The Cherry Pitter and How I Learned to Love Cherries

Before the cherry pitter, I rarely ate cherries. The thought of popping them in my mouth, and then spitting out the pit never appealed to me. Without the pit, thanks to the pitter, cherries are enjoyable. I’ve often wonder if it is less the mechanics of spitting out a pit and really some taste profile imparted by the pit in my mouth (even if for only a few seconds). The bitter almond flavor of cherry (and other fruits of the Prunus genus like peach and apricot) pits is called noyaux. Some say: cherry pits, eaters beware. Others say: don’t worry so much. The noyaux flavor comes about by some combination of cooking, steeping and smashing up of the pits. Crème di noyaux is used in few classic cocktails such as the Pink Squirrel. (I must get out more and see the world because I’ve never heard of this drink before searching for information about noyaux.) The other, more culinary-savvy half of Travelmarx posits it probably doesn’t have anything to do with pit flavor, but rather the part of the fruit that attaches to the pit which might be slightly more astringent and you get more of that when you don’t remove the pit. Whatever the reason - and even if it is all in my head (or mouth as it were) - it’s a shame, especially in the Northwest, not to be able to enjoy cherries when they are in season.

A Coast to Coast Walk: From St. Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay

Alfred Wainwright’s A Coast to Coast Walk is a curious book. It was the first place I thought I should start when preparing for the Wainwright Coast to Coast walk. What happened is that I didn’t consult it much before and during the trip. It wasn’t until after the trip when I picked up the book did it start to make sense to me. Alfred Wainwright (1907 – 1991) published this book in 1973. The book I refer to here is the second edition and from the book flaps “[t]his is the first fully revised and updated edition of A. Wainwright’s unique guide to the Coast to Coast Walk which he devised in the early 1970s.”

The book is a wealth of details on how to get from point A to point B. There is a long tradition of this type of descriptive detail. In the Tower of London, days earlier, an exhibit discussed the history of the Ordinance Survey in the UK and its roots in military considerations (hence the name “ordinance”). This general cultural history, plus Wainwright’s interest in drawing and cartography I guess inevitably led to a very descriptive style where every gate, group of trees, contour line, and geological feature is called out and drawn in loving detail. To be honest, it was overwhelming at first, but makes complete sense now in retrospect having walked the land and seen what Wainwright describes, and more importantly, passed through and over numerous kissing gate and stiles - the very objects he describes. It still blows me away looking at the book as I write this that Wainwright created the 200 drawings and maps that appear in the book. Especially interesting are his precise depictions of views from key peaks where he shows direction and distance to other geographical features.

The book also contains lots of observational (non-navigational) passages that at times contain a good dose of humor or perhaps honesty, take your pick. Some of these selected passages are given below with some photos I captured.

Cleator
Wainwright: p. 8 Cleator is “an old village that expanded with the boom in the 19^th century iron-ore mining and in so doing sacrificed its charm and character. Some architectural pretensions are evident in its places of worship and a few older houses but completely absent in the long terraces of small cottages built to a common pattern.”
Travelmarx: Sort of true. The rows of houses have an odd aspect to them. A line from the peak of the roof to the pavement abruptly separates one dwelling from the other without too much thought for continuity. The church (St. Leonard’s) has a back area with a small replica of Lourdes which I understood to have been built when the miners were out of work and today is maintained by volunteers.

Cleator – Row Houses Split Down the Middle

Patterdale to Shap
Wainwright: p. 46 “This is a farewell to Lakeland, and farewells to Lakeland are always sad. What follows is anti climax – level walking instead of up and down, trees and fields and villages instead of rough and lonely hills: lovely, yes, but not excitingly beautiful as the crossing of Lakeland has been.”
Travelmarx: Lakeland is beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to cozy up in Rosthwaite ( Borrowdale) for several months? But, the rest of the walk is just as beautiful.

Sunbiggin Tarn
Wainwright: p. 64 “Sunbiggin Tarn has many regular visitors, but none of them would describe it as visually attractive: it is little more than a large reedy pond in the middle of a morass.”
Travelmarx: I had a lovely day walking across this area. The skies were blue, the heather, well, it was purple. It was 65 degrees and Kate Bush’s Big Sky kept playing in my head.

