Sarah Dalrymple
LightNews LightNews
banner
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Sarah Dalrymple
@sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
1.2K followers 650 following 2K posts
Seabirder and gull fan in north-east England, my posts here are entirely my own

also active at @sarahdalgulls@ecoevo.social on mastodon

https://sarahdal.github.io/
Posts Replies Media Videos
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
I love these! Extremely tempted to see how they'd paint my lad
A black cat sits proudly. He has no eyes
November 5, 2025 at 1:02 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Bought from a bakery on Great Junction Street while a man had a screaming argument with himself outside, which all feels very on brand
November 1, 2025 at 3:09 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
little walk up to Ros Castle and the infamous Cateran Hole, I remember when it was difficult to find this, now there's a nice big path straight there. Also obligatory trip to look at Blaewearie
#Northumberland
A grassy path leads up a slope brown with heather and bracken. The hill is a very rotund lump, with some trees on the left-hand slope. The sky is uniform grey above. A nice morning view from the slope, across a landscape brown with heather and bracken. The muddy path leads away from me. while the land stretches out to a hilly horizon. Although most of the sky is grey, some early morning colour seeps through at the edges. The Cateran Hole - stone steps lead down through grass into the earth A ruined stone cottage, the front and back barely a few courses high while the gable ends just about still stand. behind it are a few trees and a view of the moorland beyond.
October 26, 2025 at 3:52 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
..and Thomas the Tank Engine himself is on a window at St Mary Magdalene in Rodborough, commissioned by the Rev Awdry himself in memory of his wife

www.rememberingrodborough.org.uk/people-place...
A colourful stained glass window of people together, but the lowest right hand section has Thomas and another engine in their shed
October 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
A murky walk up the Pennine Way from Byrness to Chew Green Roman fort today, Opposite the fort you can still make out the heavily rutted ground from the cattle droves, snaking along the route of Dere Street. Spithope Bothy too was probably a drover's overnight stop.

#Northumberland
Boggy, tussocky ground gently drops away to more boggy tussocky ground, stretching on to the horizon. On the left of the picture a wooden and wire fence runs parallel to the path and separates an old area of forestry, the commercial plantation is long gone however but new sitka saplings are growing up randomly. A traditional Northumbrian Sign stands on two metal poles on a grassy hillside by some lichen-dappled rocks. It is large, and white, and on the left has a large red circle with a line diagonally through it, and below: "Military Firing Range. Keep out when red flags or lights are displayed or barriers closed." On the right, a yellow warning triangle containing and explosion, and below the black text on a yellow background: Danger Do not touch and military debris. It may explode and kill you. These signs are regularly spaced across the MOD Otterburn Ranges, which cover 242 square kilometres or about a quarter of the total area of the National Park Chew Green Roman Fort, a ditch in the grass curves ahead sharply. On the opposite side two white-faced Cheviot sheep stand. Behind them, a yellowy grassy hillside. Looking down from a brackeny bank a stone hut can just be made out, surrounded by trees, this is Spithope Bothy but was once an overnight stop for drovers bringing cattle across the border to markets in England.
October 18, 2025 at 4:49 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Is this really the only stained glass window in the country to feature a steam train? I feel like that can't be true. It was, however, the first stained glass window in England funded by worker's subscription. St Francis' at Byrness, #Northumberland
The stained glass window. It shows figures working with spades and picks, a child sat behind, with other workers in the distance with a wheel barrow, and on the other side, the funnel and top of a steam train. Ornate decoration at the top and the bottom. Along the bottom is the text: "To the glory of God & in memory of those men women & children who have died during the construction of the reservoir at Catcleugh This window & brass have been erected by their fellow workmen and friends 1903" the interior of a small stone church, with wooden pews and very little decoration other than a colourful stained glass window on one side
October 18, 2025 at 4:46 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
These are incredible, I'm hooked, thanks for posting
With respect to the incident when two photographs were taken of Mr Honeywill by Ms Saunders, her allegation was that he was standing with an “aggressive stance”. She also alleged that he had moved towards her aggressively. She accepted that he had not in fact moved closer to her, when it was pointed out to her that the location of Mr Honeywill near to a stationary armchair had not altered between the two photographs – other than his feet being put together. The difference in Mr Honeywill’s size in the two photographs appears to be because he was zoomed in on the second photograph. I mention this as, not only did that incident and the consequences of it (Mr Lawrence Honeywill was sufficiently rattled by it that he could not give his evidence on the day he was expected to give evidence, and he told Mr Steele – who was in the middle of giving evidence – about what had happened) cause delay in progressing the trial, but it is an example of how Ms Saunders reacts towards the defendants, the sorts of allegations she makes, how she records her interactions with the defendants, and how important an issue conduct is in this case.
