Country diary: delicate flowers stand firm on precipitous stony slopes

Treligga, Cornwall: The first spring squills are massing near the coastal path, among the sea thrift and bladder campionSeawards of the Gaia wind turbines and the pit of Delabole slate quarry, coastal farmland bears the brunt of westerly gales. Stunted hedgerows lean away from the sea and new shoots of flowering hawthorn are singed brown. After a bout of dry cold weather, water flowing from springs has slowed to a trickle; rutted mud in gateways has dried hard; and rain is needed for regrowth of grass already cut for silage.On this sunny, relatively calm day young Holstein heifers (destined to become replacement cows for two adjoining dairy herds) roam and graze across their fields, but the larger herd of zero-grazed milking cows is out of sight, in a covered yard - fed with grass, cut and brought in daily. Further north, Red Ruby Devon cattle are lying down in their hilltop field, chewing the cud, and gazing across the hazy blueness of Port Isaac bay and down the coast towards Pentire, the Rumps and Trevose Head. Continue reading...