#Turf Moor

[pernillecfcw]

PALMER🤩🤩!!!

The tap of the badge 😍

[thealanwrightblog]

No 3. Turf Moor, Burnley.

Visited: Hundreds of times!

Saw my first Burnley game in October 1962 v Manchester City on a wet, dismal afternoon, made less interesting by the result - 0-0. I was smitten and have followed them ever since, through thick and thin.

[megasportsmedia]

Burnley FC : Andreas Hountondji, "Je n'ai pas peur... je suis dangereux"

Tout est bouclé depuis quelques jours, Andreas Hountondji est un nouveau joueur de Burnley FC. L’international béninois quitte la France pour l’Angleterre. Dans un long entretien, le nouvel attaquant de Burnley FC, a partagé son enthousiasme à l’idée de jouer pour son nouveau club. À 22 ans, le Guépard se dit prêt à relever les défis de la vie à Turf Moor et à contribuer au succès de…

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Burnley 0-1 Manchester United

We're back! Well, sort of. 3 points, a rare win away, a clean sheet, a first start in 8 years for Jonny Evans, and a disallowed goal - all with a skeleton hodge-podge team. Decent.

Lets start with the stats:

Possession: Burnley 62% / United 38%

Shots: Burnley 12 / United 11

On target: Burnley 4 / United 4

Corners: Burnley 9 / United 5

Fouls: Burnley 6 / United 12

It wasn't a pretty win but United weren't set up for it to be glamourous. Emergency dictated that Jonny Evans started alongside Victor Lindelof at CB, with an unwell Sergio Reguilon playing through the pain at LB and Dalot at RB.

The makeshift defence wasn't perfect, and Burnley had a lovely break through the lines that hit the post, but United's lack of synergy and freshness made Vincent Kompany's side look sharper than they are in truth.

The midfield too: Bruno Fernandes out wide right (with Pellistri relegated back to the bench), Hannibal Mejbri handed a start, and McTominay/Casemiro also making up the midfield. Bruno's progressive play is high risk/high reward, so possession would be tricky there. Casemiro isn't Carrick, he's a bruiser, so he wants to win back and release, and then there's Hannibal - a high energy battler and presser - and McTominay, who is outrageously out of form and seemingly out of shits to give for the team. A sad sight, really.

In what was a tough game for United away from home, down on luck, it could be seen as cruelty for Jonny Evans' headed goal to be denied by VAR for Rasmus Hojlund obstructing the keeper's view, but what better way to fight back than Jonny "Pirlo is a pussy" Evans pinging a ball upfield on his weak foot for Bruno to bury on the volley, bottom corner. Scenes.

You might need to click the tweet to see Bruno's goal but it's worth it. The little brother to the RVP/Rooney goal against Villa in in 2012/13.

Bruno/Evans magic aside, it was a hard fought match by United and particular praise should go again to Hannibal Mejbri. The young Tunisian international was tireless in the middle pressing and jostling, but also quite tidy with the ball. Statman Dave was timely with the Hannibal stats post game:

The youngster proved an astute rotation for Christian Eriksen who, like Juan Mata before him, is a genius level footballing IQ but whose physicality - through no fault of his own - means he can't be utilised as much as would be liked. Ten Hag was smart to recognise this quickly, rather than showing loyalty over suitability. In no world does Eriksen do what Mejbri did last night, and it probably costs United the win.

Beyond that there's not too much to analyse. Hojlund was unlucky not to slide in a low cross from Dalot, Rashford missed a late chance to tee up an open Casemiro, and Amrabat finally made his debut with a few minutes at the end - a similar story for the returning Raphael Varane. The only thing I didn't understand was Kompany's dress sense...

Ah well, a win's a win and United looked far more harmonious and relaxed after the result than we've seen in a long time. Lets hope our favourable run of games now can become a proper run of form, especially with so many home fixtures. Lets also hope Jonny Evans, the true red, maintains this level of form just in case we need him again.

[lounesdarbois]

Oh bon sang OUAAAAIS....

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Greetings!

Any related words to "garden" you might know and would like to share? Thank you.

Hi! Here are some related words for you :)

Garden—a plot of ground where herbs, fruits, flowers, or vegetables are cultivated

Allotment - a small piece of ground in or just outside a town that a person rents for growing vegetables, fruits, or flowers

Arboretum - a large garden where many types of tree are grown, for people to look at and to be studied for scientific purposes

Backyard - a space at the back of a house, usually surrounded by a fence, and covered with grass

Campo - a grassland plain in South America with scattered perennial herbs

Demesne - landed property; estate

Estate - farm, plantation; also: vineyard

Field - an area of cleared enclosed land used for cultivation or pasture

Finca - a rural property, ranch, or farm in Spain or Spanish America

Garth - a small yard or enclosure; close

Grassland - an ecological community in which the characteristic plants are grasses

Greenhouse - a usually permanent climate-controlled structure enclosed (as by glass or multiple layers of plastic) and used usually year-round for the cultivation or protection of tender plants

Greensward - turf that is green with growing grass

Ground - an area used for a particular purpose

Homestead - a tract of land acquired from U.S. public lands by filing a record and living on and cultivating the tract

Hothouse - a greenhouse maintained at a high temperature especially for the culture of tropical plants

Lawn - ground (as around a house or in a garden or park) that is covered with grass and is kept mowed

Lea - grassland, pasture

Meadow - land that is covered or mostly covered with grass

Moor - a boggy area; especially: one that is peaty and dominated by grasses and sedges

Parcel - a tract or plot of land

Park - a piece of ground in or near a city or town kept for ornament and recreation

Pasture - land or a plot of land used for grazing; pastureland; pasturage

Plot - a small area of planted ground

Prairie - a tract of grassland

Savanna - a temperate grassland with scattered trees (such as oaks)

Terrain - a piece of land; ground

Tract - a defined area of land

Turf - grass

Veld - or Veldt; a grassland especially of southern Africa usually with scattered shrubs or trees

Yard - the grounds immediately surrounding a house that are usually covered with grass

Hope this helps! Do tag me, or send me a link to your writing if it does. I'd love to read your work.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Word Lists

[bonefall]

Moorland Research Notes

I usually let these sit in my drafts because they're kinda messy, but no one actually knows anything about moorland, including myself shortly before starting this deep dive. So I'm just going to post this in the hopes that it's useful in some way

This post is about moorland in the UK, I have not done any research into moorland in other places, and then I focused more specifically on lowland heath.

Feel free to use this information for anything you so desire, and check out the sources I put at the bottom of this list if you'd like to learn more. I really hope this helps out WindClan Fans in particular

I do plan to condense what I've learned and chosen into a "Welcome to BB!WindClan!" type post at some point, but this is a REALLY broad post on what moorland is.

What is moorland?

