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Monday, 27 January 2020

The Land Around Clothall

The village of Clothall stands just east of the town of Baldock. It's hardly a village at all, just a handful of houses loosely gathered around a small church. I visited the church a few years ago and wrote about it in a post called "A Special Place". You'll have to follow the link if you want to find out about the church; I was too muddy to go inside today! But I did explore the lanes and paths that criss-cross the nearby fields. They're a bit special too, rather hillier than most places around here and with rather different farming.


Yes, sheep. They are only penned in like this temporarily while they await a quick health-check before being moved to a new pasture.


Believe it or not sheep are calm when crowded in like this and don't even mind having a photo taken!


Soon they're free to carry on with their grazing.


I was determined to show the landscape just like it is - not always pretty and very squelchy and slippery underfoot after all the rain we've been having.


A lot of the rights of way around here are shared by walkers, horse riders and farmers, resulting in glorious amounts of mud.


The church in its churchyard is still just as special as I remember. Despite being quite close to a road, the feeling is still of being in deep countryside.


Some of the gravestones are very old and much obscured by lichens and mosses.


I stopped and sat on a bench for a while before continuing on my way.


The roads around the village, like most roads in England, have a long history, but here they seem to have hardly changed. I didn't meet any vehicles at all.


Just the occasional wanderer from the farmyard.


This little water channel is the remains of an old moat that probably surrounded a farm once upon a time; there was quite a fashion for such moats at one time.


Time to be heading back, I think.


I'll leave it to these two ladies to wish you Goodbye.....



Take care.


12 comments:

  1. Love the sheep pics! Good thing they like getting their pictures taken.

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  2. A wonderful walk there. Love seeing all those sheep and the old cemetery.

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  3. Every road seems like an adventure. Awesome photos.

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  4. I didn’t realize farms had moats too. That’s a fine looking rooster too.

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  5. Beautiful countryside. The sheep seem friendly.

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  6. It may be muddy but you still manage to make it look attractive - the country church, the winding lanes, the views, and those delightful sheep.

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  7. I am not quite sure how sheep manage to look docile, mildly stupid and intelligent all at the same time! By any measure, however, they are delightful creatures.

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  8. That does look a little squelchy in places!

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  9. Yes, so very muddy here as well. That makes it slippery too so I've been reluctant to take my 'big camera' out with me. Trashing one a couple of years ago was one too many for me (albeit that was on concrete). When you do go out though, it's often worth it, with unexpected sights like all those penned sheep.

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  10. Those sheep in the pen look almost happy! Even with the mud, it's still lovely country, John. We're in the mud here, too--in the freeze/thaw/rain/freeze/thaw/rain cycle that seems never-ending this winter.

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  11. Love the curving lanes, even with mud and puddles. Great to see sheep are happy, somewhat wet, and I imagine about to have little ones.

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  12. What a great post...I was talking to Roger the other day how I used to have so much fun in wet weather. It is just different being out when it is wet....things seem more pure somehow.

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