Friday, April 9, 2010

What a Warm day in Wicken Fen - blue skies and puffy clouds

The weather is really starting to look up - the warmest day of the year so far. I had a big decision - my wife must have gotten fed up with me wearing the same pair of long "waist tights" as they seem to call the long legged Lycra we much reviled cyclists wear in winter. They were unpadded and so I did wear different padded shorts underneath, but enough must have been enough and they disappeared. I am a little worried about them because they had developed additional ventilation around the saddle area - in fact the hole was so large I had to be careful not to get caught up on the saddle. So I am not sure that they will withstand a session in the washing machine, with it being quite a cold winter I seem to have been wearing "longs" for ever - I was going to throw out the holey pair as they were getting pretty thin.


Back to the decision - dig out another pair of longs, or go out in shorts. Time to be bold and basically I could not be bothered to dig into my cycling drawers time was passing. It was wonderful, the temperature was around 15C and it was sunny it makes me want to cycle faster - until I realise I am not as fit as I would like to be! For some reason I did not have as much time as I would have liked to go out and explore so it was a trip around Wicken Fen - again. Regular readers will know that photography normally starts around Lode (the village) - but how to capture the changing season? One feature of the weather was blue skies and puffy clouds and as Spring does (spring that is) green tinging on the bushes and trees. This is White Fen - I wonder how it got so named, pretty green looking to me.


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What is noticeable around these parts is how much the soil colour changes as you travel around. It ranges from peat black to chalky white with various browns in the middle. Here, near White Fen, the soil is light brown.


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There are some impressive trees alongside Swaffham Bulbeck Lode, adjacent to the first bridge (in a series of three) on the Lodes Way "public access route". The quoted Press Release states that the route 01 14.5Km - another example of the use of kilometres rather than miles to denote a distance. The route is targeted at "cyclists, horse-riders and pedestrians", although I think I would have called the last group walkers - but ho hum, it is a few years since I had to write/edit/approve Press Releases and I certainly don't have any say over the NT. The proof of the pudding is really in what is being done and I think it is great how they are opening up new routes. The trees are acquiring a green tinge - each day sees a change in the amount of green.




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A slightly browner field along the Upware road - still blue skies and puffy clouds though.




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The skies were blue looking back towards the sun (the West) - the clouds looked puffier though. Crops springing up in the field. This was only being worked on a few weeks ago - several tractors at a time to get the job done.




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The same field - it looks like the seed drilling was just in time to take advantage of the switch to Spring.




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I find it interesting how buildings in various states of dilapidation seem to "hang around" in the countryside. I must have a peep in the window to see what is in this building - it is styled after a Nissen hut a type of building used in World War II - this one has a corrugated asbestos roof - which makes it trickier to sort out I guess.




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Did I also mention that it was a very still day - no wind - cycling does not get much better than this. You can see how still from the reflection of the tree in Monk's Lode - a lode that runs through Wicken Fen. I was surprised when I looked at the picture on the computer how the tree's reflection is so visible - but not the tree itself - it is almost camouflaged.




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Looking back the other way - same still Monks Lode, sustrans 51 runs along the path to the right.




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It is amazing how, what seems a small shift in the weather can affect you mood - in fact everyones' s mood - roll on Summer!!

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