Moorland is a broad term that lumps together several completely unique biomes, most of which are partially or completely reliant on the management of human beings. They are defined by low-growing flora and acidic soils, which makes them difficult for non-specialist plants to grow in.

These can be sorted further into upland or lowland, dry or wet.

Because many types of moorland are dominated by heathers, they are also called heathlands. Though the terms Moor and Heath are sometimes used interchangeably (and this is where a lot of confusion comes from), usually, Moor refers to upland/wet, and Heath refers to lowland/dry.

I have to stress a that LOT of the confusion is coming from this. Heather will grow in both, and the terms get used interchangeably, but an upland/wet moor is FUNDAMENTALLY different from a lowland/dry heath, down to the very soil.

Most specialists will open up an explanation by defining how they're using the Moor/Heath distinction, and will stick to those terms, but just keep in mind that in casual language, ALL of these biomes get called moors, and places without any heather will get called heath.

They can also touch. There are locations where upland moor slopes into lowland heath, or upland heath kisses lowland moor, and there can be very special species that exist in the transitional space between these areas. This too is yuri.

It is not a prairie. It is not a savanna. Please for the love of god stop portraying moorland as prairies and savannas

lots of purple. why he ourple? heathers and purple moorgrass.

Common heather is also called ling, flowery bell heathers are sometimes called erica, and gorse can be called whin or furze

Maritime heath, dune heath, blanket bog, upland moor, transitional upland heath... these are all frequently lumped under the same term even though they are very different.

How are moorlands managed?

Above 700 meters of altitude and in harsh weather conditions, you get montane heath. Near coastlines, you can find maritime heath. These are the only two that are completely "natural" and require no human management.

In wet moors, the elements will beat the vegetation down into peat. Above the peat is turf, the top layer which grows the visible flora. Peat = below, Turf = above. Peat has historically been used as a fuel, and if that bottom layer catches fire, IT IS DISASTROUS.

Because of this, most upland moors (which are usually wet and PACKED with peat) are managed primarily through grazing. There are even breeds of sheep and cattle who have been specially bred to thrive in upland moors-- such as the iconic highland cow. (Though overgrazing can be a problem, too.)

Sheep are used to graze back the heather (sometimes called ling), and in good modern practice, goats are brought out along with the flock to eat pioneering shrubs and saplings. Pigs are also used to control bracken and combat ex-pine plantations with scattered needles, because of their ability to churn soil.

However, controlled burns are still done in some circumstances and when required (LIKE BEFORE A HEATWAVE). Because of the serious danger, it's considered inferior to good grazing management. It's done carefully, in controlled patches, both to not set the underlayer of peat on fire and to make sure there is differently-aged patches of flora in one area to support different species of animals.

If peat catches on fire, it will burn for days or weeks... and can even smoulder underground after you THINK it's been put out.

In DRY LOWland heath, proper burning is common. Gorse and heather grows strong, woody, and flammable, and the thin layer of peat below can combine to devastating results when a wildfire does eventually break out. Large swaths of dry heather and gorse is an ecological powderkeg, even if it was only growing on mineral soil.

Worse, the older heather gets, the woodier it becomes. Woody heather can cause high-temperature fires that absolutely devastates new growth, leading to a slower recovery and causing a controlled burn to become uncontrolled real fast.

Burns are typically conducted in winter, when it's cold, and grazing animals are deployed in summer.

Cutting is also important in lowland management, literally cutting out squares of turf to expose the ground. This is good for mason bees, specifically.

Moorland. Is. Flammable. Fire risk = HIGH.

If you do not manage the moorland, the moorland will manage YOU. with FIRE.

Do NOT set the peat layer on fire. Whatever you do, do NOT let the peat get set on fire. PEAT FIRE BAD.

The controlled burning of moorland is "swaling", or a "muirburn."

Pigs and goats have special abilities when used in grazing management

Pigs are a tactical nuke

Sheep will graze heather a lot harder than cattle, causing grassy "sward". They should be kept away from it in winter.

MOORLAND IS NOT GRASSLAND. Sward BAD.

Cattle will graze moorgrass a lot harder than sheep and bite back any sheep-induced sward, but trample the soil with their heavy hooves.

Bones tell me about the funny cat environments

Victoria Holmes (the original writer of Warrior Cats, for those who have just walked in, still in your bathrobe and perhaps comically eating some sort of breakfast bagel, on a cat giving a detailed ecological lecture to a bunch of other cats) has spoken about how she based the environment of the Forest Territories on New Forest, Hampshire UK.

[ID: New Forest's heathland on a misty morning. It's dominated by common heather with a few sparse trees, and a New Forest Pony grazing alone.]

That means that WindClan's moor was a lowland heath, characterized by sandy soils with excellent drainage. This is consistent with the thin layer of peat, deeper layers of sandy soil and clay (as encountered by tunnelers), and lush vegetation that's seen in DOTC and Tallstar's Revenge.

If that's not enough evidence, it's also described after its destruction in these terms;

New Forest boasts some of the widest swaths of well-managed lowland heath in the entire UK. It's been managed collectively for hundreds of years, and exists in tandem with bogs and old-growth forest for miles. The heath is just as important as the trees, here!

In TNP, the forest is tragically bulldozed to create suburbs. While they were at it, they also bulldozed the geography of Great Britain because, suddenly, there is a MOUNTAIN in Southeastern England; a region notoriously flatter than the Onceler's ass

So once the Clan cats get to the Lake territories, we could be dealing with a completely different biome. They might have gone from dry, lowland heath, to wet, upland moor.

However, descriptions of the new territory are scarce, to put it lightly. In spite of the Lake Territory being the setting for the past 20 years, WindClan's land is rarely shown. When we do get a glimpse of it, like in Crowfeather's Trial, we only get told about the presence of certain species such as gorse. Because of there being no tunneling, we don't know what's exactly below the surface, either.

Occasionally though we are made aware of the presence of "moorgrass" (possibly Molinia Caerulea) and the smell of peat, pointing towards it probably being upland moor. The bigger question is actually where all the sheep are? There should be a lot of sheep here, but instead, there only seems to be horses.

Aaaaand lastly before I close out on canon material, Lungwort.

Lungwort is a herb that becomes a plot device in A Vision of Shadows. ShadowClan becomes sick with a variant of greencough, and it is said that Lungwort would be its only cure. However, it "only grows in WindClan" and the leader, Onestar, has refused to let them have this medicine.

But lungwort doesn't grow on moorland. ESPECIALLY not wet, upland moor, which we might maybe possibly be dealing with now.

Lungwort is a FOREST plant, it needs the absolute opposite conditions of a moorland. It requires moist but well-drained ground, FERTILE soil, and full or partial shade. There's no way that WindClan has it and ShadowClan doesn't, OR its neighbor ThunderClan, in the WOODS, who Onestar has no power over.

