A Line of Trees

I don’t know about you, but I need a break from the world and its vicissitudes.  And I’ve got just the thing.  One of our favourite walks, near Masham, near home.  It offers wetlands with waterbirds, calming pastures of sheep, woodland, a stretch along the riverside – all available in a four mile stroll.

This month, Jude of Travel Words invites us to consider Pattern.  This walk has plenty, starting with the skeins of geese often to be seen designing sinuous flight lines across the sky.

Marfield Wetlands.

I’m going to show you a particular line of trees that I’m fond of, towards the end of the walk.  A repeated pattern, tree after tree after tree.  Sometimes, especially in high summer, these are enough to fill my mental screen.  At other times, I notice the pattern echoed.  A line of sheep, maybe.  A different line – of fencing.  Even – and I never manage to catch this in the same shot – a line of snagged sheep’s wool caught on nearby barbed wire.

Stark winter trees.  Fencing edges the nearby field.
Winter again.  I like the shadowy trees lower down echoing the crisper line above.
Another much longer view of those trees. With sheep below following the same horizontal line. It’s still winter.
That line again. It’s summer now, and other stands of trees draw the eye down to the lower edge of the shot.
Sheep again. They just left their wool behind.

I’ve chosen in many cases to echo the linear nature of the pattern by a spot of judicious cropping.

There.  Did you forget the headlines just for a few moments?

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

43 thoughts on “A Line of Trees”

  3. The line of trees are splendid, and I love the way you present them in all their different guises. But more impressive is that line of sheep’s wool. I am always looking for that. Your walk reminds me of Shropshire. They have nice trees. And sheep 🐑 🐑🐑 xx
    Thanks for joining me this week Margaret. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks, Margaret. Yes I did!
    And thank you for this stellar post. I LOVE EVERYONE of your photos. I am also the one taking pic upon pic of ‘lines of trees, shrubs, birds on wires, fences, animals, paths, etc etc – not forgetting lines of washing in every country!!!!
    This was a wonderful eye candy. Ta

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  5. A beautiful line of trees, beautifully captured. The sequence offers continual change yet a sense of permanence. Is this an ancient boundary loosely marked? Your last photo, wool on barbed wire – ‘Sheep again. They just left their wool behind.’ . . . hope there’s not a subliminal message or two lurking there.

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  8. I am at a loss to think what you require distraction from 🙂 🙂
    I love lines of trees on top of hills, standing proud against the sky. Plenty of them here as well, and enjoying them through the seasons is a great joy. I remember as kid collecting the wool from barbed-wire fencing…taking it home and washing it and keeping it in a box…..where I kept all my treasure!

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  11. Lovely seeing the repeated lines, from geese to trees in distant seasons, to wool on wire. I love the trees, but the wool on the wire also reminded me of collecting snagged bits of fleece as a child and being intrigued by the oily lanolin feel and smell and seeds caught in the wool. A distracting memory and your delightful photos are a welcome diversion. Thank you.

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  13. Pingback: 2020 Photo Challenge #6 – TRAVEL WORDS

  14. Lovely post Margaret – we could all do with taking minds off problems and bad news! I’m currently grappling with deciding when to come over to see my dad who does need some help at present. The news and dire warnings over the Coronavirus is concerning when I have to travel by air such a long way – was planning to come over for a couple of weeks next month now thinking May might be a better choice as the weather will be warmer and the general flu season settling down!

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    1. Let’s hope so. A problem that at first seemed nicely tucked away on the other side of the globe has suddenly got more serious world-wide, and more terrifying at the seat of the infection too.

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      1. Exactly – although of course the media do dramatise things, this is a very concerning time. We are watching every available interview and analysis on various media outlets trying to decide what is the best thing to do – my instincts are to stay put but my dad is very disappointed that I might not be coming over after all. I have been delaying booking flights due to the ongoing uncertainty so I’m not locked in to anything. Who knows how long this may go on for? I feel for the poor people stranded and in quarantine. So far we have had no confirmed cases here in Perth (unlike the eastern states) but we are so close to the Asia Pacific region one feels it is a matter of time. Fingers crossed worse case scenarios don’t eventuate.

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  17. I can imagine you liking those trees. It’s quite rare to see them like that. The sheeps wool makes a lovely echo too. I have a favourite pair of trees I only ever see away on a hillside when driving up the M6.

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