Milk at Sunbiggin Farms

Big Skies at Sunbiggin Tarn

Richmond to Ingleby Cross (Vale of Mowbray)
Wainwright: p. 110 “If you are fond of placid rural scenery and have an interest in farming, you might enjoy this section of the walk; but if your preference is for the high ground and rough hills you will find it tedious.” p. 116 “To walkers whose liking is for high places and rough terrain, this will seem the dullest part of the whole walk; those who believe the earth is flat will be mightily encouraged on this section.”
Travelmarx: Yes, this is where we saw fields of grain (barley?) and walked through potato fields. Flat it is, yet, it was still pleasant and I don’t believe the earth is flat.

Grain Field in the Vale of Mowbray

Carlton Moor
Wainwright: p. 131 “Carlton Moor was for centuries a place of work; more recently it has been a place of leisure. Gliding is a fine sport, a thrilling and graceful exercise, and it creates no noise or litter – but not even the most ardent enthusiast will claim that the landscape has been improved by its conversion to runways and some may even agree that a large tract of natural scenery has been despoiled.”
Travelmarx: Yes, you can tell something is slightly different there, but, maybe I was too tired to care, the sun was too hot, and I was too hungry for a bacon and egg sandwich at Lord Stones Café. Could also be that the land has rebounded a bit since Wainwright wrote about it since gliding activities were suspended in 2008.

Landing Strips in Carlton Moor

Gliding Club Buildings

Robin Hood’s Bay
Wainwright: p. 163 “Now you can rest on your laurels in the Bay Hotel with a pint, but (let there be no misunderstanding about this) you do so at your own expense. It’s no use saying ‘charge it to Wainwright’ as you could in days gone by at the Border Hotel, Kirk Yetholm. No, sonny, that game won’t work here. Pay for you own. I’m skint.”
Travelmarx: I didn’t think to try to charge it to Wainwright. We did have a nice celebration dinner at the Bay Hotel. And, if you are wondering skint = broke.

The Bay Hotel at Robin Hood’s Bay
 

Personal Notes
Wainwright: p xiv “…I would feel I had succeeded better in arousing interest for the planning of private long-distance walks if the book induced some readers to follow instead their own star and find their own rainbow’s end.”
Travelmarx: We did see a rainbow while celebrating at the Bay Hotel. An appropriate end.

A Rainbow Over Ravenscar Caps the Journey

The Book Flaps of Wainwright’s Book – Second Edition

The Wainwright Coast to Coast Walk – A Botanical View (Eastern Part)

 Day 11: Handful of flowers collected within 50 yards of dirt road outside of Egton Bridge
This post continues where the previous post left off. Recap: This post talks about some of the plants I saw on the second half of a recent Wainwright Coast to Coast walking tour sponsored by National Geographic. The walk started on July 24^th and ended on August 3^rd and included 14 of us and 2 guides walking about 140 miles in 12 days. The flowers mentioned here were all spotted trail side between July 31 (day 1) and Aug 3(day 7), what I’m calling the second part of the walk (the eastern part). The day designation will be used in the picture captions below.
July 31 (day 8) :: Reeth to Richmond
Aug 1 (day 9) :: Richmond to Osmotherly
Aug 2 (day 10) :: Osmotherly to Blakey Ridge
Aug 3 (day 11) :: Blakey Ridge to Grosmont
Aug 4 (day 12) :: Grosmont to Robin Hood’s Bay
In this part of the walk, I was also aided by the book Collins Complete British Wild Flowers which I picked up in Richmond.
Day 8: Ribes uva-crispa – GooseberryAs we leave Reeth we pass by the Marrick Priory and someone points out this gooseberry plant.


Day 8: Geum rivale - Water Avens
As we walk up a steep part in Steps Wood I notice this plant. The dried flower heads are waiting to catch on to a bit of fur to be transported to some other location.

Day 8: Alchemilla vulgaris - Lady's Mantle
A house garden in Marrick.

Day 8: Dipsacus fullonum - Wild TeaselLeaving the quaint Marrick and heading toward Nun Cote Nook and the Nun Cote Nook Tea Room (we call it Elaine’s after one of the owners). A welcome stop for snacks.


Day 8: Origanum vulgare - Wild Marjoram
Near Whitcliffe Wood as we make our way to Richmond following the River Swale.

Day 8: Lonicera periclymenum – Honeysuckle
We walk into Richmond and pass some houses with pretty gardens which include this honeysuckle.