It would also poison a cat but honestly 75% of the plants they use in canon would also do that, so, whatever.

What they SHOULD have gone for is great mullein which prefers full sun and well-drained soils, so it could feasibly be found best in some parts of WindClan, regardless of which sort of moor or heath primarily makes up their territory.

What sorts of plants are found in moorlands?

In moorlands, you'll find plants that can withstand poor soil quality and full sun. In upland moors, they also have to be hardy in frequent heavy rains and high winds. Because it has conditions that so few plants are able to handle, moorland is chock-full of specialists and unique species that aren't found anywhere else!

Historically, moorland could not be used for agriculture exactly because of this. With the invention of artificial fertilizers and introduction of (invasive) pines from America, moorland is under serious threat. Even if it's just next to a pine plantation, the trees will attempt to spread.

COMMON HEATHER, also called Ling, is the big bad boy associated with most moorland, and used for a bajillion different things. First of all, it was used in construction for thatching. Second of all, it can be used as a yellow dye, especially on wool. Third, honey made from heather pollen is as thick as jelly. It's found on all sorts of moorland, and is an extremely hardy species.

BELL HEATHER, sometimes called Erica, is more commonly associated with lowland heaths. It's one of the best flowers for pollinators in the entire world, and attracts tons of insects.

GORSE, also called Whin or Furze, smells overwhelmingly like coconut. It is also covered in wicked thorns. It's highly flammable and can burn ridiculously hot, making it excellent to collect as kindle.

PURPLE MOORGRASS is associated with upland moor, but will grow basically anywhere nothing else could. It's scary hardy, surviving in acidic soil down to a PH of 2 (THAT IS THE SAME LEVEL AS YOUR STOMACH JUICE), and can grow as tall as 4 feet (and even taller, apparently, next to its bestie girls heather and gorse).

In heath, tormentil, milkwort, and heath bedstraw are indicator herbs, and wavy hair-grass, bristle bent, and vernal grasses are found here and there.

PLEASE remember that moorland is not grassland. When grasses go from sparse to common, it's a very bad sign. It means the soil is losing its acidity, and converting into a different biome.

Bramble, bracken, nettles, perennial ryegrass, and broadleaf plantain are some of the species that can indicate that a heath is becoming a grassland. A few patches or examples are fine, but if they're eating into the gorse/heather/moorgrass, it's time to call in some management.

There's also the fascinating, parasitic plant called dodder. Dodder likes to twirl around heather before suffocating it to death. Cool plant! I don't know where else to mention dodder. I just think it's neat.

Threats to Moorland

I mentioned the problems in passing through this whole post, but to restate, these are some of the major problems that moorland faces.

AFFORESTATION: When trees are added.

[ID: A sitka spruce plantation on upland moor in Scotland, followed by a clip of Markiplier who condemns it in no uncertain terms.]

American pines, such as the douglas fir and sitka spruce don't belong here. These are commercial plantations and they exist to make money, but are touted as "eco friendly" because uneducated rubes think 1 Tree = 1 Ecology Point. They provide diddly or squat to native wildlife, destroy valuable moorland which can negatively impact carbon capture, and let fools pat themselves on the back for doing nothing but put government money into a logging company's pocket.

(there are also only 3 native conifers to Great Britain-- the scotch pine, the common juniper, and the yew. All others are introduced.)

But even worse than being a wooden blight, these are wooden blights that spread. If there's a plantation nearby, it WILL begin to encroach on the surrounding moorland, and the traditional sheep and cattle will not eat the saplings. GOATS are being added to herds in modern grazing management to combat this new problem.

The native birches (silver and downy) plus the scotch pine will also move in when moorland is not managed! They are pioneer species, which success the moor into secondary woodland.

OVERBURNING: When moorland is burned too much.

Even if you don't set the peat on fire and cause an even bigger problem, too much burning is bad for the biome as well. This is often done to serve hunters, who want to perpetually keep common heather in the youngest state possible to support grouse populations... and grouse populations alone.

Properly managed moorland will be burned in sections, NOT all at once, so that there's a healthy mix of plants in different ages to provide shelter and food to the animals that live in the environment. Too much burning will decimate the insect population, and prevent peat buildup.

("Hold on Elder Bones, why is peat good?" Carbon capture and soil acidity! It's super efficient at combating global warming, and peaty soils will prevent the moor from quickly succeeding into a grassland.)

NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT: De-acidifying the soil and making the soil welcoming to other species

Specifically from dog and horse droppings, but also from the addition of fertilizers. The biggest thing that can be a problem here is how conservationists try to balance public access to these spaces with the "recreation pressure" from having too many visitors.

SOURCES

I have had to do SO MUCH READING. OH my god, this was not easy research, please appreciate this big, beautiful list of resources I am giving to you

GREAT BRITISH LIFE: A really good intro to heathland (This article was written by Katie Piercy from the Cheshire Wildlife Trust)

WILDLIFE TRUST: Heathland and Moorland, Moorland, Lowland Heath, Cheshire Heath, Bell Heather, The Roaches

BUGLIFE: Upland heath as it relates to insect populations (website contains insect-centric guides to many unique UK biomes)

NEW FOREST: Heathland information and history

NATIONAL TRUST: Bickerton Hill and the Restoration Work

WIKIPEDIA: The Roaches, Yorkshire Dales, Heath, Moorland (listen kids, wikipedia is always a great place to start. Just make sure to double-check the claims you see there.)

COUNTRY LIFE: A flowery article that describes the North York Moors (this one's just really pleasant!)

AN ACTUAL LOWLAND HEATH ECOLOGIST: Dr. Sophie Lake's Presentation for the NPMS (This is the most detailed and proper source on this list, if you want to learn some serious info, PLEASE check this one out)

[bethanydelleman]

Hi there! I’m just finishing Wuthering Heights and I need to clear my brain before starting Tenant of Wildfell Hall. To that end:

What the hell did I just read?

We all agree that Cathy #1 haunted Heathcliff to death because she was tired of waiting for him/fulfilling her dying injunction that she’d take him with her, correct?

What does the symbolism of Heathcliff’s, Cathy’s, and Edgar’s graves all three isolated and forever together mean? Is Edgar in his heaven, or is he doomed to sit by and watch Heathcliff and Cathy cavort over the moor as ghosts?

As a decades-long Austen reader, may I repeat: what the ever loving hell was that??

I know right! What the hell is that? Absolutely bonkers.

Hm, maybe with the Catherine haunting. I felt like he was being powered by revenge and when it finally achieved it and it wasn't fulfilling, he just deflated like a bouncy castle when someone switches off the air. We know he must have worked like crazy to make all that wealth in 3 years, however he got it, and then he worked like crazy to get possession of both houses and even the people, but to what end? He couldn't decide and then just... died. Maybe he also finally grasped that no matter what, he couldn't get Catherine back, even if he was now a person she could have married. But also haunting.

