Dozmary Pool - a photo on Flickriver

Dozmary Pool

            This is the atmospheric and legendary Dozmary Pool somewhere in the middle of Bodmin Moor and here suitably captured under an angry sky . The shrubbery in the foreground is gorse and always a reminder of trips to Cornwall in May .

'The whinnies shall prick thee to the bare bane' - "Lyke Wake Dirge", which Yorkshire people sang over their dead to mark the grim progress of the soul

A spiny evergreen shrub with yellow flowers.

Few plants make such an impact on the landscape as flowering gorse, through both its colour and scent. The latter is a distinctive coconut and vanilla smell, said to be quite pungent to some individuals, but weak to others. The cracking of the seed-pods in hot sunshine is said to sound similar to the clacking calls of stonchats which perch on its sprigs. It was voted the County Flower of Belfast.
Habitat

Banks, heaths and sea-cliffs. Also a signature plant of rough open space and commonland.
Best time to see

Folklore says you should only kiss your beloved when gorse is in flower. The good news is that either common gorse or the closely related western gorse is pretty much in bloom whatever the time of year! In fact, a few yellow flowers can generally be seen even in harsh winter months.

Its peak time, however, is April and May when almost all the plant is covered in bright yellow blossom.
Did you know?

Before the Industrial Revolution, gorse was valued as a fuel for fires and kilns, as well as baker's ovens. After crushing the spines (e.g. in cider mills), gorse also made valuable feeding for stock including cattle and horses in wintertime.

Straight stems of gorse make excellent walking-sticks and the flowers can be used to make a Gorse wine. It also makes a convenient anchor for washing, acts as a chimney brush and, when in flower, as a source of colour for Easter eggs. Gorse and heather have been bound together to make besom brooms. Gardeners have been known to lay chopped gorse over emerging peas to deter pigeons and mice.

In order to prevent over-exploitation, there have historically been a wide range of conditions on harvesting, such as in Oxfordshire where people were only allowed as much as they could carry on their backs. In Hertfordshire there were regulations prohibiting cutting outside a certain parish and digging-up entire bushes. In some places even the type and size of cutting implements have been specified.

Three species of Gorse that exist in the UK are Ulex europaeus, Ulex gallii and Ulex minor:

    Ulex europaeus is also known as Western gorse, Furse, and Whin (originally thought to be a Scandinavian word). Other names for this type of Gorse are Fingers-and-thumbs, French-fuzz and Honey-bottle.
    Ulex galii, commonly known as Dwarf furze, is also called Bed-furze, Cat-whin and Cornish fuzz. This species belong more to the west and to Ireland and will not tolerate lime in the soil.
    Ulex minor belongs more to the south-eastern counties, East Anglia and the home counties. 

I reckon that the very tall mast in the distance is Caradon Hill Transmitter near Minions ( and Minions is a very long story for another day ) .

For anyone wanting to find Dozmary Pool it it is a few miles south down the moorland lane from Jamaica Inn at Bolventor.
Another small link describing Dozmary Pool

Found in an atmospheric setting high on Bodmin Moor south of the Cornish town of Bolventor. According to local tradition, it was Dozmary Pool that Sir Bedivere finally threw Excalibur. After 3 attempts to relinquish the sword, he finally managed to comply with King Arthur's wish and threw it into the lake, an arm rose from the surface of lake, caught the sword and vanished back into the lake with it.
A story claims that Dozmary Pool is bottomless. However during the droughts in 1859 and 1976 it dried out to show a shallow lake bed - and no sword! Dozmary Pool is comparatively small, and certainly not deep.

Taken in: UK / England / St. Neot (show map)

Taken on: May 4, 2015

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Camera: Canon EOS 550D, f/11.0, 1/125 sec, 24mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 550D
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	24mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-0.571 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Landscape
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
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