A Sunday morning walk!
Jul. 14th, 2008 02:09 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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scene_againCross-posted to my LJ!I've been enjoying ![[info]](https://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
msmoat's posts about running, so much and that peaceful time in the early morning sounds blissful, the world, mainly, to yourself and time to think . Lovely. And I know that I would benefit from more exercise, I really do tend to be a couch potato! So when I woke up (not as early as you, I'm afraid,msmoat but early for me) just before seven this morning and spied a beautiful morning, I decided to take myself out for a walk. I left a note just in case someone woke up and wondered where I was and set off with just my house keys, phone and, of course, my camera in my pocket!
msmoat's posts about running, so much and that peaceful time in the early morning sounds blissful, the world, mainly, to yourself and time to think . Lovely. And I know that I would benefit from more exercise, I really do tend to be a couch potato! So when I woke up (not as early as you, I'm afraid,msmoat but early for me) just before seven this morning and spied a beautiful morning, I decided to take myself out for a walk. I left a note just in case someone woke up and wondered where I was and set off with just my house keys, phone and, of course, my camera in my pocket!And you know, there is something special in being out there when everything is quiet and the sun is shining and everyone else seems to be still tucked up asleep in bed.
And here is the view along the valley as I stepped out of my front door at 7.00am.
I walked down to the stream at the bottom of the valley and headed out of town. The baby moorhens have grown a bit since I last posted about them - look!
Two of them here with mum, just beginning to develop markings.. The stream is quite broad and shallow along here 
and the only sounds, apart from the odd vehicle up on the main road, was of birds singing, mainly woodpigeons cooing madly. There are lovely views up the valley from this path - 
lots of meadows, wildflowers and trees, not many houses! You can see why this whole area is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. On I went, past the horses grazing in the meadow, 
through the hamlet of Coombe, where this hedgerow full of blackberries 
caught my eye. I shall know where to come to in the autumn. Then up this 
steep, deep, narrow lane which must have been iin use for hundreds of years, part of the "as the crow flies" route from here to the next market town to the North. Only for people or animals, then - certainly the upper parts of the path would accommodate nothing wider than a donkey and pack. There is an old stone wall down part of this remote lane which is built of fine masonry - cut stone and some of the big pieces, 
rather than the small ones usually used for drystone walling and picked up from the fields. Who would have built a wall of this quality many years ago? Why this short length - a hundred yards or so? Our local historian is very intrigued by this wall - he wonders whether it was built by the Romans who were certainly settled in these parts. There was a substantial settlement a couple of miles up the hill and evidence of several villas in this area. There is a well half a mile away - still called the Holy Well - which is also surrounded by fine masonry - was that done by the Romans, too who were great water engineers? There are surviving water culverts in several parts of the Cotswolds which they put in - why not here? And the slopes of the hill above this area are ridged in what are called strip lynchets - purpose unknown but local oral tradition has it that these terraces were made by the Romans to enable them to plant vines on the South facing slope. A Roman villa lying hidden somewhere here? Who knows? I like the thought.
I paused halfway up the hill, at the top of this lane before crossing the main road to continue climbing. There is a bench carefully sited here so that people can sit and enjoy the prospect over Coombe and Holywell to the town in the distance and the trees and bushes are kept trimmed back like a window so that you can see this lovely view.
Unfortunately at 7.57am, the bench is still wet with dew I found so I did not linger!
The path climbs steeply then
up to the top of the hill before you leave the trees behind, turning along the side of the hill and emerging into the open air. Then you start to get the really lovely views! This one is looking back the way I came up - you can see the road where I crossed it down below and you can see the lynchets on the hill, just above the lane I came up 
and this one 
is looking South towards the town. At this point, dear reader, faced with this grassy path stretched out in front of me, I succumbed to temptation and took my shoes off! So I then meandered along dabbling my bare toes 
in the dew and feeling the spring of the turf under my feet. Oh, yes, the full communing with mature bit! T'was blissful!
The management regime for these hill meadows, which are owned by the National Trust to preserve them as ancient unimproved meadowland, is for them to be grazed by hill cattle, who eat some of the more aggressive plants and allow the wild flowers to thrive and also fertilise them, the only fertiliser ever applied - no weedkillers, no chemicals, ever. And they were looking lovely today. Lots of different flowers growing in the grass -
which of course attracted bees and butterflies, ( though sadly none of those would sit still for me to take any pictures!) and these glorious thistles 
which just glowed in the sun!
This
was the next view along the side of the hill and here 
looking back - more of those lynchets here. And here is one of the beautiful black Welsh hill cattle, grazing on the top of the hill. 
and this is the view over the town and out towards Bristol and Somerset in the distance. We live on the estate in the foreground so I wasn't far from home now.