As for the symbolism of the graves, I think Edgar is fine:

I sought, and soon discovered, the three headstones on the slope next the moor: the middle one grey, and half buried in heath; Edgar Linton’s only harmonized by the turf and moss creeping up its foot; Heathcliff’s still bare.

Heathcliff isn't moving on, so he's bare. Catherine has become one with the heath, Edgar is "harmonized", so he's moved on. That is my feeling at least. Heathcliff is decomposing into Catherine and loving it for some weird reason.

Not Jane Austen that's for sure!

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

RUBY IS SMOKE SO BASED HOLY SHIT. thoughts on that?

I'm absolutely a Ruby is Smoke truther.

She is Firestar's half-sister, and Scourge boots her and Socks off of Bloodclan turf without a meal. He wants nothing to do with his siblings. He won't forgive them until later in his life.

Ruby and Socks wander the area, but sadly, Socks passes from starvation. Ruby's loud crying attracts the attention of a kind elderly woman who just lost a cat herself. She takes Socks' body and buries him in her backyard, while taking Ruby in to care for her. Not knowing Ruby's name, she names her Smoke.

Smoke takes to it well, the old woman is nice! She's got great food, and when Smoke is good, she gets chicken off the woman's plate!

But... It's scary. What if she's abandoned again?

When the old woman's mind begins to fail, feeding times get inconsistent, and Smoke panics. It's going to happen again. Maybe being a housecat isn't so great, maybe being wild would be nicer. Her new friend Onewhisker's always going on about how great and heroic Windclan are... How everyone is so wonderful and always takes care of each other... It must be perfect!

She has no idea Onewhisker is lying, making up hero stories not only to look better but to feel better. He hates being in Windclan, and longs for the safety and security that being a kittypet would bring.

They clung to each other, they were never in love, they loved what the other one would bring.

When Smoke gave birth, she only had a single kitten, Darkkit. She brought him to the Windclan border, and Onewhisker, thinner than usual, told her no. That she and Darkkit couldn't join Windclan, not now, not ever.

She didn't understand, and Onewhisker didn't admit why. Rabbits were sick, the moor was being destroyed, she would be safer away from the moor, and he wanted to go with her but... Tallstar was so sick, so weak, he couldn't handle Onewhisker leaving, he was still strong enough to keep helping, keep hunting... And the political atmosphere in Windclan at the time was very unaccepting of outsiders. Onewhisker's father Mudclaw was deputy.

He needed to be mean enough that Smoke wouldn't come back.

Smoke raised Darktail with love, and hate. She was always telling him he was better than other cats, that one day he would destroy the Clans and make them pay for their unfairness... But to also be a good boy, be kind to others, help others out. Everyone is as important as Kin.

He would twist these words.

Smoke dies around the time of late OOTS, her age catching up with her. Darktail's heart was broken, the only cat he ever loved was his Mama, and he would destroy his father in her name.

Her spirit resides in the same realm all Kittypets get to go to, she hangs out with Socks, Quince, and Scourge, as well as the kind elderly woman. She is sad her son turned out the way he did, and wishes to see him again one day.

[drumlincountry]

From one bog region person to the other (Bourtanger moor, don't live there anymore but grew up there)

What are your bogs like? We have 'high bogs' (peat moss growing over time, sadly mostly destroyed for fuel) and 'low bogs' (depressions of water filling up with plant material and becoming bogs, also mostly destroyed but not *as much*)

I like how when you go for a walk in a high bog the ground is springy, there's willows everywhere. The water is very low in calcium so you don't have to fight the caulk in your shower and kettle as much as in other places. I like the willows everywhere where there's bogs. And the (possibly apocryphical) story that once, a bunch of farmers won against much more well-armored knights because the knights all sunk into the bog

That's so interesting!

I think what you call "high bogs," we call "raised bogs"! We call them 'raised' because intact ones are big mounds, looming like a big wet sponge sitting 'raised' above the lower landscape around them. They can have peat up to 7m deep, and feel very bouncy when you walk on them!

Unfortunately, almost all raised bogs in Ireland are severely degraded. So much of the peat has eroded that many aren't even raised above the nearby landscape anymore. Historically, people subsistence farming in the area cut drains into the bog to make them more valuable grazing lands, or cut turf out of them for fuel. COLONIALISM is the villain of our story as always - the British government cut down all our forests to build their navy, fuel their forges, etc. All the locals had for fuel was turf (=bits of peat) and whatever bits of scrap wood they could steal without the landlord's men noticing, mar dhea.

Now turf cutting is an established cultural practice that many rural people can be very touchy about. A colleague of mine had got death threats because someone thought the ecological surveys she was doing on bogs would prevent him from cutting tuf.

Everywhere a bog is cut, it leaves a weeping wound. The drainage effect causes the bog to sink slowly over time, even where the surface of the bog looks pretty intact .

About your knights .... there's a very famous image which I can't find right now, of a raised bog in England. In the victorian era, someone sank a metal rod into this raised bog. The top of the rod was just at ground level. That rod is now notably taller than a person. That's over 6ft of peat, gone! Evaporated into the air! All that captured carbon - released back into the atmosphere.

The other kinds of bogs we have here are 'blanket bogs' so called because they are draped over mountains like blankets. The peat on these are thinner - usually less than 3m, and sometimes only a few cm.

(This is an aside but Irish place names often have the word "Droim" in them. That's a word that means ridge or hill, but also means back, on a human or an animal. When I stand on a height and look across at the peat-draped hills, I can see exactly why that's the same word. The peat hills look like the bony shoulders of sleeping giants. Drumlin, from my url, derives from "little ridge")

The biology of our mountain bogs is pretty similar to our raised bogs. The same species live there. The threats are similar too. Blanket bogs aren't cut for fuel as often because they were that bit less accessible, but it did happen.

And, the blanket bogs are getting damaged by more modern pressures at an extraordinary rate 🙃🙃🙃 But I will go on about government-imposed sheep quotas and plantation invasive forestry another day!

For now I'll say - they're doing some really amazing things with peatland restoration in Scotland these days! I went to a presentation and I was just astounded how much they can restore the most damaged and degraded bog, all with a few diggers and well educated digger operators. Once you raise the water table to 4cm below the bog surface, the moss does its magic and it becomes a carbon sink again!

I really love bogs. I've been on so many lovely bogs. Bog woodland, like you describe, with willows and birch and alder. Long flat mountaintops covered in pools and hummocks of moss. Waist high heather on steep rocky peatland, which is a pain to walk through, where your boots get sticky with pollen.

