Lynchcombe Steps
Lynchcombe Winter
Winter on this grassland nature reserve high up on the Mendip Hills can sometimes look like this. Back in 2019, just before the pandemic, it was hard to stand during this blizzard.
Until the last few days when storms Eunice and Franklin blasted Somerset we had had a very quiet few months. Instead of snow we had lots of red dawns, white mists and golden sunsets.
Winter Mornings
This winter has been very mild, bringing with it some dull grey days. But also some wonderful mornings if you get up before the clouds build and you lose the sun until evening.
Lynchcombe is covered in many old hawthorn trees and crumbing dry-stone walls.
Just after sunrise the low light picks out the tuffs of grass across the top of the nature reserve.
Some mornings have been spectacular.
Mists
Lynchcombe has open views across the Somerset Levels towards Glastonbury Tor.
The Axe Valley and beyond can be full of white mist. In the distance the Yarley Tree stands alone on a ridge of hills.
Sunsets
The southern edge of the Mendips faces the south-west making the perfect vantage point for sunsets.
Starlings
The Somerset Levels are famous for the starlings that roost amongst the reeds each evening. At dawn huge flocks lift from the reeds and spread out across Somerset. Some venture up Lynchcombe’s valley. In front of the Snow Moon one group reaches the top of the Mendips for another day.
Starlings a few days earlier, and not quit a snow moon.
Ravens
A pair of ravens circle over the nature reserve in front of moon.
Storms
Eunice and Franklin blasted the Bristol Channel and Somerset over the last few days.
Somehow, the exposed nature reserve survived with barely a scratch. At the most exposed corner of the reserve this unbalanced tree covered in ivy is somehow still standing.
Work Continues
The low winter fun illuminates the lynchetts. These were part of medieval farmstead that was once here.
In the fore ground the tree clearance work continues to deal with ash dieback.
And finally…
Spring is just around the corner.
Stunning Photography of a very special place