In this continuing series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some of the objects will be familiar to certain readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention through their incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd appearance.

These were taken over a few years, as I came across each example. It has always fascinated and impressed me how life can be so tenacious that it can not only cling to any opportunity but actually thrive there. It’s relatively easy to imagine the roots of these plants emerging from seeds blown or planted by insects/birds/small rodents when there are obvious cracks in the walls to allow the roots to seek and find moisture and nutrition.

But the same can’t be said for those plants that manage to thrive on what appear to be solid walls with no access to any normal life-support system. Such tenacity is almost akin to magic, though there is undoubtedly a logical, scientific answer to how this happens. Perhaps, at that spot in the wall, there was a minor fault in the mortar that allowed a seed to gain purchase and send roots through the dark to find sustenance from sources unseen. Whatever the cause, I find the presence of such life in such unlikely circumstances singularly impressive.