Today's photograph was taken only a couple of minutes later and a few yards on from where I took yesterday's shot. The two trees on the left can be seen in both images. Here though the view is more to the south and brings into sight the stream that enters the lane from the field behind the drystone wall. The path bridges the stream and continues alongside it. It can be seen as a thin, worn strip through the grass, shining wet with the rain, that recedes into the distance.
If you look at the 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map this lane is shown as part of Brockhole Lane and it links to a lane/path that carries the same name which veers off left and uphill towards Lodge Gill. However, the lane before us actually carries on past Fish Copy Barn to Lodge Lane, and that section is un-named on the maps (even on the old 6 inch map). In fact, in the locality, this part of the lane and the section that stretches to Lodge Lane is seen as one and the same and is known as Watery Lane. Perhaps one day the official maps will reflect this. It is well-named, because in all but the driest of summers water flows along it, and can make the route, in parts, almost impassable. As a child I often sought out the section of stream in the photograph though usually when it was calmer and only a few inches deep. It was here, after reading "The Water Babies" by Charles Kingsley, a very odd book, part of which is set in a limestone stream of the Yorkshire Dales, that I first saw a caddis fly larva in its strange case made of gravel and twigs.
On this day when we walked along Watery Lane it would have been no pleasure to delve into the depths in search of wildlife. It did, however, prove to be a good test of the waterproofing of our boots and, I'm pleased to say, they passed with flying colours.
photograph and text © Tony Boughen
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
