I'm back in school tomorrow. It's a non-pupil day and I need to be there for the morning as I'm only a part-timer. It was raining lightly all morning so I had a relaxed day. The sun came out in the afternoon when I did some dead-heading of buddlias and the santolina but my back is not back to normal so I avoided doing too much.
Lundy - Wednesday morning walk. Leaving Peter still sleeping I was up and out for a fairly early morning walk starting off with a climb to the top of the Old Light. Even the sheep were still sleeping, some of them at least.
Having surveyed the slightly misty island from the top of the lighthouse I set off to walk northwards up the western coast.
The 2 sides of the island are very different due to the prevailing westerly winds blowing all the way across the Atlantic. The sheltered eastern side has more plant life though the invasive rhododendrons are gradually being removed.
The western side is very much my favourite with the dramatic granite rocks reminiscent of the Cornish cliffs of my childhood. These rock stacks are know as 'The Cheeses'.
Tempted as I was to return back along the cliffs I decided for a change to cut across by Halfway Wall and return down the central track.
My reward was to walk through this group of Highland cattle. One of them was standing right on the track as I passed and while I have to admit to walking slowly past I reminded myself that no-one had said anything about them being aggressive and they must be very used to people anyway. You wouldn't be tempted to pet one on the nose because an inadvertent swing of those horns could take your eye out.
Those long horns obviously came in useful for a good back scratch and another of the cattle demonstrated how useful a bovine tongue is for cleaning nostrils. Before crossing back through Quarter Wall I came across the wild ponies.
Then it was back down the main track, through the village and home for breakfast. I took hardly any photos of the village this time as I have so many from previous visits.
2 comments:
A lovely, lovely walk you had. I especially enjoyed seeing the photos of the animals. So interesting to me that they have the freedom to roam and people have the freedom to mingle...somewhat. What a lovely time you had Ruta. Best wishes for your schooling days. We in the states, Michigan, await school beginning after Labor Day. Which is a holiday the first Monday in September and honors workers. Some schools begin before Labor Day. It all depends on the state and where one lives. Here in Michigan, a school district in Northville institued 'year around school' a long time ago. I have no idea if that is still in place. It wasn't overly popular. However, we had friends whose girls were in the system and they thought it was great. To each his own. Our children as well as our grandsons were always in a traditional year. Strange...a traditional year was originally developed to follow an agriculture cycle. Needless to say, as fewer people farmed and moved to cities and suburbs, the system continue to follow the ag. cycle.
What a great walk that was. Wow those horns are sure long but how neat that you got to walk among them. I'd love to have walked there with you. : )
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