Down by the Lade - our little green corridor - So Whats a Lade?

Apologies, apologies.  I've only realised that unless you are scottish  or have lived at one time in Scotland you probably will not have the slighest clue what I've been talking about when I mention anything about a Lade in the blog. 

So I thought I would write an article for you all as I have had 2 requests this week alone from fellow bloggers for some further info and I am sure I will be asked again in the future.

Lots of Scottish towns have their own lade - and this lade  of ours has a little history all of its own too as its the earliest known in Scotland.  Perth lade can be dated to around 1153 and many would  describe it as a man made canal.   At first it was the defensive moat around the walled town then much later when the town's main industry was grain and flour milling the water from the Lade was used to power the mills along with coal.  Later in the 18th and 19th century the Lade was used by the textile industry and by 1824 there were 8 dyeworks on the Lade but by the 19th century only 2 were left.

How the Textile Industry used the Lade

The water from the Lade was directed from the Weir to the first bleachworks on the canal.

This is the waterwheel in1978 when it was still in use.

Today the wheel is overgrown and the buildings to the left have been demolished to make room for new homes.

Once the water passed this water wheel it soon divided into two branches.  These two branches were regulated by a system of sluices and channels depending on the needs of each mill. 

Today those channels are still visible along with some of the old metal cogs and wheels from the sluice gates and water freely flows through them.  

One branch fed a Beetling mill (thats where a finishing process for cloth involved the pounding of the cloth with heavy weights).  The Beetling Mill was to the right of this photo below.  Only Cottages are left at this site today.  Along here the Caledonian Railway line ran and you can see the disused railway bridge in the photo below.  Today  that railway  bridge no longer exists other than the stone supports.  There are only a few clues in the local landscape that a railway once ran through the area like a  a row of distinctive cottages that  were the station buildings and a disused tunnel I can see in the far distance at the far end of fields.

 and and the other branch fed the Old Shepherd's Mill below.

The water  was pure and soft so was just perfect for bleaching and dyeing fabrics.  Manufacturers in Glasgow would send their raw  fabric to the Lade for treament via the railway line.

The Bleachfields

The cloth was steeped in the lade water with various blends of ashes added.  The main ash being soda ash which was prepared from burned seaweed.

Then it was heated and left to ferment and left lying flat on the grass for weeks at a time. 

The next step was to bring it back into the mill  for it to be washed and then steeped in milk  which was again left to ferment. Then the cloth was laid out again  in the fields to dry in the sun. This whole process was repeated many times to get the desired whiteness.

Any flat field near the Lade would be used for that purpose - hence the word "bleachfields".

So important was this trade that large areas of good arable land that could have been used for farming were used instead for bleaching.  Its been said that  many a vivid colour to the lade water from the dyeing process could be seen or else foam from the bleaching floating down stream.

Up until 1832 the lade water was also the workers main domestic water supply as the council established a new waterworks supply after many complaints about its quality.

Here's a little local story ................

St Conwalls Well

Sixteen  women on May 4th 1618 were brought before the Kirk Session (church committe) for superstitiously visiting St Conwalls Well and depositing pins and headlaces.

Alot of locals and myself have always thought that the well was at the corner of the brae down below the castle as there is a natural spring there where many people collect the water.  But thanks to betsie who has contacted me through comments here she too has been looking for the well and its not below the Castle but  somewhere in the locality of Shepherds Mill .............

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Now I can't be 100% sure about this but in the area marked in the map above there is an area  with lots of trees across the road from the Shepherds Mill and in that area of undergrowth there is a little area fenced off  with barbed wire around the top of it. You can just about make it out in the middle of the photo as the grass is so long in that area.  Could that possibly be where the well was situated?

 

Employment

The lade created employment for a large population and half of those were women and children.  Each Summer the City Fathers of the Town Council would walk along the lade and inspect it and at the end of their walk they would be rewarded with  strawberries and cream.

The last industry to close along the Lade was the Bleachworks  in the 2nd photograph in 1981 and the owner's home was turned into a hotel  - and he even had part of the Lade diverted so that it would feature in his front garden! now the Huntingtower Hotel.

Once the Lade reached the town it again it divided into two to serve all the mills in the town and  providing a continuous moat around the town walls.

Lower City Mills once the Grain Mills  now are occupied by the Tourist Information Centre.  Upper city mills is now a hotel - the Ramada Jarvis where you can  view the lade from the hotel garden  and watch water trickle down the water wheel from the reception area and lounge.

Today  Perth lade is a tourist attraction with a 1 - 2 foot wide path along the rural stretch with reeds, rushes and sedges carpeting the banks along with aconites, wild ranunculus ficara, snowdrops and daffodils  in the spring time. The rest of the lade is more like a canal.  Some parts run along peoples back gardens and are not visible to walkers on the public footpaths.  Half a million trips are made along the lade each year. It is so lovely to walk along and much favoured by all the local wildlife.  Its a great green corridor more white than green just now!  where many species can move, and find food and shelter. 

