Thursday, 15 July 2010

Strichen to Maud Part 2


Grey Granite and Rufus joined the line from the bridge over a minor road leading to Viewbank and headed towards Brucklay. They were pleased to find that since their last expedition the steps from the road to the line have been cleared. The other side of the bridge is covered in ivy in which pigeons are nesting.The section of line between here and the A981 passes through shallow cuttings, some of the flora suggests that it is frequently rather damp. At one point water crowfoot grows in a puddle in the middle of the line, there are patches of juncus, meadow sweet, marsh thistles, a form of water cress, stitchwort, self heal and kidney vetch. On the sides of the cuttings there are willows, rosebay willow herb and raspberries, a few of which were ripening. Yellow rattle is very frequent.

Beyond the A 981 the line is largely raised above the surrounding countryside, pleasant undulating farmland. Here Grey Granite found the next mile post close to  a bridge over a stream near Carnichal Farm This particular bridge is interesting in that it is numbered 811 on the parapet, the only metal bridge with numbering seen so far. There are a very dense patches of mouse ear hawkweed, Heracium pilosella (Recognisable by the grayish slightly furry leaves and long stolons which end in leafy rosettes)  and violets close to the bridge.

Plate layers hut near Carnichal.

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