Reservoir views

It was a wonderful day for taking photos around Fewston Reservoir: sunny intervals with gorgeous reflections of the clouds in the water, and enough good light to bring out the soft winter colours.

It's odd how some trees (beech mostly) seem to hang on to their leaves all winter. The touches of rusty colours are rather attractive, especially when the sky is blue.

Bright stems of willow and cornus add highlights against the evergreen trees. In the woods, the dappled light was very pretty.

Fewston Reservoir

Fewston Reservoir looked stunning in the sunshine. I had a very pleasant walk round the perimeter path, which is wide, smooth and largely flat. It's about a four mile circuit and then I went in search of the snowdrops in the woods, so I walked about six miles altogether, very satisfying. The reservoir is a popular attraction for runners, dog walkers and those of us oldies wanting an easy constitutional. I passed a lot of people on the way round, some twice - haha! Most were friendly and said a cheery hello. Many of the dogs were friendly too, one so much so that it jumped up with its muddy paws on my coat. That does annoy me, that people can't control their animals. (Reservoir dogs - yikes!)

The reservoir, built in 1879, is one of four in the Washburn Valley. It was good to see it more or less full, though Lindley Wood, further down the valley, looked a bit low. I don't know whether the water stocks have been replenished this winter or not. We've not had much snow and I'd say the rainfall has been somewhat less than usual. After the dry summer we had last year, there is always the possibility of water shortages if we have similar weather this year.

Snowdrops

A friend, who is a keen walker, tipped me off about a stunning carpet of naturalised snowdrops, in the woods above Fewston Reservoir in the Washburn Valley, so one day I had an expedition to find them. They were all around a ruined building that might once have been a cottage. It seemed rather pleasing to think that a few snowdrops planted in (perhaps) a gamekeeper's garden should spread and naturalise so abundantly, lasting long after the cottage disappeared. They made a magnificent display.

The 'native' snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, isn't actually native to the UK at all. It is believed that it was first cultivated in 1597 and first recorded in the wild in the 1770s, but snowdrops are now naturalised throughout Britain. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, they are much loved because they are the earliest bulbs to flower after the winter, often pushing their blooms up through actual snow. I think my photo below amply demonstrates why they are called 'snowdrops'. They look just like a light dusting of snow on the woodland floor.