By this time I had met half a dozen dogs and their owners plus a friend plus both of our neighbour's grown up children out for a jog. The solitude was definitely reducing now!
This fence,
as I left the hill, shoes back on now, cast an interesting shadow.I made my way down through the woods - a steep path but there were plenty of trees to hang on to! 
And out onto the last field before home. 
At this point,just before nineam, M rang me on the mobile to ask where I was and I said I would be home in five minutes! He was putting the kettle on! A perfect end to a really enjoyable walk!
So whether I was thinking about the cup of tea waiting for me or just wasn't concentrating, I'm not sure. But halfway down that last steep hill, I slipped on the grass and twisted my ankle. Stupid! I managed to limp home and elevated and ice-packed it but by late afternoon it was apparent that it was not getting any better. So it was down to A&E at one of the big Bristol hospitals where it took, would you believe, five and a half hours to examine, x-ray and plaster my ankle. yes, I've broken it, chipped a bone! So much for my healthy walk! So I watched GG this evening in the A&E waiting room, where sadly, I couldn't actually hear more than about a quarter of the sound! Fortunately, it was recording at home for me so at least I have something to watch tomorrow - when I get back from my 10.30 appointment at the fracture clinic! I've never broken any bones before, so all of this is new. And so far, I can tell you, crutches are no fun at all!
The best laid plans and all that - and we have a trip to Aberystwyth planned for Thursday for J's Master's Graduation!
So this is the final picture of the day! A different view of my foot!
And here is the view along the valley as I stepped out of my front door at 7.00am.
I walked down to the stream at the bottom of the valley and headed out of town. The baby moorhens have grown a bit since I last posted about them - look!
Two of them here with mum, just beginning to develop markings.. The stream is quite broad and shallow along here and the only sounds, apart from the odd vehicle up on the main road, was of birds singing, mainly woodpigeons cooing madly. There are lovely views up the valley from this path - lots of meadows, wildflowers and trees, not many houses! You can see why this whole area is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. On I went, past the horses grazing in the meadow, through the hamlet of Coombe, where this hedgerow full of blackberries caught my eye. I shall know where to come to in the autumn. Then up this steep, deep, narrow lane which must have been iin use for hundreds of years, part of the "as the crow flies" route from here to the next market town to the North. Only for people or animals, then - certainly the upper parts of the path would accommodate nothing wider than a donkey and pack. There is an old stone wall down part of this remote lane which is built of fine masonry - cut stone and some of the big pieces, rather than the small ones usually used for drystone walling and picked up from the fields. Who would have built a wall of this quality many years ago? Why this short length - a hundred yards or so? Our local historian is very intrigued by this wall - he wonders whether it was built by the Romans who were certainly settled in these parts. There was a substantial settlement a couple of miles up the hill and evidence of several villas in this area. There is a well half a mile away - still called the Holy Well - which is also surrounded by fine masonry - was that done by the Romans, too who were great water engineers? There are surviving water culverts in several parts of the Cotswolds which they put in - why not here? And the slopes of the hill above this area are ridged in what are called strip lynchets - purpose unknown but local oral tradition has it that these terraces were made by the Romans to enable them to plant vines on the South facing slope. A Roman villa lying hidden somewhere here? Who knows? I like the thought. I paused halfway up the hill, at the top of this lane before crossing the main road to continue climbing. There is a bench carefully sited here so that people can sit and enjoy the prospect over Coombe and Holywell to the town in the distance and the trees and bushes are kept trimmed back like a window so that you can see this lovely view.
