On Storrs Hill, between Horbury and Ossett the gorse is at its best, yellow against an intensely blue sky.
The pigs that have been grazing on the hill have recently been removed, no doubt to fill a freezer or two.
They haven’t made inroads into the gorse but, according to a smallholder friend of mine, they’ve cleared away rank vegetation exposing the ground beneath. He thinks that if the hill isn’t intensively grazed from now on, the original ground layer of vegetation will be able to re-establish itself from seeds that have been lying dormant in the soil.
Is it possible to obtain some of the gorse? I am in a competition and need locally sourced ingredients to impress the fodder judges.
I’m sure that somebody would have some to spare, but I can’t help you with any suggestions. I’ve never seen the gorse looking better than it was at Robin Hood’s Bay, at Ravenscar; a mass of yellow and smelling of coconut.