Country diary: wildlife has invaded this fortified house

Sinderhope, Northumberland: The ruins of Rowantree Stob Bastle have been overcome with thistles, swarms of bees and nesting birdsThe Knockshield Burn gathers water from the moors of Allendale Common, where the heather is turning purple. A handful of stone-walled fields lie between the moors and the East Allen into which the burn feeds – hay fields where tractors are cutting, turning and baling, gathering up grasses, wildflowers and the emptying pods of yellow rattle.A narrow road crosses t