lone survivor

"Nature always finds a way" You have to marvel at how the windswept Hawthorn Trees of the Yorkshire Dales ever even gain a foothold within the Limestone, let alone survive and flower every year. Most cannot grow in exposed areas, so seeds that find their way into the channels or Grikes of the Limestone are afforded a degree of shelter. As the tree grows though, roots struggle to find earth for hard Limestone, and as the trunk of the tree thickens, it can end up compressed between the blocks or Clints resulting in all kinds of contorted shapes. This one is at Winskill Stones Nature Reserve above Settle and was photographed in winter at sunset.