Nature Watch, with Ron Freethy

SERIOUS walkers now regard the Ribble Way as one of the major walks in the North West of England.

One of the problems of being interested in natural history, however, is that you have to sit still for long periods in order not to disturb the wildlife.

What you need, therefore, is to base yourself around a village and then enjoy short strolls.

One of my favourite villages is Sawley, where the bridge over the Ribble provides a vantage point.

On a cold autumn morning the Ribble looked wonderful and my binoculars picked up a solitary swallow.

I hoped that it had enough energy to reach southern Africa.

The riverside seemed full of ducks, mainly mallard, but also present were tufted duck, wigeon, coot and moorhen.

My morning walk took me from the village of Bolton-by-Bowland, where I saw a herd of sika deer coming down to a tributary stream to drink.

This herd, now living wild in the area, is a reminder of the 19th century when the Ribblesdale estate at Gisburn Park kept deer but some escaped.

The estate also kept a herd of white cattle but these are now extinct.

After lunch I explored the ruins of Sawley Abbey, built in the 12th century by the Cistercian monks. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII but the land around the buildings has been largely undisturbed since this time.

In recent times some very good restoration work has been done and the remains have become an excellent place to study the natural history of walls.

Although it was a cold afternoon, with the frost only just melted, there were still luxuriant growths of the common spleenwort fern and ivy-leaved toadflax.

The latter, an attractive little flower, has been called the "mother of thousands" because it reproduces so quickly. When the flowers die off the seed heads grow away from light and into the cracks and crevices of walls.

The seeds then germinate and soon the whole wall becomes a mass of attractive flowers.

It has a further advantage and that is its long flowering season. It also provides an ideal habitat for many insects, including ladybirds, while spiders' webs are secured from plants such as toadflax and spleenwort. The views from Sawley Abbey are spectacularly beautiful and over the wooded knoll of Sawley Brow I watched a buzzard fly in spirals before heading off towards Gisburn.

The wildlife around Sawley Abbey's masonry is not unique and you should be able to enjoy exploring the walls of any old building.

Lancashire's air is not so polluted these days and I would be pleased to hear what readers discover growing on and around our old walls.

Guide dog's 'top barks' for reserve

GUIDE dog Kane walked where no dog has walked before - and gave the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Martin Mere, at Burscough, the "paws-up".

Kane was used to test the reaction of the ducks, geese, swans and flamingos to a four-legged outsider.

For many years guide dogs were not allowed into the grounds at Martin Mere as it was feared that the birds would have an adverse effect on them.

That was until staff contacted Kane's owner Mrs Dorothy Rimmer after hearing that she had always wanted to visit Martin Mere but could not do so without her trusty friend.

Dorothy said: "When Martin Mere invited me to come out with Kane to test the birds' reaction to guide dogs, I jumped at the chance.

"Allowing guide dogs into Martin Mere will give new scope to owners and hopefully other country parks will follow Martin Mere's example."

Martin Mere has invited guide dogs, their owners and a sighted guide free entry to the site throughout this month.

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