Far From the Madding Crowd: Teeside Nature Reserve

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

The Beauty and The Beast

We went on our usual trip to the North, County Durham to stay for a week with my OH's father. We visited the Teeside Nature Reserve, a very interesting area and gives me hope that nature, given the chance, can win. The reserve is surrounded by very heavy industry including a nuclear powerstation, and plenty of wildlife are thriving in this area. It is worth a visit, the RSPB Saltholme nature reserve is also in this area, where you can get a nice cup of coffee:-)

RSPB Saltholme Nature Reserve looking towards part of the heavy industry that surrounds the reserve.

Part of Teeside Nature Reserve with some of the heavy industry surrounding the reserve.

Beautiful orchids, there were loads of these orchids on the reserve, I am not sure what this orchid is.

A flock of Greylag Geese in front of Hartlepool Nuclear powerstation.

Avocet in one of the lagoons on the Teeside Nature Reserve. There were also Terns, they were too far away for me to get a good picture of them.

Common seals (I think) on the Tees estuary

A man walking his dog along the beach, walking towards some heaving industry belching out filthy smoke.

Common Blue butterfly, there were plenty of these butterflies on the reserves.

Common Blue butterfly at Teeside Nature Reserve

My Blog

I have taken the title of my blog from Thomas Hardy's fourth novel 'Far From the Madding Crowd' which he wrote in 1874. He took his title from Thomas Gray's poem 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' completed in 1750. Thomas Hardy was born in Dorset where he lived for most of his life and where he based the stories in his novels. The word 'madding' means frenzied and there is a sense of freedom I get being out in the countryside and being close to nature away from the frenzied atmosphere of the towns and cities. I live in Dorset and like Thomas Hardy, it is where I have lived for most of my life, my blog is mostly about nature in Dorset. I am a member of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. I will include my garden and anything of interest about the natural world in Britain.