A Gentle Walk.

For the last couple of days we've had warm winds blowing up from the Mediterranean. We've had to turn off the central heating as it was getting far too hot and during the day the temperatures have been up to 17C. I decided that as I needed to loosen up my back and it wasn't actually raining I'd go off for a gentle walk in the local lanes. The first part was along the roads , nice easy walking. From Ashelford Corner I followed a fairly boring track between tall hedges.

The only time you can get a view is at the gateways.

Eventually the track leads into a field. I don't think this is a right of way though I have ridden along it often when I used to ride so maybe it is a bridleway. It was a bit harder to walk here as the ground was very wet and quite muddy.

The track leads along the crest of the hill and when you get to the corner of the field the walk starts to get more interesting.

This lady rider was very formally dressed, hacking jacket, shirt & tie. We exchanged greetings but for one horrible moment I thought it might be hunt day (Wednesday) which would have caused my rant mode to go into overload. Maybe she just likes to wear ' proper attire'. In the far off days when I did dressage and we had to wear correct clothing even for lessons I managed to find a light blue hairnet to complement my royal blue hard hat. Ever the rebel.

Back to the walk. From the corner of the field the track turns and goes steeply down into the valley. This is my favourite part of the walk with its sudden views and wild landscape.

Once down at the bottom of the valley there is a pretty stream, the same one that flows at the back of the house. If my neighbour wasn't tetchy about people walking on his land it would be possible to cross the stream here and walk back along the valley to the stables and then our house.

Instead I had to turn and retrace my steps back up the track.

On the homeward stretch back on the lanes a group of young riders from the stables passed me on their way down to Churchill, or possibly they were going to cut through the fields at Ashelford Farm.

I carried on up onto the road that I travel on every day to and from work. The reason that the hedges are full-sized trees are that both these fields are owned by individuals. (Farmers who are having to make a living from the land keep the hedges cut square to maximise land usage efficiency.) The field on the left used to be owned by the local hunt master for his daughter's horses. It now belongs to a chap and his partner who I discovered , on the snowy day several years ago when I had been in 2 vehicles that had slid off the road, is the brother of one of the teachers at my school. They very kindly gave me a lift right into school which was great as I had been worried about getting to work. The field on the right belonged to a mystery owner until it was sold to some one who put a caravan on it hoping to get planning permission to build a house - fat chance here on the edge of Exmoor. He even threatened to bring down more travellers and turn it into a gypsy site but he still didn't get his permission and it stands forever empty.

And finally blue skies as I headed down our drive. It soon clouded over though I did manage to do a little weeding and tidying up in the garden.