Spring in the city

Italian apple blossom

A  flower on a crannied wall

A shrub with white flowers

The sunlight shining through the fresh green of the new leaves

It is a wonderful feeling to be able to walk down a country lane that is few minutes walk from a busy city centre . Yesterday the cuckoo kept us company. Looking at all the fresh green, the shrubs and blossom, even poppies seems to bring out the best in everybody. It was probably on a day like this that Alfred Tennyson wrote this verse while walking along a country lane.

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower-but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know hat God and man is.

More crannied flowers

An Italian lane in Springtime, just outside the busy city centre

An everyday walk , a never- ending joy

There are a number of walks close to the house where I grew up which are a source of infinite pleasure to me. For one of them,  just cross the lane and a short walk down the footpath then a whole vast beautiful valley opens up before you.  Our little dog could do it on his own. Gently rolling hills, sheep crazing, fields being ploughed, houses nestled along the lane at the bottom, kites swooping in the sky above and the landscape always offering new sights as the seasons change. I ' d go there often after school with my friend and our dogs , filling our lungs with the bracing air to charge us up to do our homework. At other times my Dad would come with me. He was never one for strenuous exercise. He would stand at the top of the footpath while I raced  around with the dog and all the time I could see his comforting figure in the distance. Here are some photos of that walk that I took last week, but this week it will probably look different.

A perfect Sunday

One of the many wonderful joys of the English countryside is that it is covered with a vast network of footpaths and bridle ways which make it easily accessible to all. To keep the cattle and livestock safe access to fields is often by a kissing gate, so called because you have to go through it one at a time and turn round. If you're lucky you might get a kiss, from your partner, of course. The early Spring weather is perfect for Sunday walks and the still- leafless trees mean you can see far and wide. The best Sunday lunch is Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding . Later in the afternoon and after the walk you might have room for scones with jam and clotted cream.

Showcase walks

    



The area I come from is considered one of outstanding natural beauty. A friend of mine often has visitors from abroad. The first thing she does is to take them on what she calls a showcase walk.

We call it a pub walk. They are absolutely marvellous. You park your car at the pub, book a table for lunch two hours later, and stride about the countryside up hill, down dale, through the woods and across streams until you arrive back at the pub having worked up an appetite. Just remember to have spare shoes and leave your muddy boots outside, and maybe a clean t- shirt.

A very dear friend of mine loves activity holidays called for wimps, I can identify with that. Pub walks are perfect for wimps like me. I have also discovered there are books about Tea shop walks - I used to read them to my Mum and she would close her eyes and imagine them. She did so much walking in her youth she could recall every step she took. Here are some of the spectacular views of our Showcase walk.