The North-South Divide

The Great Divide (recommended)

With no apology for milking these trees (blipwise) for all they're worth!

The locals will know, and those of you with a keen eye should be able to work it out from previous blips, but which side is north in this picture, and which is south? The tree to the left has shed almost all its leaves, while the ones on the right have only just begun to shed theirs. So, in which direction is the tree on the left facing ... and what is your reasoning? The person with the best answer (which may not necessarily be the right answer!) will have their name in lights tomorrow!

I've always loved these sycamore trees, and I'm growing to love them more every time I blip them. Looking closely you can see how well they accommodate each other. They have grown up close together, but they don't seem to intrude upon each other's space. I assume they were planted by the Victorians when this whole area was landscaped with paths to provide those spa visitors taking the 'medicinal' spring water access to the moor. They did a pretty good job.

The reasons that people flocked here over a hundred years ago are not too different from the reasons why I settled in Ilkley. There are not very many places where the wild landscape of the moors, with its heather-clad crags, is quite so accessible. This spot is only a fifteen minute walk from the town centre. In half an hour you can be on top of the moors, and it can easily feel like true wilderness in the right (or wrong - depending on how you want to look at it!) weather. It feels remote despite not really being remote at all. It's a very special place. I think you can tell that I'm rather fond of it.

Many thanks to those who popped by Roam's post yesterday. He was well chuffed!

So ... let's have your thoughts with regard the orientation of the trees - and you may have noticed that it still looks like there are just three of them!