Warming up. Climate crisis getting closer. And Roman remains.

Granddaughter Number One is complaining that it’s too hot. I think she exaggerates a little, but the fact is that today is another fine and sunny day. Mind you, she has some problems because of the menagerie of pets she has in her house. Between a crazy cat who gets nervous at the idea of going outside and a crazy dog who is likely to jump the fence and run off, she can’t just leave the door open and let some air in to cool the house down. But even then, it wouldn’t be as effective in her house as it is in ours, where the kitchen-dining area is a semi-cellar and so is easy to keep cool.

 

Meanwhile they are having wildfires in Extremadura, Spain. From the sound of it this may have been a fire that was deliberately started. Why do people do things like that? However, the drought conditions over recent summers and the recent hot weather means that trees burn really easily. And this time they have strong winds helping spread the fire and hindering the firefighting. 

We tend to think of climate change problems affecting more remote parts of the world. In Europe (and we are still geographically part of Europe) we feel a little cushioned from the worst effects of the extreme weather. But this article points out how the problems are getting closer to home. And then, last summer we had extreme temperatures in the UK as well. As the more southern parts of Europe become drier we need to start thinking about how we are going to manage to keep all the continent habitable. 

But for the moment I’ll enjoy the sunshine, although I am aware of the invasion of my kitchen by floating dandelion seeds - I’ve already had to sweep up a huge pile of them. 

Yesterday we had a pleasant walk up to Castleshaw, the site of the old Roman fort. By the way, I did a little research into the name, and other similar names with “shaw”. It seems a “shaw” was originally a thicket or copse of trees. As a surname Shaw originally meant someone who lived in or near a small wood. So basically Castleshaw means the castle in or by the wood. For this part of the country used to be more wooded than it is now. It seems that the fort should really be called a fortlet, because it was only a small fort! But the site itself, on the top of a small hill, was apparently inhabited long before the Romans came along. It’s lovely in the sunshine but rather bleak in the winter.

 

There’s not much to see there now as the excavations were long since covered up again to preserve the Roman remains and some of the artefacts found can be seen in the small museum in Uppermill. When we joined Granddaughter Number One and friends they told us they had been told there was a guided visit to the site available, but that they had not been able to find any indication of such things happening. Today I have seen an advertisement for just such a guided walk, led by someone from the aforementioned museum. So Granddaughter Number One and friends were a day early. 

But we all had a good walk anyway.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!