The Levels Today and Long ago

The view from Red Hill, Curry Rival


Not sure if this one is from the Same hill or the next one along, but it was drawn in the 1920's from Donald Maxwell's Unknown Somerset.



The Floods have started already.



Found a Spidle Berry bush, but my camera doesn't do it justice.





There were loads of Fieldfares, but they fly away too quick to get a pic of

The Mistletoe was a bit more obliging though.

 

Did you grab a bit of Mistletoe for Christmas Zigs?

 

You're not after a kiss are you Aesculus ! I don't think its allowed between moderators .:D

 

What actually are the Somerset levels Ziggy ? Apart from obviously being very level ! Are they like the fenlands ? I have seen films of the starlings roosting display there - incredible !

 

I'll bring some Mistletoe to the office party Aesculus, but i'm sitting inbetween Marley & Daisees:santa-clap:

The Levels are very much like the Fens Harry. They would be Sea & Marshland if not for the Pumping Stations.



This one pumps into the River Parrett at Langport, about 20 miles from the coast, but the river is still tidal here, its that flat.

Don't know of any bits that are actually below mean sea level, but most spot heights are around 4 to 5 Metres.

There are many villages ending in Zoy, the Viking word for Island, I was in Middlezoy recently when I noticed Alexanders growing on what would have been the "beach" round the island. Alexanders is usually a coastal plant.

In the winter, the floods can be huge here, its not uncommon to be driving along a road with the water being higher than the car just the other side of the bank:OUCH:
Saw some flocks of Starlings this afternoon, but my camera is not really upto shots like that.

 

Great photos Ziggy, and I was really taken by the picture by Maxwell.

Please see this link: Donald Maxwell

a-a

 

Cheers for that Alex

I have Unknown Kent, along with many others of the series, not just by Maxwell but a few others.

Been collecting them since I was a kid, paid 1/- for Unknown Dorset at a jumble sale.

Paid upto £30 for other copies.

Unfortunately, the bindings were made from animal glue, which mice love.

 

Super photos Ziggy and of great historical interest and well worth recording.

'Levels' albeit the Bedford Levels were used in the late 19th - early 20th century to demonstrate that the earth is curved. Three poles of equal height above water were set in the water with three miles between each pole and when viewed through a theodilite the middle pole appeared three feet elevated.
It was a bit of a downer for the Flat Earth Society as were the first photos of earth from space.

 

Fantastic info Dave and good to hear you are still with us after the storm

 

I'm still here though some of my radio antennas are looking a bit sick

 

Hae ye lost the short wave Dave?

 

Short wave -
Medium wave
Long wave

32 foot high whip antenna lost a guy and had to take it down during the gale - pig of a job, but now back up. Five band cubical quad (don't ask) snapped the 10 meter driven loop so need to luff the mast and repair that which is a double pig of a job

 

In my neck of the woods, the area is pretty much completely flat. From just north of the Tees, down to about 7 miles south of the Tees, and about 5 miles inland, it is more or less completely flat. Apparently thanks to the last ice age.

I'm not really into geology, but it does fascinate me that there was once enough weight of ice to carve literally miles of solid rock.

Drifting slightly off topic, I once went into Blue John cave in Derbyshire. Its about half way up the foothills of the pennines. Apparently not so long ago (in geological terms - about 100,000 years ago) it was under water along with most of what we now know as Britain. There is a map there showing how Britain would have appeared on a map today if sea levels were still as they were at that time. Britain consisted of Scafell Pike, Snowdon, Ben Nevis and a few other large hills, and pretty much nothing else.

 

The Crust sank 100 metres with the weight of the ice where you live Dave, it was 1500 metres thick.

It takes time once the ice has gone, for the crust to rise up again and I think 100,000 years ago was another interglacial period of the present ice age, so its possible the uk was flooded because it hadn't bobbed back up.

When the top half of the uk sank, the bottom half rose up, just like tilting a board.

The top half is still rising whilst Pete & Clare's end is still sinking back to what it used to be. In Roman times the land between the Isle of Wight & the mainland was higher, in extreme low tides the remains of field boundaries are visible.

Its not as simple as a North/South divide though, the South West is rising too, the sea used to lap at the foot of Dunster Castle, now there are 2 miles of fields to the sea.