Saturday 5 July 2014

A Walk to the Hill

Hello lovelies,
Wednesday morning dawned bright and sunny. Time to put on my walking shoes and explore somewhere new again.
I feel very lucky to love in a place that's got both great local facilities,  a vibrant city close by and yet is surrounded by lovely countryside.

You can just see the city in the distance in this photo..............

But I'm not walking that far......just to the hill.

O.K. it's not a big hill, we don't really have many of those around here, but if I zoom in a bit you can see it on the right,  half covered in trees.............


To begin with I'm walking along a familiar path, through a field which is growing wheat this year. I'm guessing it will grow rapeseed next year.................


I love the lines left by the tractors..............


and I'm pleased to catch a glimpse of a Chaffinch in this willow tree....it's not easy to see the birds now the trees are in full leaf..........


I come to the first of many stiles..............


And through another field I come to a wooded glade........today it feels like a place you might find fairies.......


soon I come out of the wood and reach this gap into the hedge.....This stile  leads to..........


 ...........a field of gold............wow

I love the colour of the Barley....this wonderful sight says summer to me.

Now I've walked a couple of miles and I'm on unfamiliar ground. I hear this handsome chap before I see him.....


And I'm rather surprised to come across llamas? in the same paddock.............


Next I get rather lost in a small  village.....I end up going around in circles looking for the footpath. Never mind, my unintentional detour leads me to this telephone library..............


Nobody is about so I take a peek at the books..............

and have to smile at the eclectic mix of titles it contains ....I would choose the natural history book.

Next to the Telephone box there's a bench with a lovely plaque commemorating the queens silver jubilee.....so that makes it 37 years old.....it's holding up well, and is obviously well maintained............

I sit and have a drink ....it's getting rather warm.

I'm still looking for the footpath when I catch up with this lovely old dog...........


His master and a younger dog are a little way ahead and we walk together for a while............

Till he reaches his home....such a gentle walking companion.


Eventually I find the footpath and climb up away from the village.............

I can just see two walkers ahead.


And to my left I can see the hill...........


I love walking through the long grass, filled with wild flowers..............


There's a gentle breeze and the sound of buzzing bees. Meadow Brown butterflies are loving the Knapweed........


I'm almost as high as the hill now and can see for miles, across the golds and dark greens of summer.........


If I zoom in on the distance you can see the village I'll be walking back to soon. And on the far right is that huge modern barn complex I passed in THIS walk a couple of weeks ago.............


The slope of the hill is in the foreground and I wonder what crop is such a lovely rich golden brown.

It's getting rather hot by now and I sit for a while on this stile..........


Thankful for the shade from a young oak tree..............


I gaze at the path I've just walked up and consider walking back the same way..............


 But there's still another field to walk through and I don't need to hurry home today so I press on.........


Eventually I come to at quiet lane that heads back down to the village where I got lost. There is a beautiful cooling breeze blowing towards me as I descend and I only see one car .........


Along the verges many flowers are already setting seed. I love the seed heads of the Goats Beard.........


And the Hogweed..............


Eventually I come to a gap in the hedge and look up at the hill..........it's growing Rapeseed. I'd love to walk up the short, steep incline but sadly there is no footpath. I know better that to trespass on private land............



At the bottom of the hill I come across this footbridge............


and stand on it to enjoy this cool shady spot............


Then it's back home, past the Llamas and into the churchyard...........


As I walk through it the clock strikes 11am. I come to the small war memorial to the men from this village who died in the first world war...........some mothers sons...........

And my thoughts  turn to my own two eldest boys.............who are currently on a school trip, visiting the battlefields and war memorials of France and Belgium. I'm so grateful they were born 100 years after these poor young men.

Opposite the church is the little pre school they attended ...........gosh.........I realise that was 10 years ago......

I'm sure they can hardly remember it now, but how the years speed by for us parents.

This was my longest walk to date, at six and a half miles. I do enjoy being able to record them here and I hope you lovelies find them interesting too.
Jacquie x


24 comments:

  1. Looks like a very pleasant walk. You seem to have a great collection of footpaths near you. In Scotland we are not limited to footpaths - so long as you follow the access code (eg walk round the margin of a field and not through the middle of a crop) then you are allowed pretty much anywhere in the countryside and on the coast (also so long as it's not someone's house and immediate garden and so long as you're not up to no good!)

