Please take a photograph of your group "in action." Don't forget to ask for permission from everyone for the photo to be published on the web. Then email it to the address below and we will upload it to the gallery.
Walking Group One 25th April 2024
Five hardy souls collected today at Happy Valley for the first Hill Walk of the year .The temperature was cool with a North Easterly wind blowing and a hint of rain on arrival.
Off we set heading towards Russadale Quarry, spotting a Buzzard on the way.Turning into the footpath we remained sheltered from the wind all the way to the top of the hill.
The sun was out at the Quarry and a Greenshank was feeding at the edge of the Lochan. Then it was up the Peat road to the summit with spectacular views across Stenness and Harray Lochs, plus a view of the Closed Road beyond the Watch Stone. On the other side we looked over the Flow and down towards the Oil Platform and South Ronaldsay
Then it was back down after a stop for a snack and finally a walk around Happy Valley itself. The Daffodils planted by James and others were looking lovely and the Bluebells are days away from opening. Then it was on to a well deserved lunch at the Pier Cafe, having walked 4 miles and gone up 800 feet (and down again )
The next walk will be on Friday 24th May and hopefully more hills and views.
Keep moving.
U3A Botany Group - July 2018
by Jenny Taylor - 08:24 on 09 July 2018
On a lovely, warm, sunny afternoon, ten members of the U3A Botany Group visited Happy Valley to look at the large range of trees there. 54 different tree species have been recorded there; all of them, with the exception of a few native willows, have been planted, taking advantage of this nicely sheltered location.
We started in the mature section of woodland, planted by the late Edwin Harrold and still enjoyed by so many people. After Edwin’s death, the area was gifted to Orkney Islands Council who now share its management with the Friends of Happy Valley. We looked up at the large Whitebeam, the Japanese Larch with its rose-like cones, the impressive bark of the Monkey Puzzle, Wych Elm, Dombey's Southern Beech, (Is there another one in Orkney?) Ash, Hazel, several species of Oak and Alder. On the Elm we noticed some rather beautiful leaf curls (afterwards identified by Lee Johnson as probably being caused by Eriosoma ulmi - the Elm-Currant Aphid). We mused about where Edwin found some of these more unusual species.
Add your comment