Here are some more photos I  took today along the Lade.............

 

 

 

and further along where it looks more like a man made canal

You can see video and even more pictures of the Lade running through the ground floor of one of the local hotels here

"Ever since the creation of the world  his eternal power and divine nature, invisible  though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has  made. So they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

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What a difference a year makes to a Mahonia and Witchhazel

 What a day!  - the car battery decided to die on us - so I didn't make the sales today.  I was in the car at 6.45am so that I would get to the Next sale - but to no avail the engine would not start. Throughout the morning we tried to heat up the battery - but it still would not work.   Thanks to one neighbour and their son and after a snow blizzard we finally got the car started with jump leads at 3pm.  We headed to Halfords to get a new battery before they closed and they fitted it for us too.   Thankfully the battery ceased in our driveway and we were not stranded away from home.   I think there's going to be an AA roadside assistance membership taken up in this house very soon after today.  I  never got to do much of anything that I had planned to do today but I did notice this.................

What a difference between this year and last year in the garden as regards blooms especially on my mahonia and witchhazel.  This time last year I had a new camera - so on Christmas Day I went out to take some "trial" shots - the close ups were really dreadful - didn't know how to use the macro and super macro settings for starters - but I am glad today that I  kept a few of the other shots.  On Christmas Day I normally have one witchhazel in flower and  my Mahonia.   This time last year the Mahonia was beautiful - but this year it looks dreadful as most the flowers that are not in a sheltered position are black and under a blanket of snow. All the flowers to the front of the shrub have gone - tho there are a few at the back of the shrub where it  is very sheltered that are still looking good.

 

Mahonia "Charity"

Every year at this time my Witchhazel Jelena is always in flower with its lovely spiderly reddish orangey coppery spider flowers -  like in the photo below.    I have other Witchhazels in the garden but the Jelena is always the first to flower for me. But not this year! 

Witchhazel intermedia "Jelena"  25th Dec 2008

These past few weeks I have been patiently waiting to catch it breaking bud and woohoo -  its peeping through at last!   I  don't blame it for taking its time this year with the worst weather here in about 20 years.  I'm wondering if its 2 weeks later than normal in flowering then everything else will be about 2 weeks later in flowering also at Spring especially if we get the -20C/-4F thats predicted for next week. 

So without further ado let me intoduce you to my Jelena.

I hope to take more pictures as it starts to show off its blooms.

'Twas the Day before Christmas by the Weir and the Lade

And all through the house.............................. its nice and cozy and warm because last night the temperature dropped to    -11.4C/11.48F taken from the local weather station and -12.2C/10.4F from one corner in the garden.  That's a record in this garden!  I know that many of you experience temperatures like this every winter and get loads more snow than us - but we really are not used to this especially day after day.  We don't get that much snow down here........... so we do get excited when those little flakes start falling.



I had lots of free time today as all the shopping is done so we went for a walk this morning along the riverbank.  It was still -11 when we left the house well wrapped up with plenty of layers on.


I would not go out on my own as its so slippy and we did slip a few times. The snow has compacted quite a bit in the past few days with all the walkers out and about enjoying the snowy scenery and at places there is very little distance between the path and the river bank. 

The Weir

click on the photo to enlarge

I just missed capturing a shot of the Crane.  We were at its well known nesting spot at the Weir. We  heard his cry but he was too quick for me to get in the viewfinder - only to lose him in the trees.  I see him sometimes  as I am out walking - its an incredible sight to see him with his large wing span fly along the Lade only a few feet above the water. The Lade is not so wide so its like his wings can nearly touch each side of the bank.  Maybe one day I'll get a photo - but today was not the day for lingering at the Weir.  My legs were getting so cold at that stage. 




I  am starting to get concerned about my Olive tree and 2 palms that are clustered together up against  a corner wall of the house.   I really need to move them into the garage where the temperature is about freezing these nights but certainly warmer than outdoors.. But it was too cold to carry the pots indoors today plus they are really heavy.   I suppose tonight I should be out there with some horticultural fleece to wrap around them but the thought of venturing outside just doesn't appeal to me on Christmas Eve.  Plus the garage is so full of empty boxes from christmas decorations, garden furniture, cordylines, begonia tubers and fushias along with everything else a garage holds ............ I don't think I could even find the fleece in there just now.


Well its just less than 3 hours till Christmas Day and three sacks are now in situ!


I made these many years ago with some of my american quilting fabric as I used to do alot of quilting and patchwork.   Double layered with batting inbetween to make them nice and soft.  When the kids were young they used to get into them and keep warm and sometimes they would fall asleep on the sofa inside them.  Each of them is individually named on the front with red felt applique and either a Santa or penguin  appliqued above their names.  The presents take up a tiny amount of room in those sacks ( well 2 of them)  these days 
but what they lack in size they certainly don't in price.