October 15, 2025 at 7:44 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
From the local Facebook page
October 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
keep finding myself obsessed with Anglo-saxon Northumbria, so started reading Northanhymbre saga : the history of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Northumbria by John Marsden and so far it's really good, easy to follow and captures brilliantly the emergence of historic fact out of misty legend
The book cover, a photograph showing the silhouette of a Bamburgh Castle under a cloudy sky as the sun rises behind it
October 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
still my absolute fave is this in a bird hide in Cumbria
September 24, 2025 at 12:27 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Green 1972 Rover, last registered in the UK in 2011 and given an export marker
September 21, 2025 at 6:52 AM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
A very wet but enjoyable walk up the Lairig Leachach on Monday, from Spean Bridge to Loch Treig @scotways.com #scotland #hiking
A wet gravel track curves ahead through boggy ground. Hills rise up either side and mountains on the horizon can be seen faintly through the rain and low cloud A small stone building, the Lairig Leachach bothy, sits on the far side of a wide but shallow rocky burn. Behind it a hill brown with heather and grass rises into the low cloud Muddy quad bike tracks show the route across a soaking bog. A river winds us way down the broad valley, with the ground sloping up and hills beyond The path leads across wet grassy ground that slopes down steeply on the right to a small wooded area, out of which a river flows distantly towards a far-off white building next to a copse. Hills are behind and on the horizon. It is raining
September 17, 2025 at 10:36 AM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
An excellent #spider I saw today
@britishspiders.bsky.social
A light brown spider with darker pattern on the abdomen, clinging to a green door
September 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
I follow shipping accounts on insta (cos boats are cool) and finally it's happened - Arctic shipping lanes are opening up..
A Map showing a shipping route across the Arctic from Scandinavia to China. Text: lloydsmaritimeinstitute Goodbye Suez Canal? The Arctic Express Sets Sail On September 20, a vessel will depart Qingdao for Europe — not through the Suez Canal, but across the Arctic Sea. Why it matters: • 18 days vs. 28 via Suez • Avoids Red Sea instability • Year-round potential with icebreaker support This new route could transform China–Europe trade flows and reshape global supply chains. But challenges remain — sustainability, safety, and long-term viability. The future of shipping might not be decided in boardrooms, but on the oceans. Would you trust your cargo on the Arctic route?
September 10, 2025 at 9:31 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Lovely gull-positive art at North Berwick near the Scottish Seabird Centre. On a gull-proof bin, no less!
On the promenade with a sandy beach behind, a gull-proof bin has a painting of an adult herring gull on their grassy nest with two fluffy chicks, one under their wing. Behind, a juvenile gull is calling at the silhouette of an adult gull soaring in the blue sky above. Behind them is a view of North Berwick from one of the offshore islands (Probably Craigleith) .
