Moody Monday… Howden Moor

The Old Sheep Pens, Howden Moor, Derbyshire

Easter Monday and it is  more than moody.  Overnight deluge of rain turned to sleet as the morning woke to a very dark start. I guess Howden Moor (above) although only a short distance away, but being high on the moors will be covered with a layer of snow.  Looking on the brighter side it surely cannot last for long…gone within a few days.

Howden Moor is on the southern slopes of the Derbyshire Pennines.  just below the horizon above is the source of the River Derwent that flows all the way through the county till it joins the Trent on the Nottinghamshire border.

Not that many years ago these moorland slopes would have been covered with sheep, hence the need for these large sheep pens. But overgrazing (along with other factors) was causing destruction to the moor, so whilst sheep still graze for part of the year the numbers are restricted.  At the moment, as it is Lambing season, they have been taken down to lower ground for safety.

These moors are just a big sponge of very deep peat on which some bracken but mainly heather has developed.  We are though told that many centuries ago trees covered many of these slopes. A conservation initiative is taking place on the slopes on the left of the moor to replant native trees, early days but they seem to have taken well….. so in a few year I may be able to capture a very different landscape.

2nd April

(C) David Oakes 2018