One time I lay on my stomach to plunge my arms into a bog lake. The water was black. I couldn't feel the bottom. I reached back, and back, and I realised that not only was the lake bottomless, it didn't have sides. I was lying on a floating outcrop of moss, over 50cm thick.

Bogs 💞🥳✨🟦💙😍💕🌟❤💫🥰

[scotianostra]

15th of December 1900 is the most likely date that the three lighthouse keepers of the year old Flannan Isles Lighthouse disappeared.

The building of Flannan Lighthouse was plagued with accidents, several workers died or vanished while working on the lighthouse, it took about 4 years to complete. Legend has it the island was said to be inhabited by mysterious “little people.” Large birds also were said to live there, too, and have contact with these little people.

Na h-Eileanan Flannach is the Scottish Gaelic name of the small group of islands known in English as the Flannan Isles. They are a bird sanctuary and at times a place of beauty. At others these remote islands bear the brunt of severe Atlantic storms, which whip the seas into frenzy and force even the hardy gulls to stay sheltered in the cliff face crags. For many years they have remained uninhabited, the last residents of any length being the lighthouse keepers, who between 1899 and its automation in 1971, kept the light burning on the highest point of the island group, Eilean Mòr.

On the island of Eilean Mòr is the ruin of an old chapel dedicated to St Flannan. However, over many centuries for many of the Gaelic Hebridean community the islands have been viewed as a place of superstition and bad luck. A view that was reinforced by the tragic and mysterious events that befell the lighthouse keepers on Eilean Mòr in mid-December 1900.

It is the fate of the lighthouse keepers, James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur, in 1900; just over one year after the island’s lighthouse came into operation that is the cause of much mystery and speculation. For all three keepers disappeared without trace. It was on 15th December 1900 that the ship Archtor which was sailing for Scotland from Philadelphia had reported that as they passed the islands the lighthouse was not in operation. In those days there was no radio communication between the keepers on Eilean Mòr and the shore station of Breasclete on Lewis.

When the lighthouse tender arrived on 26th December 1900 having been delayed due to adverse conditions.

There was no welcome from the lighthouse keepers, no flag on the flagstaff and no provision boxes left for them as was customary.

The relief keeper Joseph Moore was sent to investigate further and found the main door and gate to the compound closed, the beds unmade and the clock stopped. They also found a set of oilskins, suggesting one of the keepers to have left without them – unusual and worrying considering the poor weather conditions that had been recorded in the log.

The island was scoured for clues, or any sign of the keepers, but nothing was found. The west landing had received considerable damage, with turf ripped up and a box of supplies destroyed, with its contents strewn about. The keepers log proved that this damage had occurred before the disappearance.

The log leading up to the men’s disappearance included some strange entries, with descriptions of an awful storm, high winds, and low spirits amongst the keepers. There were however no reports of storms in the area in the days leading up to the disappearance, meaning that the poor weather conditions recorded in the log were either made up, or localised.

To this day no one knows what took place in the lighthouse that night, but many theories have developed over the years.

The more far-fetched of these theories suggest they had been carried away by a giant seabird, had been abducted by spies or had simply escaped to start new lives. The perhaps more plausible theories suggest that the keepers had been swept away when trying to secure a box in a crevice above sea level. Other theories suggest the psychology of the lighthouse keepers played a part. MacArthur had a reputation for brawling and was known to be violent. It is suggested by some that a fight broke out on the cliff edge, causing the men to fall to their deaths.

It was only after 1912, when English poet Wilfrid Wilson Gibson published his epic, Flannan Isle, that the story began to assume such an air of mystery, speculation, even intrigue. In general for lighthouse keepers themselves, there is no mystery and never has been, my uncle worked for the Lighthouse Board, and he says it was a freak wave that swept the men to their deaths, this is the assumption of many who worked the Islands around Scotland, but in truth we will never know what happened.

Flannan Lighthouse Memorial at Breasclete, Isle of Lewis , as seen in the pics, was unveiled in 2017.

[pernillecfcw]

STERLING!!😍

[thevampiricnihal]

“I sought, and soon discovered, the three headstones on the slope next the moor: the middle one grey, and half buried in the heath; Edgar Linton’s only harmonised by the turf and moss creeping up its foot; Heathcliff’s still bare.

I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.”

(Chapter 34, Wuthering Heights)

“Now this father and daughter depended on each other to live. As she repeated this, a fear was passing through her mind with the speed of lightning: what if one of them was left alone? Then, to escape this fear, she was tugging at her father.

‘Let us leave,’ she was saying, and shutting her eyes, her heart was answering that fear with a prayer: ‘together, always together, living, and dying…’”

(Chapter 22, Aşk-ı Memnu)

Both last lines are ironic and for the same reason: The protagonists are undead.

There has been much ink spilled on Heathcliff and Catherine being undead, I won’t go over it.

The impossibility of Nihal dying alongside her father has been recognized as early as the first proper review of the novel by Halit Ziya’s friend Mehmet Rauf in 1901:

“It's true that Nihal is so happy now that she has her father that she doesn't want anything anymore; but poor little Nihal, a day will come, maybe tomorrow, something else will take your father, who is getting older and older, too, what will you do then? As "he" said, you are such a "poem, as if made for eyes only" that what will be of you then?

The book ends with this bitter effect; while the parts of the novel remain separate as the novel continues, they all take effect at once, the excitement gains intensity, and after eight hours of reading, the intense excitement and deep passions that one feels when the book is closed leave one astonished...”

Mehmet Rauf sees Nihal’s tragedy and loneliness in her being unmarriageable, “made for eyes only” - not built for sex and motherhood. I see her tragedy in her being a vampire. She is destined to outlive her father, outlive them all and to stay young.

[elmaestrostan]

https://theathletic.com/5469108/2024/05/07/premier-league-managers-touchline-fashion/?source=user_shared_article What are Premier League managers wearing on the touchline?

@doublefrogs @laisy @howeaythelads

Article text under the cut!

“Look smart, play smart”, as the saying goes. Perhaps it is about time we coined the phrase, “Look smart, manage smart” — and the meaning of “smart” is very much in the eye of the beholder.

In his first full season in charge — and despite two separate points deductions — Sean Dyche has steered Everton clear of relegation danger in the Premier League.

And what does Dyche credit as his secret weapon? Ditching wearing a traditional suit and tie for a club tracksuit, of course.

We’re not here to debate whether football managers donning classy business suits or comfortable matching sets of sportswear is superior. Instead, this feels like the perfect time to dive into what the Premier League’s movers and shakers are wearing on the touchline.

Want to imitate the Dyche look? (He’s cool enough to appear in music videos, remember.) The Athletic’s writers have got you covered.

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal

On matchdays, Arteta tends to dress in monotone — shades of black and grey. He frequently sports black shoes, grey trousers and one from a variety of black jackets. Black conveys seriousness and credibility — perfect for a manager striving to achieve his first Premier League title.