August 31, 2025 at 3:47 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
anyone know what this is? found by a mate in Assynt #crustacean
August 21, 2025 at 10:43 AM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
It's been years since I've been in Lakeland, I always think it's going to be unbearably busy, There was a handful of people out on the tops, but it was fine and pleasant to stop to chat with them. Up Caldew River to Knot, High Pike and Carrock Fell, 19km ish
Under a sunny sky, the grassy top of the hill drops away and beyond are hilltops of the Lakeland Fells The summit of Carrock. A triangular stone stack sits atop the rocky outcrop on the peak; part of a ring of loose stone can be made out below, this once made up a Hillfort. Behind the stack is a beautiful view, hazy in the sunshine, towards the higher reaches of the Caldew Valley, with Skiddaw visible on the horizon. Looking back down the Caldew Valley, which I had walked up, from the grassy fell tops. The valley is flat-bottomed and the burn can be seen flowing through it. The sky is blue with fluffy white clouds A small pile of stones in the middle of a patch of rocky ground on the summit of Knot. Behind are several peaks, looking towards the highest, Blencathra .
August 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Climbing past the Carrock Mine, the only place in the UK outside of Cornwall & Devon where Tungsten was mined - www.gooseygoo.co.uk/site/carrock...
part of an interpretation panel about the Tungsten Mine, with several paragraphs of text about the history of the mine "Mining has taken place at Carrock for over 150 years. Deep underground, miners extracted led, arsenic and tungsten ores. Over ground, the ore were crushed and washed to extract the valuable minerals. This is the only example of a Tungsten mine in England outside of Cornwall" There is then some information about the Germans, William Boss and Frederick Boehm, who took over the mine, and a paragraph with a description of what it was like underground by George D Abraham, author of the Complete Mountaineer, who visited in 1917. A narrow stream valley with steep sides covered in purple heather. In front of us. on the opposite side of the stream, are old ruined stone buildings and large piles of scree and mining waste In the heather embankment, a stone mine entrance (rebuilt in the early 2000s!) . Brownish water flows out from the rectangular mine entryway. A view through the mine entrance: Stone walls and large wooden poles support a stone ceiling. A locked metal gate lies beyond, through which water can be seen cascading down a stone step about knee-high. The water flows under the gate and out of the mine.
August 17, 2025 at 5:06 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Fancied some new hills, so drove out to the NW Lakes..
A narrow road wends it's way up a Lakeland valley, with an ancient drystone wall on the right and a steep bracken covered slope to the left. Behind the wall is a flat floodplain of a winding stream, above which steep hills rise Further up the valley the road has narrowed and stretches ahead through heather and bracken-covered slopes
August 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Watched Bladerunner at the Weekend, think my ending is the best tbh
August 10, 2025 at 5:51 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Tiso marketing team not having the best day
The full email from Tiso: "Good Morning. We realise you've received an email from us this morning with the subject line "Go Hiking Whatever The Weather". Unfortunately this email was put together and scheduled prior to the weather warnings that were put out over the weekend. At Tiso we know keeping safe is tantamount and would never knowingly suggest our customers put themselves in any danger. We ask that everyone please adhere to all safety warnings and apologise for the inappropriate subject line this morning."
August 4, 2025 at 11:46 AM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
I know nothing about Crayfish, but can we tell if this otter's dinner was native or signal? In the Wannies in Central Northumberland
ON a mossy stone in the middle of a stream, several legs and a claw of a crustacean. They are blue-white coloured. I am holding one of the crustacean claws in my hand. It is about three-fingers width long, dark blue and has a rough surface.
August 3, 2025 at 6:21 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
@neheritagelib.bsky.social I walked by Longwitton Colliery today, there still a small bit standing, is this pic useful for NEHL? www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/coalsarchive...
August 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
Spending quality time with my partner but actually spending most of the time with my face pressed up against the window watching all the gull families in the garden
Two adult Lesser black backed gulls with two recently fledged juveniles standing on a large area of lawn bordered by low hedges. One of the adults has it's neck stretched out and is calling, a juvenile is begging posture at it. The other adult is being attended by the second juvenile but they don't seem to be doing anything in particular, just gull things
July 19, 2025 at 8:26 PM
sarahdalgulls.bsky.social
@actualnames.bsky.social just found this in my saved pictures folder
July 18, 2025 at 6:33 AM