Yorkshire scenery

[ecollen]

For the past few days we have had the great pleasure of watching the Tour de Yorkshire bike race on the telly. The racing was superb, but perhaps even more enjoyable was the hours and hours of views of the Yorkshire scenery and countryside. It's enough to make you want to dig out the old bike, fly over there and go pedalling along those lanes! But unluckily that's not likely to happen anytime soon. There's one thing I'd like to know though. On the Bridlington to Scarborough stage, there were lots of scenes of rows and rows of farmers' fields of crops with bright yellow blossoms. What are these crops? I found a picture of the race passing one of these fields, which I'll try to attach. Any idea of what this is? Thanks.

[Duffield1]

Aye lad, this is my turf!

We're cursed with fields of rape at the moment - used to make rapeseed oil.  Looks spectacular, but hellish for hayfever sufferers!

The joy of the Tour de Yorkshire is that all the really rough roads along the route are beautifully resurfaced - makes taking my daughter to school far more pleasant!

[P-Kasso2]

I hadn't realised that others had noticed the appearance of oilseed rape fields in England too! 

Is it just me, or do others also feel that these almost unnaturally bright yellow fields of oilseed rape are destroying the subtle patchwork of little green fields that have for so long been a highly treasured feature of the English landscape?

I can still remember (40 odd years ago now) the very first time I came upon oilseed rape fields in Denmark and being breathless and totally staggered by the sight...and at the same time fervently hoping they'd never ever turn up in England.

And now they have.  And I don't know whether I like them or not!

My dilemma is that, while I realise that British farmers need all the cash crops they can grow, I also really love cooking with rapeseed oil! 

In fact, I actually prefer it over olive oil - plus every bottle of home-grown rapeseed oil comes with the important added bonus of not having thousands of nasty air miles to worry about.

So my dilemma is this ...Do we ban oilseed rape fields in England because they are an affront to the traditional English landscape?  Or must we simply accept that England's traditionally beautiful landscape of green fields is being changed forever?

Or am I just daft to worry about these things?  Your views would be much appreciated.

[P-Kasso2]

We're cursed with fields of rape at the moment - used to make rapeseed oil.  Looks spectacular, but hellish for hayfever sufferers!

Hellish for hay fever sufferers?  I didn't think so Duff, and (being the biggest hay fever sufferer in the whole of South East England, and very nosey) I decided to look it up.

Result?  I found this BBC website on oilseed rape generally - which makes a specific mention of oilseed rape versus hay fever...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18249840

This BBC site says that hay fever sufferers should take some comfort from a recent medical research council Institute for Environmental Health report into oilseed rape's allergenicity. 
While the Beeb doesn't quote directly from the Institute for Environmental Health's report, it does quote a  certain Mr Guy Gagen, who just happens to be the Chief Arable adviser at the National Farmers Union, no less.  Mr Gagen says...

"[Oilseed rape] has a large pollen grain but it doesn't move very far. To get a serious amount of pollen from rapeseed oil you'd have to actually walk through the crops."

So Duff, unless your idea of fun is rolling around in oilseed rape fields all summer then I think you can probably put the tissue hankies away.

[Duffield1]

I have allergic rhinitis and it triggers me - particularly when driving down roads where it is planted either side (which happens a lot round here).  Tickly throat and nose every time, and I avoid cycling.

[P-Kasso2]

As Yorkie Duffield1 says sniffiily back in May "We're cursed with fields of rape at the moment - used to make rapeseed oil.  Looks spectacular, but hellish for hayfever sufferers!"

I say Nay.  I think he and other patriotic hayfever sufferers should pause for a minute and think of the small sacrifice they can make for the greater good - namely that rapeseed oil may one day save the dodgy British economy!

Great chefs are already waxing lyrical over rapeseed oil, preferring it over olive oil for cooking.  And it is produced here!  I see the day when Britain is the World Capital of rapeseed oil production.  British farmers will at last stop moaning and soon start rubbing their hands with glee as the oil dollars roll in.

I say this not lightly - because I come from long family tree of hayfever sufferers myself.  Take my Uncle Alf for example - unlike me, he is a brilliant mathematician and professor.  And he has has come up with the ultimate 'cure' for hayfever which I donate for free here to all you snuffly, red eyed Duffields out there. It is this....

My Uncle Alf simply bungs up each nostril with great gloops of Vaseline.  Pollen can't get in.  Voila!  Hardly any hayfever symptoms!

But he hasn't stopped there.  He wants to eradicate all pollen from reaching his very large hooter and his piggy little eyes.  So he is now scouring the Internet for a vital piece of equipment...he is seeking a Belisha-Beacon-sized clear perspex globe that he plans to wear over his head during the offensive months.  I kid you not.  (Obviously this perspex globe is to be worn in addition to the Vaseline-packed nostrils for optimum effect.)

QED, as he snuffles merrily to anyone who will listen.

Duff, you are most welcome to use this my Uncle Alf's wizard cure for hayfever but you'll have to find your own answer to keep your flat cap attached to your perspex globe as you hike or bicycle round Yorkshire's previously green and verdant countryside.