“At a high-performance level, you have to be consistent, things are demanding, you want to be detailed and precise,” Arteta told The Telegraph last year. “But at the same time, you need to leave some room for creativity.”

In those nervous moments of stoppage time, he occasionally glances down at a Rolex Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II. The watch dates from 2007 — the year Arteta was voted Everton’s player of the year after leading them to European football.

Perhaps Arteta should consider introducing some camouflage to his match attire: it might enable him to evade referees when escaping out of his technical area.

Unai Emery, Aston Villa

Suave, sophisticated and all about the football. Emery’s fashion is largely dictated by the environment and the conditions he goes to battle in. At Turf Moor, for example, he broke out the rarely worn club tracksuit. When facing the managers he considers to be the best in the world, he wears sharp polished shoes and a long coat.

After an international break or in the summer, he has olive skin and a fresh new haircut. In the winter, he has a claret scarf, Roberto Mancini-like, tucked into a black puffer jacket and almost always accompanied by slim-fit trousers and a V-neck jumper underneath.

Nothing over the top, but adaptable. Best of all, it reflects him: highly effective in all conditions.

Andoni Iraola, Bournemouth

Iraola has delivered a penchant for those ‘pundit trainers’ — you know, the black shoes with the white rim around them. It forms a part of his smart but casual look, like a trendy university teacher who wears a blazer when walking between classrooms. He wears tracksuits at press conferences but invariably a neat black jumper with a button-up shirt underneath, with the collars tucked over.

He’s also adaptable, like his Spanish countryman Emery — and at Villa Park, Iraola broke out a neat blue jacket, adding a dash of pizzazz to the usual black trousers and pundit trainers. Not quite Scott Parker, but Iraola is learning.

Thomas Frank, Brentford

When Frank stepped up from his role as Dean Smith’s assistant to become Brentford’s head coach in October 2018, he took his promotion seriously.

Frank prowled around on the touchline in suits, crossing his arms when he was frustrated and looking like a teacher — which he used to be back in Denmark.

He quickly ditched the suits for something more comfortable and in the 2021 Championship play-off final, one of the biggest moments in Brentford’s history, he rocked up in a simple long-sleeved green T-shirt and dark trousers.

Nowadays, he jumps between wearing club-branded coats in chilly weather or plain black hoodies — comfort over style. On special occasions, The Athletic has spotted him in a blue-and-white pair of Nike Air Max.

Roberto De Zerbi, Brighton & Hove Albion

De Zerbi’s dress code has been more consistent than his team this season. Rain or shine, warm or cold, Brighton’s head coach brings Italian suave to the touchline with his matchday outfit.

It can be a hooded jacket, a round-neck jumper with the sleeves rolled up, or a T-shirt, depending on the vagaries of the English weather, but the colour scheme is always the same — black with tight-fitting black slacks and white trainers.

Vincent Kompany, Burnley

Kompany claims he pays no thought to his touchline attire in the build-up to games, although it is difficult to truly believe him as he marches to the dugout looking more stylish than most.

First impressions count, so when his side faced Huddersfield Town in his first game in charge back in July 2022, he donned a white shirt, black blazer — and, surprisingly, no cap.

Kompany’s cap has become the new iconic trend in Burnley. There is genuine shock when he appears without it on the touchline or when conducting media duties. The cap is an extension of him.

The classic Kompany look usually involves a variation of a big black coat and his unmissable white shoes. However, in the warmer months, underneath, the T-shirt and blazer combination returns — and this time with a cap on his head. Occasionally, the club’s training gear may be chosen. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but the Burnley manager pulls it off.

Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea

No one can accuse Mauricio Pochettino of not trying to find the right outfit to bring about better results at Chelsea.

As far as head coaches and looking smart go, Jose Mourinho set the benchmark for all to follow in his two spells between 2004 and 2007, and 2013 and 2015. It is a bit like his silverware collection while at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino has gone for the smart, suited look on occasion, although, like his mood after another poor result, the colours are always very dark. There has even been the odd tie attached.

Then, there is the training kit. Perhaps Pochettino dons it so regularly to boost sales in the club shop. Chelsea do have to find all the ways possible to meet profit and sustainability rules, after all.

He appears to quite like a football drill top, which has white down the arms — a rare bit of brightness in his Chelsea life.

Oliver Glasner, Crystal Palace

Last year, Crystal Palace appointed Kenny Annan-Jonathan as the first creative director for a Premier League club, but Oliver Glasner probably doesn’t need any fashion tips.

Glasner’s matchday attire is simple and understated. A trademark Canada Goose jacket with a black jumper and black jeans, coupled with a pair of white Nike Air Max Plus (better known as Air Max TNs).

It contrasts markedly with the garish orange-and-black Macron kit that is usually donned at the training ground.

The 49-year-old has attracted attention for his change in playing style at Palace, but his fashion style is also a complete departure from previous manager Roy Hodgson and the iconic shorts worn by former assistant Ray Lewington, no matter the weather.

Sean Dyche, Everton

Dyche has said his mother “isn’t too happy about it”, but the emperor has new clothes and Everton are winning points.

Dyche has always managed in a suit — nothing spectacular, no subterranean polo necks, no avant-garde lapels — but Everton’s form was nose-diving. They were winless in 13 league matches, plummeting back towards the relegation zone, and Dyche’s man-management seemed to be losing its touch.

Reaching deep into his box of motivational tricks (or by listening to Michael Jackson), he began, suitably, with the man in the mirror, switching to a tracksuit for Everton’s must-win showdown with Nottingham Forest on April 21.

“I always thought it was correct to wear a shirt and tie, but I just thought I’d play my part in what I was looking for from my players and staff,” he said post-match.

Since then? Four games, no defeats, and Everton’s first derby win at Goodison Park since 2010. It has been the best week for shell suits since the 1980s.

Will he continue? “I have to,” he said last week, with the air of an ageing steel magnate on dress-down Friday. “I have no choice.”

Marco Silva, Fulham

Fashion seems to be important these days at Fulham. It is ‘on brand’ to look upmarket and stylish.

The club have leant into that affluent stereotype: just look at the sales of cheese boards in the club shop (purchased by fans for away days with more than a hint of irony, obviously). They have also established a partnership with male fashion brand Charles Tyrwhitt, which has a line called the ‘Fulham Look’. Marco Silva is not one of the models for that collection, but managers do need to look the part in south-west London.

His predecessor, Scott Parker, was never one to shy away from eye-catching knitwear. Silva is more low-key. He is a man of darker tones and a sharp and simple look, suggesting a seriousness that reflects his character.