Unfortunately at 7.57am, the bench is still wet with dew I found so I did not linger! The path climbs steeply then
up to the top of the hill before you leave the trees behind, turning along the side of the hill and emerging into the open air. Then you start to get the really lovely views! This one is looking back the way I came up - you can see the road where I crossed it down below and you can see the lynchets on the hill, just above the lane I came up and this one is looking South towards the town. At this point, dear reader, faced with this grassy path stretched out in front of me, I succumbed to temptation and took my shoes off! So I then meandered along dabbling my bare toes in the dew and feeling the spring of the turf under my feet. Oh, yes, the full communing with mature bit! T'was blissful!The management regime for these hill meadows, which are owned by the National Trust to preserve them as ancient unimproved meadowland, is for them to be grazed by hill cattle, who eat some of the more aggressive plants and allow the wild flowers to thrive and also fertilise them, the only fertiliser ever applied - no weedkillers, no chemicals, ever. And they were looking lovely today. Lots of different flowers growing in the grass -
which of course attracted bees and butterflies, ( though sadly none of those would sit still for me to take any pictures!) and these glorious thistles which just glowed in the sun!This
was the next view along the side of the hill and here looking back - more of those lynchets here. And here is one of the beautiful black Welsh hill cattle, grazing on the top of the hill. and this is the view over the town and out towards Bristol and Somerset in the distance. We live on the estate in the foreground so I wasn't far from home now. By this time I had met half a dozen dogs and their owners plus a friend plus both of our neighbour's grown up children out for a jog. The solitude was definitely reducing now! This fence,
as I left the hill, shoes back on now, cast an interesting shadow.I made my way down through the woods - a steep path but there were plenty of trees to hang on to! And out onto the last field before home. At this point,just before nineam, M rang me on the mobile to ask where I was and I said I would be home in five minutes! He was putting the kettle on! A perfect end to a really enjoyable walk!So whether I was thinking about the cup of tea waiting for me or just wasn't concentrating, I'm not sure. But halfway down that last steep hill, I slipped on the grass and twisted my ankle. Stupid! I managed to limp home and elevated and ice-packed it but by late afternoon it was apparent that it was not getting any better. So it was down to A&E at one of the big Bristol hospitals where it took, would you believe, five and a half hours to examine, x-ray and plaster my ankle. yes, I've broken it, chipped a bone! So much for my healthy walk! So I watched GG this evening in the A&E waiting room, where sadly, I couldn't actually hear more than about a quarter of the sound! Fortunately, it was recording at home for me so at least I have something to watch tomorrow - when I get back from my 10.30 appointment at the fracture clinic! I've never broken any bones before, so all of this is new. And so far, I can tell you, crutches are no fun at all!
The best laid plans and all that - and we have a trip to Aberystwyth planned for Thursday for J's Master's Graduation!
So this is the final picture of the day! A different view of my foot!
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-14 02:57 am (UTC)Now, your walk, before the ankle kerfuffle, was gorgeous and you have such lovely views, the ancient meadowland is beautiful and I love a good cow picture! I am intrigued not only by the wall but the path as well, it is really rather difficult for this American to truly understand such ancient signs of civilization, truly marvelous. The trees and hedges trimmed to make the window is just such a lovely thing. The flowers are gorgeous and that thistle does seem to be glowing.
As a Texan, I still cringe at the thought of going barefoot in grass, it's perfectly safe here, but in Texas there are stickers and other vegetation which will stick into one's feet causing great pain.
Sorry on the GG front, but at least you'll be able to watch it at your leisure.
Take care, let M spoil you!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 08:31 pm (UTC)I'm so glad you enjoyed sharing my walk. It really was the most beautiful morning, perfect temperature and I just couldn't resist taking so many pictures and posting them without distracting everyone with the little mishap at the end! When you are out on the hill and looking down on it, you really do get a sense of the hidden history all around you. The Romans left Britain in about 350AD, I think, so there have certainly been people enjoying this countryside enough to live in it for the best part of 2000 years, maybe more.
It's a long time since I walked barefoot like that and I was keeping an eye out for thistles etc (if not slippy patches, it seems!) but it just felt so right that morning to be wiggling my toes in the dew and feeling how springy it was underfoot. The flowers were just wonderful, everywhere and I have several more of them which I shall post to Flickr in due course. Project 365 may get a bit repetitive over the next few weeks!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 03:27 pm (UTC)*Hugs from G and me*
no subject
Date: 2008-07-18 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-20 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-14 08:35 am (UTC)A shame it had to end on such a painful note - I hope it mends quickly.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 08:34 pm (UTC)The wall is really intriguing, isn't it? I'm so glad it interested other people, too. Still, I can sit and enjoy the views I took for the next six weeks while I am in plaster, can't I!!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-16 06:17 am (UTC)And hopefully the rest of us will post some pretty pictures to cheer you up :-)
no subject
Date: 2008-07-14 08:56 am (UTC)I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle - I trust you are being good and following the Doctor's orders!
I know all about crutches and how un-fun they are, intimately. If you want any 'tips' just yell.
And behave, don't be silly and try to do too much.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 10:03 am (UTC)No country side walks for a little while.
Lovely pictures, btw. Thanks for sharing.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 08:37 pm (UTC)Glad you enjoyed the pictures, though. It was a lovely walk right up to that last few moments!
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 02:32 pm (UTC)Thank you for sharing the pics, even thinking of us, when you're had such a bad day.
I hope your ankle will mend soon! ((hugs))
no subject
Date: 2008-07-15 08:40 pm (UTC)Hopefully, I'll get used to the crutches and be able to move around a bit more soon! Thank you for the hugs!