Sunshine & Necessary Calm

It seems to have been a weekend of fine weather across the whole country, the sort that makes you believe spring has actually arrived. With temperatures in danger of soaring to record levels for the time of year, Meteorologists have been reaching for the Mercury, expectant for that all-important fraction of a degree, and it’s easy to imagine long, warm days for the weeks ahead.

For walkers it signals the time to venture Narnia-like into the far reaches of the wardrobe and unearth all that long-forgotten warm weather kit, swapping flasks for water bottles and consigning waterproofs to the rucksack and fleeces to the drawer.

Of course, there may well be a sting in the tail, but it finally feels like the worst of winter may be behind us. Don’t get me wrong, I like winter – love it, in fact – but it’s also nice to feel the excitement of new adventures as a new season is heralded in.

So, it was exactly the sort of weekend for throwing all your kit into the car and heading off to bag that iconic peak you’d promised yourself you’d do next time you got a nice day, right?

Well, not quite …

For reasons that will become apparent in future posts, we had a fairly full weekend lined up, with visiting family and completing a few chores on the list of things to do. We did, however, make time for a stroll out – a couple of hours round the local fields and lanes in gorgeous sunshine, and a first walk of the year in short sleeves.

We decided to do a bit of footpath wardening on our walk, keeping to local paths and lanes. Crossing the fields towards Old Poor’s Gorse we passed few other walkers, and the sky was full of Skylark song ripped away on the breeze. The footpath condition was good, with clear routes already established through the new crop growth and nothing untoward to report. We spotted a couple of Hares laying low nearby, only half hidden in the short vegetation. They paused a moment, unsure, before racing off into the distance.

The return route was a little busier with dog-walkers and cars to contend with, but still beautiful. It is a surprising area: more than once, on a sunny day, I’ve found the rolling countryside and long field boundaries lined with rows of individual trees reminiscent of Tuscany, something the accompanying photos fail to capture! Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, but that’s how it seems – at least in my memory. Maybe we should go, just to find out.

All in all, we were glad to be able to fit a walk in – what with all the other things going on at the moment – and it has proved beneficial in providing a bit of necessary calm at the start of a busy week.