Friday 12 August 2016

Scenes From A Summer Saunter

I was planning on going a little further afield, but it was a lovely morning and the temptation to "get out there and get going" was too great to resist. So I opened the back gate and just started walking....


.....past the roses in a cottage garden....past the village primary school standing so quietly and emptily through the summer holidays....past a hopeful "missing cat" notice (do lost cats ever read these things and return home?)


....alongside the little River Mel, sliding along under the green trees....Ducks, Blackbirds and a busy litle Grey Wagtail....


....over a meadow of grazing cattle, staring dully out from their beefy heads full of beefy brains....


now here's a curious thing: a field of wheat, but not like the wheat we grew when I was working on a farm. I remember reading somewhere that the earliest forms of wheat had this "bearded" sort of look. I think the proper name for these bristles is awns, though we always called the ones which grew on barley barley ails.


....beside a hedgerow thick with the beautiful berries of the Guelder Rose....we used to call these "cranberries", though they're not.....


....an overgrown footpath.....yes, it goes straight through there! Luckily there were no nettles and very few brambles....


Harvest Skies - wispy cirrus clouds that would have old Bert confidently predicting "Rain on the way", especially towards the end of harvest when we all wanted an evening off work....


....a patch of cranesbill, backlit by the blazing sunshine.....


....another unfamiliar crop to me. How things move on in the seemingly unchanging English countryside! I think this may be grown for birdseed and might be called "canary grass", though I've never seen a field of it before.....


......beside the River Shep, another of the tiny chalk streams which thread their way through our local patch.....


.....possibly the best sight in farming - a cleared field at harvest time.....


....not everyone was out for a walk; this fine old vintage car passed me in the village of Foxton.

Walker's Log:
    Start: My back door, Meldreth 06.50
    End: Foxton 11.25
    Distance walked:  10.5 miles (17 Km)
    Notable birds: Grey Wagtail, Yellowhammmer, Swallow, House Martin, Swift, Buzzard, Kestrel, Green Woodpecker 
    Mammals: Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits
    Wild flowers: lots of common ones, nothing unusual  
    Churches: Meldreth, Shepreth, Fowlmere, Foxton
    People with dogs: 1
    People enjoying a walk: 2 adults, 2 children
    Cyclists: 2, both under ten years of age.
    Horse riders: 0

22 comments:

  1. judging by that last photo, you time travelled! Gorgeous post!

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  2. So beautiful, John! Well, except for the cattle. He's more magestic than beautiful.

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  3. Very beautiful, glad you didn't post the missing cat poster. They upset me so much.

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  4. What a wonderful walk right out your back gate.

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  5. You are very fortunate to be able to step out your back gate and there you are. I like that old car.

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  6. A well documented morning walk with beautiful photos. Awesome John!

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  7. Oh, to step through your back gate to a world like that - I am so envious John. Lovely post...

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  8. I thoroughly enjoyed that, John. Can almost smell that dusty-warm-crop scent in the last picture.

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  9. What a lovely walk! Love your photo of the 'beefy head' ;)

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  10. What a lovely walk! Thanks for taking us with you.

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  11. So much fun. You have much beauty out the back door.

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  12. Thanks for taking us along - what a beautiful walk with lots to see!

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  13. "The little river Mel"--that's my favorite I think. So cool and shady. The heat over here is making me long for a cool mountain stream to rest by for a bit. I know your little river isn't in the mountains, but it would do well enough.

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  14. Love your sense of humour. Wow you sure do walk a long way. No wonder you have such a variety of beautiful scenes. I enjoy taking a different shot each day on my walks but I post them on Instagram and Facebook not here.

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  15. You must live in the middle of some very nice countryside if you can go outthe back gate and go for a walk like this!

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    1. Oh my… you really have a beautiful landscape around you. All your photos are so lovely.

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  16. Hi John - can I come and stay? so I can walk out of your back door and just enjoy your patch - looks so delightful ... and you've certainly shown us lots of interesting aspects of it ... fascinating and thoroughly enjoyed the potter with you - cheers Hilary

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  17. Interesting series of photos....amazing sky - image 7.
    The light is beautiful as we move towards autumn.
    Thanks for sharing the beauty...
    Happy weekend!

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  18. What a gorgeous summer day for a walk. Everything just glows in the summer sun. Beautiful photos!

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  19. What a lovely walk, you are lucky living in such a beautiful place. Gorgeous photos, and what a handsome beast the beef is. I hope the cat is found soon.

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  20. Thanks for taking us along on your saunter! Your photos are lovely and tell the story of your walk so well.

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  21. Your photos makes me want to pop over to England TODAY. ( I live only 30 minutes by car from the airport here in Stavanger, and there are planes to London......

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