County Mayo

In County Mayo we took another scenic drive along the coast. The landscape here is beautiful. It's easy to start taking it for granted.



Mayo is the place where I learned everything I now know about peat, which is probably more than you think, and certainly more than I used to know. Peat is surprisingly interesting stuff. It is created when the earth is so wet that plant matter cannot get sufficient oxygen to decompose properly. Instead, it goes into a state of partial decomposition and then just sits there. New vegetation grows on top of it and the cycle continues until someone comes along with a long, skinny shovel and digs it up to burn in their fireplace.

Here peat that has already been dug up as brick waits in brightly coloured bags to be collected.