Day 9: Veronica persica - Common Field-speedwell
Found this plant along the fields that Wainwright had deemed flat and tedious (in his dry way) that are along the Vale of Mowbray. This flower grows along the edge of a barley field. As we walk we heard carnival music in the distance.

Day 9: Inachis io - Peacock ButterflyOn our way to Catterick Bridge and above the River Swale we see this Peacock Butterfly. This one stands still long enough to photograph it.

Day 9: Impatiens glandulifera - Indian BalsamWe had not seen this plant at all until now and suddenly we encounter large areas of it along the River Swale as we approach Catterick Bridge.



Day 10: Macrolepiota rhacodes - Shaggy Parasol Mushroom
Walking out of Osmotherley toward Beacon Hill someone points out this mushroom.


Day 10: Arctium minus - Lesser Burdock
The day before, at the Mount Grace Priory, I try a Fentimans Dandelion (leaf) and Burdock (root) soda that is delicious. And so I start seeing burdock everywhere I look. So did the inventor of velcro (p. 14). This plant is spotted near Scugdale.



Day 10: Vaccinium uliginosum - Bog Bilberry
Scarth Wood Moor. Not too many bilberries to be found at this time of the year. I think at this point we are on the Cleveland Way Trail.



Day 10: Vaccinium uliginosum - Bog BilberryBilberry heaven on Scarth Wood Moor looking toward Whorl Hill.

Day 10: Bog Bilberry (left) and Heather (right) on Round Hill

Day 10: Calluna vulgaris - Heather (also called Ling)What mention of plants of this area would be complete without mentioning heather? We see heather from day 1 (St. Bees) in small bits here and there, but it isn’t until the Yorkshire Moors that we see large tracts of it in its preferred conditions of acidic soil. The term heather is commonly used to refer to plants in the Ericaceae family for both the Calluna and Erica genus. (Bilberry is also in the same family.)


Day 10: Two types of heather. Calluna (left), Erica (right)
Day 10: Erica tetralix – Cross-leaved Heath
What’s not shown are the leaves that identify this as tetralix.


Day 11: Pavonia pavonia - Emperor Moth caterpillar
The most common food for the Pavonia pavonia is heather. Pavonia is Latin for peacock referring to the moth’s spotted wings looking like peacock feathers. This one was spotted (!) crossing a road near Danby Head.

Day 11: Cirsium palustre - Marsh Thistle (white)
Dona, one my tour mates (always observant) spots this and at first I think it is a bleached out, spent flower. I am wrong. The Marsh Thistle can occasionally be white. We see white thistle as we leave Blakey Ridge (the Lion Inn) and head to Glaisdale. These photos are taken near Danby Head.


Day 11: Cirsium palustre - Marsh Thistle (white and purple)

Day 11: Eriophorum angustifolium - Common CottongrassThese photos were taken on Flat Howe. We climb out of Grosmont, passing some quarries, and then through Flat Howe. Areas of cottongrass can indicate peat bogs to be avoided by walkers.


Day 11: Bibio pomonae - Heather Fly (male)
We had seen these flies, usually in higher ground – heath, for several days. Sometimes the air is thick with them. We did not know what they were. Finally, a request to the folks at www.WhatsThatBug.com resolved the issue.

Day 11: Euphrasia officinalis – EyebrightA tiny plant that I see on the edge of Glaisdale Moor.

Day 11: Lysimachia vulgaris - Yellow Loosestrife
This lysimachia is photographed in a garden in Glaisdale, up the hill from the train station.

Day 11: Epilobium angustifolium – Fireweed
Who needs another photo of fireweed? This photograph is taken outside of Egton Bridge heading toward Grosmont.

Day 11: Centaurea nigra - Common Knapweed
It’s easy to want to overlook knapweed especially when you see so many thistle species all day. It takes me a while to realize these were different. We are leaving Egton Bridge on a dirt road along the River Esk on a beautiful afternoon and the flowers along the road are incredible.


Day 12: Vicia cracca - Tufted Vetch
We see a lot of vetch over the 12 days. It’s not a plant that overwhelms other vegetation as the Common Cleavers (Galium aparine) does.

Day 12: Silene dioica - Red Campion
A plant that I don’t see that much on the trip, maybe I missed it. This photograph is taken near Hawsker Bottoms, on a shady spot on the side of the road, as we make our way to the North Sea.

Collins Complete British Wild Flowers