Grey Heron
Bike Locks, Permutations and Combinations
Someone was recently talking to me about brute forcing an old bike lock - the usual type with four, rotating, numbered barrels. This lead to looking up a bit more than I needed solve the problem. I am aware of the usual shortcuts for opening these locks, but the...
Brian Blessed Wins The Race
First outing with Txt2GIF
Orange Peel Fungus – Aleuria aurantia
A bright-orange fungus that can look like discarded orange peel. Easy to spot from late-Summer to Autumn - said to be edible but there are similar (not bright-orange) fungi that are poisonous.
Three Shires Head (Panniers Pool Waterfall) Walk
Walk spec. Difficulty: Moderate Basic length: 6Km (approx.) Terrain: Mud tracks Optional Wet stream bed Road without footpath Sheep Steep slopes Tarmac Tracks A nice circular up the River Dane to the historic Panniers Pool at Three Shires Head (or Three Shire Heads as...
Penny Bun or Cep – Boletus Edulis
A very common mushroom used for cooking but of highly variable for and often confused wiith other species. Often large with size ranging from 3 to 20cm or more.
Deceiver – Laccaria laccata
A small mushroom, pale-red to brown in colour and around 2 to 10cm tall. Said to be the most common toadstool type mushroom in the the British Isles. Known as the Deceiver due to its highly variable range of size and colour which may in fact be due to several, similar...
Grisette – Amanita vaginata
A trooping mushroom 10 to 18cm tall mushroom with a white stem and pale-grey cap - usually 5 to 10cm. Remnants of the volva or pod from which the mushroom emerges remain around the base of the stem. Found in broad-leaved woodland often with beech and oak trees....
Angel’s Bonnet – Mycena arcangeliana
Small delicate mushrooms in clusters on dead wood and tree stumps with a brown-ish stem and paler bell-shaped cap that can flatten out with age and white gills that tend to darken. According to Buczackie they taste "mild, indefinite or radish-like".
Common Stump Brittlestem – Psathyrella piluliformis
A mushroom usually found in dense clusters on dead wood. The cap and stem are often buff brown, growing paler later while the gills change to dark brown. 4 to 10cm tall with 2 to 4cm cap that starts bell-shaped and flattens out with age.
Jelly Baby – Leotia lubrica
Jelly Baby is a rubbery fungi. It starts out with a round, smooth, shiny cap that develops into curvy margins. They are often yellow, orangey-yellow or greenish-brown in colour. The stems are sometimes a little flattened with a flaky or scaly surface, with soft...
Abandoned Mech
Smithills Hall Kitchen Garden Ruins and Coal Mining Tramroads Explore
A short walk around a section of Smithills Hall Park, following the route of the old mining tramroads and taking in the 'lost' Kitchen Garden and the ruins of the Gardener's Cottage. Length: 2km Difficulty: Moderate (Easy optional) Terrain: Gravel tracks, Mud, Mud...
Kaloula the Dance – AI Generated Fiction
Kaloula: The Dance Sometime during the 21st century a group of scientists conducted an experiment. In the nature reserve north of the village lived a kaloula, a large frog species. They saw it as a chance to study if animal populations could be regulated by...
Sine and Sine Wave – AI Generated Fiction
Sine and Sine Wave And one day, the sine wave told the sine wave, "I love you." "Why?" asked the sine wave. "Because," said the other, "you are an excellent function of mathematics that has enabled me to predict much in our world." The next day, they were driving down...
The Sphinx Murders – AI Generated Fiction
The Sphinx Murders Detective Uri was recently partnered with the single most annoying creature in existence, Horatio the penguin. The freckled detective disliked the idea of being stuck with someone who could barely solve a problem without asking for help. But one...
Detective Cheeseman Saves The Day – AI Generated Fiction
Detective Cheeseman Saves The Day In the dark of night, a shadowy figure was spotted making his way to where intern Jenny LaFey lay unconcious. Many had noticed her laziness and poor work ethic while at the office. "I'm going to kill her," thought the mysterious...
Pickled Pepper – AI Generated Musings
Pickled Pepper Clouds are often compared to objects or landscapes, but maybe clouds can also be made of things. These clouds look like they were pickled in brine and peppered for depth. Take this beige-skinned fellow in his blue pants and orange button up...
No-man’s Land – An AI Generated Poem
No-man's Land What's the little strip of land between Spain and Gibraltar? No-man's land, Where we can go out and play all day. It's a bit like the Isle of Man and then some, Or the South Pole, But it's really not Spain. It's a lovely place, And it's called no-man's...
The Most Probable Word – AN AI Generated Poem
The Most Probable Word Your eyes are like twine. They string across a crowded room. Your eyes make a snide remark, As they hear all the words I never say. Your eyes are like twine, But mine can't seem to be sewn together. Maybe if they were sewn together, Then maybe...
Ingleton Waterfalls Trail
Walk spec. Difficulty: Moderate Basic length: 7Km (approx.) Terrain: Steep steps Tarmac Tracks Ingleton Waterfalls Trail Walk Map Probably the best waterfall walk on a managed trail - payment required but it’s worth it for the well-kept viewing platforms and...
Piethorne Valley Walk
Piethorne Valley Walk A Walk near Rochdale in Greater Manchester This walk is easy if you’re into hiking and has good tracks but some unsurfaced and a few steep-ish slopes. It’s good for dog walking although there are sheep around some of the tracks and unfenced...
Around Upper Rivington Reservoir
Around Upper Rivington Reservoir A Walk near Rivington in Greater Manchester A short and easy stroll around the Upper Rivington Reservoir with views of Winter Hill and the Pike, a possible Roman road and a couple of ornamental waterfalls after rain. The terrain is not...
Hodge Close Explore
Hodge Close Explore A Walk near Coniston in Cumbria This walk is more of an explore and is dangerous so I don’t recommend you do it unless you have some experience with descending rocky slopes, not falling off sheer cliffs, wading through flooded tunnels, avoiding...