Things have improved considerably with my knee problems which I’m thrilled about. It’s been so nice to be walking more-first out of necessity with runs banned and not comfortably with worry about when I’d start getting pain. Now I’m basically back to walking normally with just a little consideration of route length and terrain. The plan today was to get up early and go for a nice 5k walk in fields around a local small town, ending up with lunch.
After getting home late last night, the alarm didn’t get set so waking up at 10am meant a change of plan! We still decided to do the same walk but with lunch halfway through…fuel is important!!! Driving over, easy parking we both remembered didn’t seem to exist any more so we stopped a long way further out than anticipated. Time for another change of plan… Instead of an out and back, we’d loop around to take in a couple of trails and a path along a disused railway line.
Setting off from the car, the first complication was a field of cows. I’m always a little nervous around them but these ones were youngsters that were being, er, amorous with each other and literally butting heads. Time to abort using that path! Back to the main road for a short wander along the dual carriageway and back down through the farm buildings to join on the other side of the cow field. The path followed the river and there were some lovely dogs on display. I also got chased by the first butterfly I’ve seen this season. Much nicer than being chased by a cow! This was a lovely path to walk-soft grass with a well mown and easy route to follow. Across a couple of bridges and past the lock, it was quickly time to head for lunch.
The route got quite complicated. The main bridge over the river was closed so we went under a busy road bridge and through an industrial estate. Certainly a variety in scenery! At 3.5km, we hit the cafe and took a long break with toasties, coffee and today’s crossword.
Having looked at the map, we realised there was a much more sensible route back to the trail we were following. A little way along the road, we rejoined the river. There was a sign warning “do not poo in our porch” but it was unclear whether it was aimed at dogs or humans!
Turning left as a forest I didn’t know existed, we walked through a field next to blooming oil seed rape. Beautiful but i was glad of the antihistamines in my bag! More butterflies and singing birds. Unfortunately, at this point we were quite low down and the field turned into a bog. There was nothing for it but to let my trainers fill up with muddy water. Yuck! At least it wasn’t far to reach the disused railway path on solid ground so my feet could dry a little before getting back to the car with a grand total of 7.5km covered. A lovely walk!
x