He mainly wears black jumpers, sometimes opting for a turtleneck or a grey option, and often a big black coat in the rain and cold. Smart black shoes go with that, but he can and does switch to trainers and training gear. A smart or stylish watch is a must, though.

Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool

For Klopp’s farewell season at Liverpool, it’s been the trusted casual tracksuit attire we’ve become accustomed to seeing over his nine years in the Premier League.

At the start of the season, for the opener away at Chelsea, it was just a black Liverpool T-shirt with club tracksuit bottoms, a baseball cap and white Adidas trainers, the brand with which he became a brand ambassador in 2020.

As the weather turned, Klopp paired the above combination with a red-and-grey hoodie and had either a tracksuit top or a long raincoat over the top for the winter months. He’s sometimes added a snood for the really chilly games.

He has kept the club Nike baseball cap on all season — with his choice of colour the main fashion change-up.

In an interview with the Guardian in 2020, Klopp explained why he’s always kept it casual. He said: “I was a player and the next day I was the manager (of Mainz).

“In my locker room was the tracksuit of the guy who had the job two days before. It didn’t even fit me. I was just focused on the game. I never thought about how I looked. I know it’s not too cool because we are working in public, but then when I came to Borussia Dortmund, I thought: ‘Maybe I have to change’. I went for a while wearing jeans and a shirt but I just didn’t feel comfortable.”

Rob Edwards, Luton Town

Who remembers the Next catalogue? Every matchday, it looks like Rob Edwards has walked right out of it.

Edwards has the three-quarter zip jumper look locked down. His Luton team are in the relegation zone with two games to go, but he is top of the league when it comes to best-dressed managers.

Are you even a football manager if, when you open your wardrobe, you aren’t suddenly drowning in Sandbanks coats? Edwards certainly enjoys repping the brand, which has Jamie Redknapp as its ambassador, and he does so with style.

Edwards’ recent look for Luton’s away trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers was his best of the season. He wore something similar on a scouting trip to Molineux a few days earlier but rounded off the fit with a pair of clear-frame glasses. When it comes to manager fashion, he is clear.

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City

At the Etihad Stadium, high-end fashion and high-end football collide.

Guardiola has long been one of the most fashionable managers out there and his sensibilities have matured over the years to a point of pristine quiet luxury.

Gone are the ice-white trainers of old, replaced by chunky black derby shoes. Gone, too, is the bulky grey coat-cardigan hybrid, made by Italian brand Herno, that became his calling card a few seasons ago — although Guardiola is still partial to the odd piece of cosy, statement knitwear.

Once keen on Stone Island — although he sometimes removed the brand’s signature arm tag — the Manchester City manager is now more likely to be seen sporting CP Company, which is handy given the Italian luxury brand is set to become his club’s official Champions League clothing partner next season, replacing Dsquared2.

Erik ten Hag, Manchester United

Every Manchester United manager needs a big coat for when it rains at Old Trafford. This season has seen Ten Hag wearing a raincoat from Norwegian brand UBR. He appears to be a fan of UBR’s black Storm jacket, which retails at around €800 (£690; $860).

On matchdays when it isn’t raining, the Dutchman is fond of a black blazer from Spanish clothing company Adolfo Dominguez, pricing at around €300.

Recent weeks have seen him opt for a Paul Smith suit and cardigan combination — the English designer has been a club partner since 2008.

Despite these big names, you would be unlikely to say Ten Hag is a fan of luxury and designer clothing. The more sartorially minded might have spotted his suits had an off-the-rack look and seemed boxy around his lean shoulders. Ten Hag is most at home in a tracksuit but can dress up when the occasion calls for it.

Eddie Howe, Newcastle United

The most important factor in determining Howe’s pre-match attire? Well, that would be whatever Jason ‘Mad Dog’ Tindall, his Rottweiler-esque assistant coach, is wearing.

The Premier League has introduced a technical-area rule in an attempt to break up the perpetual Howe-Tindall pitchside axis, but to little avail.

They remain a tenacious touchline act, apparently attached at the hip and yet wearing suitably discernible outfits. If Tindall has gone for the black with green logo, then Howe will inevitably select the black with yellow logo. If their colour theme is consistent, one will opt for a hoodie and the other for a zippy top. Why they always dress differently, nobody seems to know.

And by outfits, we mean tracksuits, hoodies and training T-shirts. There is never a suit in sight unless there is respect to be paid to a deceased monarch pre-match, in which case it is hastily whipped off in the tunnel before kick-off anyway and the slack pants are restored. Comfort is essential when watching this Newcastle side, after all.

Nuno Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest

Since his unveiling at the City Ground, Nuno has been unwaveringly consistent in his attire.

Blue Adidas tracksuit bottoms, blue Adidas training top or hoodie and, if it is cold, a blue Adidas puffer jacket. Nuno has, on occasion, gone crazy and gone for white Adidas trainers, but normally (you’ve guessed it) they are also blue.

As a head coach, Nuno is fiercely practical. He does not want to waste time with the peripheral duties of his job. He only wants to work with his players on the training ground. Anything else is a distraction. You suspect his choice of clothes represents function over form.

Chris Wilder, Sheffield United

During his first spell in charge at Bramall Lane, Wilder’s sartorial look was the very antithesis of his team. Where United played an innovative system featuring overlapping centre-backs that left the opposition unable to predict just where the next attack would be coming from, he stuck doggedly to sporting a gilet. Come rain, hail or shine, the ubiquitous garment was there.

So, when his second coming in the United dugout last December saw the 56-year-old sport a rather smart winter coat, suit pants and shoes so shiny the suspicion was he had been up all night polishing them, it didn’t quite feel right.

Thankfully, in time, the gilet returned, along with an array of club-branded sportswear to restore a degree of reassuring familiarity.

Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur

Postecoglou began his time in north London by wearing a casual polo shirt. However, as summer gave way to autumn, he started to wear warmer clothes and settled on a suit and tie combination. Initially, this felt a little unnatural, but everyone has gradually grown used to it.

Postecoglou occasionally pairs the suit with trainers or the footwear known universally as ‘pundit shoes’, but generally, he wears smart black ones and has switched between a smarter coat and an official club sporty number.

The overall impression is of a man giving the minimum of fuss. It’s just who we are, mate.

David Moyes, West Ham United

Since returning to the helm in December 2019, Moyes has kept his choice of clothing on matchdays simple and traditional.

He often wears a dark grey West Ham-branded Umbro tracksuit, with Umbro trainers.

Sometimes, the occasion calls for a plain, dark jumper, but also, sometimes Moyes will wear a suit, pairing a powder blue shirt with a claret tie to leave few doubts over the club he’s managing.

There are a few quirks when it comes to the clothing chosen by one of the Premier League’s most experienced managers.

Gary O’Neil, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Let’s be honest, there was not much about Wolves last season that was interesting, but Julen Lopetegui’s fashion choices certainly added a bit of intrigue.

