Country diary: flashes of burnt orange light up the hush

Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham: Saffron sails pick out the huge cleft scoured by long-gone lead minersFrom Bowlees, the woodland path climbs beside the beck with views out to the dolerite pillars of Holwick Scar and the white-painted field barns that characterise Teesdale. We cross a hayfield of flowing grasses, an impressionist wash of soft pink that floats above eyebright, stitchwort and red clover. At our feet are numerous kingcup leaves; this will be a field of gold in spring. On the f