The turkey is sitting in the utility room ready and waiting for the oven first thing in the morning.  I don't do the cooking on Christmas Day  - the kitchen is my husbands domain on Christmas Day and at weekends.



No more snow fell today - we just missed it as it fell south of us - but I wonder will we have any on Christmas Day. The forecast says we will - but weather forecasts here are not accurate when it comes to predicting snow falls for us.   Still lots to do around here to be ready for tommorrow so may I extend Christmas greetings to all who read here and may the Lord richly bless you in 2010.

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Six Little Ducks...........down by the Lade .... Wordless Wednesday

The visitors to my garden this morning

Out and about this afternoon down at the Lade

click to enlarge photos

Standing at one of the bridges looking down at the Lade

                                                                                                                   Old Waterwheel at the Lade

related posts: A Scottish Winter Garden
                     Unassembled Snowmen for Sale here

A Scottish Winter Wonderland down by the Lade

Its Day 5 with snow here and the accumulations are gradually increasing.  Thankfully we've had the snowplough past the house which has helped keep the roads clear around here.  This afternoon I got my first chance since Sunday  to take some more photos tho the light levels after 3pm are not great for taking the pictures at this time of year.  Earlier in the morning we had freezing fog.

Down by the lade is a very popular place for tourists from all over the world - its so picturesque with lots of walks along the river and lade with many little bridges and alot of wildlife including the odd groose in the hedgerows , some Roe deer and lots of Mallard ducks.

The ducks will probably feature quite abit in this blog in the springtime as they seem to like visiting our gardens around here especially after it has rained as they seem to like the puddles.  They also like to get fed by the locals and are cheeky enough to even waddle through your front door if you're  not careful (I am speaking from experience!). They also like the garden ponds around here too - they can make quite a mess in there.   Plus mother ducks have no road sense here - many a time they stop the traffic as they waddle down the middle of the road with about 8 - 10 chicks following behind.  Another few months before all that happens again - until then we have this..............

Click on the photos to see the Lade in greater detail

Today most of the Lade in our neighbourhood was frozen.

There were not so many ducks here today - it was quite hard to get a good photo of them  as they were in the only part of the Lade that was not frozen and it has a steep bank and I did not want to slip down that bank!  It was -7C /19F as I took these photos so I dread to think how cold that water would have been.

The Lade is really beautiful with a covering of snow and ice.

Then I walked over to the river - a 2 minute walkaway.  The riverwalk is also part of the National Cycle Network.

 More of Our Neighbourhood

 

A Panoramic View from our front garden

the light levels were getting very poor by this stage
The river meanders along these trees and along with the National Cycle route.

Unassembled Snowmen for sale here!

Well if the snow keeps falling we might get to make some snowmen around here!  My husband is checking the radar pictures every hour on the hour!  I think the blinds will be open tonight so he can keep a check on the snowfall during the night.  Thankfully the local council got the street light outside the house fixed so that makes it easier to see any snow fall from his side of the bed!  So I'm hoping that I will be able to keep a record of the snowfall over the next day or so on the blog. 


So here are a few collections I made of today's snow pictures.

 

Our snow fall has been quite pathetic compared to other areas.  I suppose since we live in a rain shadow that probably means we're in a snow shadow also.  Yesterday's falls amounted to about 1cm - well tonight its about 1inch but hoping that more will arrive during the night.  For nearly 9 years I've only taken a few photos of the snow in the garden and would like to get the opportunity to take more this year now that I am gaining more photography skills.

Taking videos on the camera is new to me also - so I was quite pleased with this as I took it from inside my utilty room.  I have one of those windows that turns itself inside out so you can wash the outside of the windows so I was able to get the camera outside the window  - but forgive the camera shake as I was leaning over the sink aswell.  My husband has since got me a tripod to use from now on. The fruit is from a Malus Profusion and the photo top right is a Cotoneaster Horizontalis.

A Tasty Malus fit for a Feast

and tonight

 For UK readers here is a great site called "Will it Rain today"

 It has the latest radar pictures that get updated every hour - click on the link and watch the red on the map - those are the snow showers. 

A Feast for the Senses: The Sensory Garden

The Sense of Taste


I have to add this picture to this  blog - I took it a few minutes ago and so appropriate to today when there is little really to feast on in my garden except for this...... 

 


Before I joined Blotanical I had started to collate on the blog information that I had put together a few years ago for a sensory garden for the partially blind in my local area.  You can catch up on earlier blogs here:

The Sense of Sight
The Sense of Touch
The Sense of Sound
The Sense of Smell

Its always important to make sure that only plant foods that you clearly recognise are tasted.  The following list of plants to grow in the garden was made for those with restricted vision for ease of picking due to their size and shape.   I am sure there are loads of other tasty plants that could be added to this list but I did not want to overwhelm the audience!

