An oasis of greenery in the rolling uplands
Perspective is everything. The hillside, smooth as a billiard table when seen from a distance, is ankle-turning with tussock grass when crossed. The rolling uplands rising from the Cloghoge river stretch to the horizon dominated by the surrounding heights of Djouce mountain, Luggala, Carrigvore, the Tondruffs and War Hill. Few trees brave these windswept expanses, but in the valley bottom, where rivulets drain from the tops, they cluster to form oases of greenery in the midst of a seemingly uniform tawny-blanket of heather and dried grasses.
Breaking the monotony, groups of hare's-tail cottongrass stand like mini bottle-brushes, ceaselessly swaying as the constant breeze buffets them. But look again, and this becomes a ravaged landscape. Here peat has been dug for generations, entrenching deep scars that will take millennia to heal, even though its removal has long since stopped. Yellowing sphagnum mosses cloak the surface of some cuts that hold their water longer than most. Blue heath speedwell and milkwort, and cream bedstraw add specks of colour to path edges.
Continue reading...