Turf Blog – SouthEskAside
One interest of mine that I’ve not really covered here on Planet Gary is sky watching, mostly the weather and clouds but also astronomy. While only a minor interest, whenever I’m out turfing at night I turn an eye on the sky, cloud cover permitting, keeping an eye out for meteors or shooting stars, trying to spot the planets and I’m forever hopeful of a passing UFO but not having any luck to date.
Right now, between 17 July and 24 August, is the time for viewing the Perseid meteor shower and I decided, as the skies were relatively clear tonight and the weather warm and dry, not to waste an opportunity for both some turfing and some sky watching. My chosen destination, Dalhousie Castle, Bonnyrigg.
There are 10 zones at and around Dalhousie Castle with a total value of 1850 points, so well worth the effort. Only downside is the terrain is challenging at this time of the year, thick vegetation with the usual spiky brambles, stinging nettles and man-eating deadly dandelions, all make for an awkward and challenging walk, especially when wearing short, and at night. The trails here are becoming less frequently used and vegetation is taking over the paths more and more each year. I used to cycle here regularly but now leave the bike at home and simply walk. On some paths, 20-tears ago, you could actually drive a vehicle.
Started out at around 10:30 pm and was back home drinking tea by 1.00 pm, so it takes a wee while to complete this circuit at night, more so when you are stopping to watch for meteors, hunt for UFO’s, avoid the occasional hunting dandelion and take photographs. All very quiet in the wildlife front, just the occasional large unseen animal crashing through the trees in the darkness and the usual resident tawny owl calling to each other. Only actual sighting I had was a solitary were-rabbit, which bounded away, thankfully.
My route followed a clockwise direction, starting at the area around the castle with zones WouldDean, DeanWoodTurn and Dalhousie, then continuing up river for WitchesHouse, MillHolm and SouthEskAside. After that it was across farmland, following dirt tracks and tractor tram lines through ripening fields of barley and wheat, for zones WatchTheMud, DalhousiePath, UpperDalPath and finally, DeanWoodPath. Most of the zones were held by turfer easy-street, previously calling himself Lord-Dalhousie, though four zones were still Neutrals.
My thinking for this route was to have a clear view ahead of me on the return part of the walk, giving me a good view of potential meteors. The Perseids are caused by the Earth crossing the path of the debris left comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, can peak at a rate of 100 meteors per hour and they seem to originate from the constellation of Perseus. I used an astronomy app to find the constellation. Peak times are 12 to 13th August. Didn’t see much other than two brief flashes from the corner of my eye but it’s difficult to walk by torchlight and look at the sky at the same time. Hope to head out again tonight, perhaps visiting Dalkeith Country Park this time.
Take-35000 – This medal is distributed as you perform 35000 takeovers in total.
And in the afternoon, after the thunder and lighting of the morning, it was off down to Musselburgh on the bicycle to claim a turfer unique by the name of Ruthie7. When I checked earlier there was only one zone with that turf name, but later, that number had increased to over a dozen, which was good news as there was now less risk of that solitary zone vanished before I managed to get there. My tally now stands at 364. I also had the pleasant surprise to gain the Take-35000 medal during the session. Back soon.
Copyright ©2024 Gary Buckham. All rights reserved.