Firstly don't spray plants that you will use as food with pesticides and best to rinse before eating - peas is an exception to that!  I love opening the pods - and oh how sweet those peas are freshly picked!

• Beans: ready to pick when feel large enough
• Golden Squash: brightly coloured at harvest time
• Lettuce: ready to pick when leaves feel large enough  - pick and come again varieties are excellent choices
• Red Leafed Lettuce: brightly coloured
  
• Various varieties of mint:  pick the leaves
• Nasturtiums: peppery taste to leaves and flowers - great to make salads look colourful
• Peppers: all brightly coloured
• Spinach: once it feels large enough
• Strawberries: turn red when ripe and ready to pick when softened slightly
• Tomatoes: turn red when ripe and ready to pick when softened slightly
• Chives: just pick the non flowering stems
• Rhubarb: stems are ready to    pick......... (that means pull the stems rather than cut them)  when red - the thinner stalks are less stringy and less acidic - best picked till the end of July as the stems get too acidic from August onwards.

 And not forgetting Beetroot, Blueberries, Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Gooseberries, Plums and Apples.

The flower petals from chives and the small leaves from the dwarf curry plant can be tossed amongst other salad leaves and Lavender flowers can be used to make shortbread - or for US readers - cookies.

But here's the bit for the adventurous taster  

There are certainly lots of other tastes in the sensory garden for the adventurous type.  A few years ago I stumbled upon a website called Plants for a Future  that lists plants that are safe to eat which we would normally never think of eating.

Would you eat the flowers of a DayLily (Hemerocallis)
Would you eat a fushia seedpod
Would you suck nectar from certain plants or trees
Or even eat the fruits of a Mahonia? (mine look like minature grapes)

There's certainly lots of "food for thought" at that website! Though I could not imagine any one in my house wanting to eat mahonia fruits - I did try earlier in the year with my husband but he took cold feet in the end and would not try them - and  neither would I !  I am sure they would be a little bitter.

I'm certainly not the adventurous type when it comes to food.

I'll just for now stick with my Chutney, Crab Apple Jelly and Plum jam kindly made for me by one of my neighbours who is what I would call the local "hunter gatherer" in our area.




Conclusion

I hope the Sensory garden blogs have given you some inspiration to get into your own garden and given you a few ideas on how to get the senses in free flow.  Tho that advice would suit the warmer climates today rather than here as we're under a blanket of snow.

Sensory Garden for Little Seedlings

I think creating a sensory garden is a great way to get children interested in gardening.  The garden can be a real learning experience for them.  They can learn their colours as they walk and play in the garden with you.  Learn about different textures and soil structure and enjoy making mud pies.  They can learn about pollination and observe the habitat in the garden and all about the seasons as the garden changes from one season to another.  There's so much you can do to make the garden exciting and interesting for the gardeners of the future and get those "little seedlings" of ours discover their green shoots.

My own little seedlings are now tall shoots............... got that bit right - I think abit too much miracle gro in their breakfast cereals but can't figure out where I went wrong with the green fingered bit - its more fingers typing on a keyboard these days - and the closest wildlife they see is an electronic mouse!    maybe once they have their own gardens that will change........... I can always dream..................







(Tasty Malus photo taken by leavesnbloom on Sunday 20th Dec 2009.  Other photos used in this article were from wiki commons (hemerocallis) and the others borrowed from this free photo blog license album )

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - Dec 09

 Oh its the 15th and its picture time!

This is my first entry into the Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  There's not much in bloom here and what there is is probably going to have a covering of snow from Thursday onwards. I was not sure if berries were to be included but I've added mine as they give such good colour when everything else is either black or tan in the garden.

                                              Winter Jasmine only a few buds open just now.

Malus Profusion defrosting! The blackbirds have not touched the tree yet. Its normally the last berry feast to be had by the Blackbirds in the garden.

The next set of photos were taken on Sunday with added ice effect but they are in flower today in the garden.

Rowan Vilmornni - there are only a few berries left now -  you could count them on one hand!

Skimmia Rubella - technically still in bud

Viburnum Eve Price is a mass of buds and a few are open - its about 3ftx3ft now

Callicarpa Profusion - I loved this plant from the moment I saw it in the garden centre and had to buy 2 of them - they are now each over 6 feet tall.

Hellebore  - an unknown variety  given to me from someones garden many many years ago.

My Old Faithful Mahonia Media Charity  - you can always depend on it to have good bloom at this time of year.

So as you can see there is just a little colour in this Scottish garden.  I am hoping the witchhazel will be out in flower by the next GBBD.



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