Of the 26 matches he spent on the touchline as Wolves boss — he was banished to the stands for his final game in charge at Arsenal — the Spaniard managed an exact split, 13 games each, between a tracksuit and stylish chinos-sweater combo.

Yet the success rate in chinos (seven wins, three draws and three defeats) was so much better than in his tracksuit (three wins, two draws and eight defeats). It is remarkable he did not have a ceremonial burning of the sportswear.

In comparison, his successor, O’Neil, has been boringly predictable in his black hoodie, black trousers, black trainers and occasional black anorak.

But then, the football this season has been watchable, so swings and roundabouts…

[killa-trav]

Sofyan Amrabat, Hannibal Mejbri, Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund of Manchester United celebrates after winning the Premier League match between Burnley and Manchester United at Turf Moor; Burnley, England; 23.09.2023

📸; WILL PALMER

[mariana-oconnor]

Silver Blaze pt 3

So, the last part buried my dreams of Silver Blaze cantering gaily across the moor, enjoying his new life of freedom and pony companions, apparently he is in the other stable (and hopefully being treated well by the guy in charge if only because he's worth something). But what really happened that night.

Also the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime is in this part, I believe.

Also, apparently the curious incidents of the sheep in the field:

“Have you noticed anything amiss with them of late?” “Well, sir, not of much account; but three of them have gone lame, sir.”

If someone has been practising how to lame a horse by laming sheep they are going in the special prison for animal cruelty.

Someone's been practising making animals lame on the sheep, haven't they?

Either that or there's a mysterious livestock-laming illness going around. What does foot and mouth do? (Apparently does make animals lame, but also has several other unpleasant symptoms, so they probably would have noticed that.)

But if Silver Blaze was ill, then having the horse 'stolen' so it couldn't run would probably be a better way of getting insurance money. Maybe. Surely he'd be insured against illness as well, though maybe not for as much? I know nothing about animal insurance, or race horses.

Colonel Ross still wore an expression which showed the poor opinion which he had formed of my companion's ability...

Colonel Ross is still being a dick, I see. Consistent characterisation there, I commend you. It does seem to be his one distinguishing feature. The parade of unpleasant colonels continues.

That was quite fun to say.

“To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” “That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.

The Colonel was very angry. “I have been on the turf for twenty years, and never was asked such a question as that before,” said he. “A child would know Silver Blaze, with his white forehead and his mottled off-foreleg.”

...because there's absolutely no way to cover up those sorts of markings. At all... Nope. Impossible.

Oh, Mr Heath Newton... don't give your horse a racist name. Dude. Don't make the animal an accessory to your bigotry. I was all ready to like you for being the only person without a title, but nope. And there's another colonel in the running, are there really no other army ranks available? How many colonels does the British army have in the 1890s that they can just run around murdering and being murdered with such abandon?

(Colonel Wardlaw has neither murdered nor been murdered as far as I'm aware. Currently his only crime is calling a horse 'Pugilist' which is just a bad name, but at least it's not racist 😃👍. Colonel Ross has also not currently murdered anyone either, but I get the impression he kind of wants to murder Holmes.)

“That's not my horse,” cried the owner. “That beast has not a white hair upon its body. What is this that you have done, Mr. Holmes?”

He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, this one, huh?

“You have only to wash his face and his leg in spirits of wine, and you will find that he is the same old Silver Blaze as ever.” “You take my breath away!”

This is the part I knew, I confess. I think there must be an Enid Blyton book with the same plot, because I remember it being a black horse with the markings covered with shoe polish, but same difference. I'm having fun judging Col. Ross for not realising this sooner, but honestly it's probably not his fault. Although it does seem logical that if someone steals a famous horse, they'd try to hide any well-known markings it has.

Of course, these days horses are microchipped, but Leverage already worked out how to get around that.

“My dear sir, you have done wonders. The horse looks very fit and well. It never went better in its life. I owe you a thousand apologies for having doubted your ability. You have done me a great service by recovering my horse. You would do me a greater still if you could lay your hands on the murderer of John Straker.”

Oh wow, an actual apology. Maybe not all colonels are bad...

The Colonel flushed angrily. “I quite recognize that I am under obligations to you, Mr. Holmes,” said he, “but I must regard what you have just said as either a very bad joke or an insult.”

Now Holmes is just having fun with him. This plus the 'it was the horse!' followed by 'but I have a bet on, so you'll have to wait' is just plain vindictive. Clearly the colonel's apology wasn't quite enough to absolve him of all punishment in Holmes' eyes.

"...the immense significance of the curried mutton occurred to me..."

Not quite as catchy, but it could totally be a sequel.

"Powdered opium is by no means tasteless. The flavor is not disagreeable, but it is perceptible."

I did wonder about this, but I don't know enough about powdered opium to comment. So the immense significance of the curried mutton was that it was spicy?

And the curious incident of the dog in the night-time is that it did not bark when someone stole the horse. Meaning it must have been an inside job, but Ned was apparently not involved. His drugging was honest.

"There have been cases before now where trainers have made sure of great sums of money by laying against their own horses, through agents, and then preventing them from winning by fraud."

The classic betting fraud scam, which is why insider betting is illegal. Not an insurance scam. Those are pretty much the only reasons to steal a racehorse, right? Well, I guess maybe you just want a racehorse... Always possible.

"You must know, with your wide experience of turf matters, Colonel Ross, that it is possible to make a slight nick upon the tendons of a horse's ham, and to do it subcutaneously, so as to leave absolutely no trace."

Well Straker was a total dick. He really did practise on those sheep, huh? Poor animals. They're the real victims in all of this.

"...Straker was leading a double life, and keeping a second establishment. The nature of the bill showed that there was a lady in the case, and one who had expensive tastes."

So he hurt animals, tried to fix races, and was an adulterer. Just a gem of a human being. And he drugged that one guy, which is pretty horrible, too.

“Ah, it bolted, and was cared for by one of your neighbors. We must have an amnesty in that direction, I think. This is Clapham Junction, if I am not mistaken, and we shall be in Victoria in less than ten minutes."

Who just happened to cover up the markings in such a way as to make the horse unrecognisable to you, but that's nbd. What's this? Almost our stop?

Like the colonel can't put together those pieces of information. He has pretty much 1 neighbour who happens to have a stable. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together on that one.

I suppose you could call the travellers 'neighbours', but that seems unlikely.

The colonel was not a criminal, but he was kind of unlikeable, so he's going down in the tally of unpleasant colonels, if anyone's keeping track. Did ACD have a bad experience with a colonel? This is turning into a pattern.

Next up: The Beryl Coronet, which I remember the name of, but nothing about. In my head it just links back to The Blue Carbuncle, probably because they're both jewels and they have the same initials.