A Black & White meander round the hillsides

No story, just some pictures from a walk around the hillsides with a camera loaded with black and white pixels :-)

Oh yes, don't forget the produce show!!!

© 2014 www.huttonsambo.com

A Summer Evening Stroll

It's been while since we've had a picture post on the Huttons Ambo website so I thought I'd share some pictures from a short evening's stroll.

Incidentally if you'd like to share any of your own pictures on the website, just email them in to philip@huttonsambo.com . You don't need a fancy camera, some of the pictures posted on the site this year were taken with a smart phone camera and I challenge you to figure out which ones they are.

Don't forget that you can click on any of these pictures to see a bigger version.

Wild honeysuckle in the hedgerow  (click to enlarge)

I think there are some notable differences in the wild flowers this year. Although 2013 seems to have been an excellent year for tree blossom, I don't think the cow parsley has been as prolific as last year.

Back lit cow parsley (click to enlarge)

Also noticeable last year were elder flowers, the hedgerows were smothered in flowers, but this year they are quite a bit sparser.

Elder flowers on Rake Lane  (click to enlarge)

Ash tree,a study in light and shade (click to enlarge)

Back in May, we looked at the business of potato sowing seed potatoes in Planting By Numbers. I took a little detour to check on the progress of the plants and here is the result, a sea of potato plants from St Andrew's Fields down to Grange Farm.

Scientifically planted potatoes (click to enlarge) 

You don't need sweeping vistas or exotic plants to make a decent picture, these humble nettles are turned into glowing spires by a beam of evening sunlight on Rake Lane

Glowing nettles, Rake Lane (click to enlarge)

Near Grange Farm there is an entrance to a field that I've always found appealing, it has lovely rustic look that I've yet to successfully capture with the camera.

Entrance to field, Grange Farm (click to enlarge)

It seems an age ago, but in April, in Field of Beans we saw Richard Wainwright planting beans by night. Here is the result, wall to wall bean plants in Coach Fields, already in flower.

Field of beans (click to enlarge)

We've seen wild flowers and cultivated crops,so we'll end with some garden plants allowed to run wild, with wonderful results: Valerian growing out of a wall.

Valerian, High Hutton (click to enlarge)

I hope you've enjoyed this little collection of snapshots and they'll inspire you to get your camera out and take some pictures. And if you do, why not send them in? We'd love to see them!

All material © Philip Stone 2013

A Stroll Down Rake's Lane

A friend of mine says that photography is like golf, ‘a good walk, spoiled’. I suppose if your idea of a good walk is a brisk march through miles of countryside then my favourite evening stroll down Rake Lane won’t interest you, because it won’t take any time at all. But to an idle snapper like myself, puttering along the track looking for photo opportunities in every inch of hedgerow, it makes a very satisfying walk.



Evening Light - Rake Lane

Rake's Lane is officially known as St Andrew's Lane, but I think if you called it St Andrew's Lane in the village you'd just get blank looks, since it's been Rake's Lane since time immemorial (if you know why, please drop me a line).

From Orchard Corner to Rake's Lane proper, the footpath runs along field boundaries and the  hedgerows are filled with hawthorn in bloom and wild roses bursting onto new growth.

A quick turn left and we are on Rake's Lane, heading downhill to Grange Farm. Even this late in May, huge bumblebees drone around a few inches above the ground, disturbing leaves with the down drafts from their wings and the verges are filled with the rustling of birds, rabbits and other small creatures.



Not just a footpath, a bridleway too.

As we drop downhill we come to a fork, the track heads left and sinks steadily below ground level but before the hedgerows close in we are afforded a view to Low Hutton and the Wolds.



Canopied Path



The Grange, Low Hutton and The Wolds

These tracks, worn deep in the land and roofed by oak, ash, elder and hawthorn are known as 'holloways' which derives from an the Anglo Saxon term 'hola weg' - a sunken road. Reputedly none of the holloways in Britain are less than three hundred years old and this track has a feel of ancient mystery about it.



Holloway - 'hola weg'

Deep in the shade the photographer is forced to contemplate details, rather than wide vistas. Ironically the light is often better here in winter when the trees have shed their leaves, than on a fine summer evening.



Elder Details

Eventually we leave the holloway and pass back out into the light and follow the foot path down towards The Grange and The Old School House.



The Old School

Occasionally the unexpected turns up on this stretch of track, once I found an abandoned vacuum cleaner.



Proof that nature does not abhor a vacuum

And that pretty much wraps it up. Just a couple of miles of track but always an absorbing voyage of discovery.

All material © Michelle Stone 2012

A walk along the hillsides

This was originally published as an article on the old village website in 2001. I'm reposting it now with some new pictures.

This is a circular route, starting at Low Hutton and taking along the hillsides through Huttons Bank Wood. If desired you can detour into High Hutton and come back to Low Hutton down the main lane joining the two villages.

Beware of the cow

Before starting note that you may encounter livestock on this route, so take sensible precautions - if you have a dog, keep it on a lead . Also in winter footpaths may be muddy, so wear sensible boots or wellingtons.

Start opposite Herbies

Starting at Low Hutton, walk up towards the Village Shop. Stop off at the shop to take on supplies, sweets etc then take the footpath opposite the shop. This leads down through Low Hutton Wood and over a stile and through a field, with views of the river and the railway line at the bottom of the valley to your left.

Proceed across the field to another stile and then into Huttons Bank wood.

Huttons Bank Wood - Autumn Colours

Follow the track through the woods, eventually the view opens out on your left over the river valley, to the right the wood continues up the hillside with plantations of conifers.

Huttons Bank Wood - Early Summer

Further along the wood closes in, eventually the footpath leaves the track and drops down through the wood, bringing you out at Keepers Cottage.




Keepers Cottage

Pass by the cottage and rejoin the track. To the right you will have Huttons Bank wood and to the left open fields, continue on to the end of the wood.

      

Huttons Bank Wood - looking back down the track

Steep climb to Rake's Lane

If you are feeling fit then take the steep climb up the hill to St Andew's Lane (locally known as Rake'sLane). Otherwise you can continue on a little further and follow the more gentle rise up towards the A64, then you can double back along Rake's Lane.

The Grange Farm and an elderly combine harvester

Continue down Rake's lane till you come out at the farmyard near the Grange and then continue along the road, past the Village Hall, until you come out at the Village Green at Low Hutton again.

All material © Michelle Stone 2001-2012