THE TURNING OF THE YEAR.

Today I witnessed two quite important changes to things happening locally. This morning I went down with a friend to where the weirs have been undergoing reconstruction. After the last days of rain the Afon Ebbw was fast flowing with all the extra water it has to cope with, but it was looking good as the increased water flow raced over the re-designed weir.

Speaking to the guys on site, they have a few more days to tidy up the working area, but I will do more about that next week.  Meanwhile there was something that I had missed.

In the local farming calendar locally. it has been quite an important day of change.

Can you spot the difference in this photograph of this area of the Commons?

Yes ... there is not a single sheep to be seen!  Whilst I was looking at the changes to the Afon Ebbw, our local farmers were busy gathering the last sheep  from the mountain.

There were tell tale signs to tell me that there had been unusual activity on the terrain.

Vehicle tracks and a lot of sheep hoof marks in the mud. I had missed the last major gather of the year  when the remaining ewes and lambs are herded up off the mountain and brought into the pens to be sorted out as to which animal belongs to which farmer. This common grazing land will now be left overwinter to regenerate. The next time that these thousands of acres will grazed by sheep will be next year. Meanwhile the ground will absorb all their droppings and newly enriched grass will grow ready for the next generation of ovine foragers and their newly born lambs.

So, now the land will rest over what is left of the Autumn and then Winter, roll on Spring!

Now don't get me wrong, I love each season for it's own unique attributes, though I have to say that my favourite usually is most definitely the autumnal part of the year. Normally it is the season that includes the celebrations of The Harvest Festival, a celebration of crops gathered in and produce (including hedgerow gatherings) being preserved to sustain folk through the harshness of the winter ahead. It is all very well that due to the modern global economy we can survive thanks to imports from countries across the world, now available from (and think about this) our local "Supermarkets" but it is not quite the same thing as relying on what can be sourced locally. I have mixed feelings about this, whilst I can appreciate the fact that our needs can help other far away countries economies it just isn't quite the same as gathering in our local harvests, be it agricultural produce or that which we can gather from the natural resources from within our own island boundaries. 

Call me old fashioned if you like, but I have missed the pleasure of gathering that which is autumnally abundant. But, being a pragmatist, at least I know that due to the global economy I can survive the winter ahead, whatever that brings in the way of, possibly harsh weather, but at one thing at least is in tune ...
<<< these sheep are now gathered in to the in bye fields and are hopefully safe for the tupping season. All part of the rythm of the farming year. But ... I can't help but wonder what the forthcoming winter will bring. Us humans will survive, despite the increase in fuel prices, though as for our local wildlife, I think they are in for a rough time in the wintery months ahead.