill to
the old corn kiln, which the older explorers climbed into.
At this point, time was getting on, so we set a good pace
back to the cars and back to the Pantry.
There were some interesting drawings this time; the caves
seemed to have been the most memorable feature of the outing.
I picked out Zack’s drawing showing the roots hanging
down from the tree and the grass over the top, with a couple
of fungi growing nearby.
John
Dye
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