The Cuckoo

The Eurasian Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, has an onomatopoeic name, cuculus simply refering to the sound of its call and canorus means ‘pleasant sounding’. The call of the Cuckoo is indeed very pleasant to hear and evocative too, conjuring images of spring in the minds of most people, even those that might never have heard theContinue reading “The Cuckoo”

Halton’s Mechanical Elephants, or The Polish-built Petrol-powered Pachyderms

Halton’s heritage Just up the river Lune, a couple of miles from the city of Lancaster, sits the historic village of Halton, once a bustling hub of industrial activity powered by the waters of the Lune. In the area’s hay-days, which lasted from the 17th to 19th centuries, the water-wheel powered mills, the oldest ofContinue reading “Halton’s Mechanical Elephants, or The Polish-built Petrol-powered Pachyderms”