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A peaceful English scene, the woods and hedges of a side valley, two riders going by . . . then a muffled musical warble as the mobile phone of one the riders starts trilling.
From here there's a view up the valley, across part of Dewsbury to the Pennine moors where the wind turbines near Howarth are glinting on the horizon.
DilemmaDecember 8th 1999; I haven't, as yet written it up. How can I come to terms with my experience on that day? It was the most terrifying day of my life. I feel that my human rights, my rights to participate in decisions that will affect our local environment, have been violated.What can I tell you about it? I can't tell you the whole story because vital parts of it took place behind closed doors. In a public meeting our local councillors described what had gone at one secret meeting as 'blackmail'. Anybody who has read a few of these pages will know that for me it's not just a job to communicate my love of the countryside and my fascination with the natural world; it's a way of life. What, then, could be easier than to go along to an enquiry to which the public are invited and speak on behalf of a local meadow, hedge and stream? I can't go into it all now, but, as I perceived it, I was threatened with financial ruin should my input extend the enquiry. I'm no expert in planning matters but this seems wrong to me. I feel angry, frightened and confused. Scarcely at day goes by when the events of that day don't come into my mind. Scarcely a night goes by when I don't wake and go over and over how inadequate my efforts are. I hope that I can do something to get the law changed so that others are not faced with this terrifying dilemma. I'll let you know how I get on.
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Green stars? Well, far from being a star of the green movement, for the past two months I've been a quivering jellyfish, as I explain at the foot of today's page.
In the skies above Thornhill a long cloud takes on the shape of a shark.
The flower stems of Coltsfoot are pushing up at the edge of the drive. They're still in bud here, but on open ground by the canal a few are already in flower.
Red Deadnettle has been in flower for a while and today in a couple of sheltered, sunny positions, the first Dandelion heads are showing.
The oddest blossom today is a single Broom flower. There are eight bushes on Millbank and just one flower between them all.