Britain
has received a lot of bad press lately, much of it of its own making. Despite
that, I still think it is one of the great places in the world to live. I won’t
go into all of the reasons why, I will, instead, just show a blurry photo from a
recent bike ride.
Take
a look at this view! It was so glorious, I had to get off my bike and take a
picture. Looking across a field of bright yellow rapeseed, I could see Lympne
Castle (pronounced ‘Lim’) sitting atop the ridge line. Below the castle are the
scattered remains of Portus Lemanis, part of the Roman ‘Saxon Shore’.
You
just don’t get a view like that in many places. I might have to return with a
real camera at some point.
Britain is banning the pesticides needed to grow and protect rapeseed from this year, so it will become non viable as a crop within the next year or two for most farmers which means sights like this will soon be gone.
ReplyDeleteRape is a highly profitable crop. The seeds can be protected by treatments before planting. The pesticides are being banned because they kill Bees and other useful insects.
ReplyDeleteI am very proud to be British and to have grown up in such a glorious country.
It's the pre treatment of the seeds which is being banned....this will make rape a more difficult and less profitable crop to grow in the near future.
DeleteThanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great view. You need these breaks, to just enjoy life.
ReplyDeleteNow I have fixed my ability to blog I can comment.......lovely area and know it well but you need some sheep to give it that Kentish feel. Interesting whilst I have no problem at all with the rape this is a relatively new addition and I guess driven by economics.
ReplyDeleteIf I had turned around and taken a photo of the other side of the road, their would be plenty of sheep!
DeleteNeed to have a closer look at the rapeseed situation. Was myself on a bike trip last Saturday from Rochester to Ashford, Canterbury and Whistable. It's an amazing part of Britain. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's quite a ride!
Deletehttp://favonius.com/romans/images/portus%20lemanis1710.jpg
ReplyDeleteFrom almost the same spot...
A lot more of it existed then, than still stands now! Apparently, land-slips are pretty common there.
DeleteThat's just about where the German panzers would have hit the defence line along the military canal in 1940!
ReplyDelete