Geograph - photograph every grid square

Thawing pool on Eggleston Common tundra

The strongly peat-stained water has formed a brown layer of ice, now below the surface as warm wet westerlies (I was having some difficulty in standing still in the wind) bring thaw and rain to the tundra. The grouse moor is a mosaic of new heather, burnt heather, sphagnum, lycopodium and other low-growing vegetation, all failing to decay, and forming poorly-draining peat. This particular bit of moorland seems to be more than averagely managed, with very little really old heather, and lots of quite recently burned areas, making it a lot easier to walk across than most.