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  2. Thanks for taking us with you on your walk Jacquie you are so lucky to have such beautiful scenery on your doorstep, wish I lived closer I would walk along with you, have a great weekend. :)

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  3. What a lovely post. Thank you so much for sharing you walk with us. I love reading your blog. Take good care of yourself. Hope your boys enjoyed their trip abroad. Time flies past so quickly, my girls have just finished University - where did those years go :(

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  4. What a lovely walk you had you are so lucky to have so many different walks around you thank you for sharing them with us. I love to read your blog and see where you have been.
    I hope your boys enjoyed their trip they grow up so very fast and the time just flies. My girls are both grown up and flown the nest

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  5. I do indeed find your walks very interesting Jacquie! The colour of the field of ripening barley really is that golden summer hue isn't it, there isn't another colour like it really. I love the telephone box library, a very eclectic mix of books indeed!! I guess that you would find something for most anyone in there! I hope that your sons enjoyed their visit to the continent and learned a lot and enjoyed themselves too! xx

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  6. What a beautiful walk and thank you for taking us along with you. I love the scenery and your elderly walking companion looed gorgeous.

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  7. Amazing landscapes, as usual, thanks for sharing! : )

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  8. Thank you for the beautiful photo! It´s so wonderful to see an other place of the world.
    Lucie x

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  9. Such a lovely walk Jacquie, such picturesque countryside.......Love the green and gold of the fields and the stiles over fences. I was saying today we need some stiles as I was trying to climb through the barb fence!!
    Love the telephone library and yes, I would've borrowed the natural history book too......Xx

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  10. Wonderful I always love you're walking posts
    Clare x

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  11. Thank you for sharing your walk! I do love these posts, your photos are lovely :)

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  12. Your walks are lovely, thanks to your brilliant photographs. You would love to walk with me, it is all hills here, there are a few flat yards between climbing up and almost slithering down. My leg muscles are beefing up nicely and my btm is definitely firmer. Love the red box library, I would be a regular visitor.

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  13. Thank you for sharing your walks. I feel as if I were there with you. I think I need a UK visit about now.

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  14. I love going on walks with you! I live in the US and will probably never get to see your country for myself since im not the traveling type. So please keep sharing.

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  15. Beautiful pics, Jacquie! Thank you for sharing. I feel as though I was right there with you. I love the telephone box library.

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  16. It looks another lovely walk - thanks for sharing. I hope your boys had fun too. Matt did a similar school trip and had a fantastic time - some great fun, but he also learned so much. x

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  17. I love "our" walks! ;) Please continue sharing them. How wonderful you have such varied places to choose for your walks. Mine, if I go by foot from the house are limited, (too much car traffic)and more closed in, through woods mainly. Enjoy your kid free weekend.

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  18. I just love reading about your walking adventures and am always looking forward to the next one. Beautiful photos, as always, thanks for sharing. Hope your boys are enjoying their trip away, x

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  19. I love the area where you live. It's so lovely to see all the pictures you take all the time that I just want to jump into the picture.

    Lovely greetings, Emily
    (casacreaemilia.blogspot.nl)

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  20. This walk was perfection Jacquie. I could feel the barley, the warmth of the sun, and hear the trickle of that stream. Thank you so much for taking us along, I thoroughly enjoyed this post. xx

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  21. what a lovely walk. your blog is a real treat xxx

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  22. Another lovely walk Jacquie with beautiful photos of your beautiful countryside. It's been a pleasure to see sunny fields, cooling shade and bright skies on a day that is wet, damp, cold and miserable here in Melbourne. Thank you for sharing.
    Anne xx

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  23. I do enjoy the walks! I can't do them again yet because my kneecap is out of order so it's lovely to see them from your point of view, thanks!

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  24. I love seeing your walks, the countryside round you is very much like round here.
    I didn't know that plant was called goats beard. It's funny but the seed heads on it are a lot more interesting than the flowers, and so much bigger!

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