A necessary exercise

[tod2]

Mossie I am sure you will benefit from your efforts at walking! I on the other-hand have not done a thing at getting prepared... I am going to have to take it low and slow. One good thing is my knees are in A1 condition with my doctor having given me my annual Cortisone injections right into the kneecap. Sounds painful but he is a clever bloke and injected anaesthetic first so I never felt a thing.
I feel very jealous of your gorgeous woodland paths. Looks mostly level and so beautiful.

[mossie]

Having realised that my next Paris trip is only a week and a bit away, I have desperately been trying to get a little fitness back. Some hopes! But I did have a little walk this morning.

On the way I cross the Millstream, once upon a time a water mill stood nearby but the area had become well overgrown. I was pleased to see the local conservation people had been doing some tidying up and cleaned out the stream for a short section, somebody had even tried to revive the old art of hedge laying. Not very tidily but at least they tried.



A small animal had taken up residence beside the stream



Here is a section of the mill race which still exists, but there is no other trace of the mill. The concrete wall in the background is part of a butts for a rifle range which was set up before WW1 to train the local militia, there is a steep bank to the left of picture which acted as a convenient butt stop



Close by is this patch of bluebells, note the white ones in the foreground which will rapidly become blue as the main strain takes over



Further along are these little shirt buttons



Looks like we could have a volcano, but it is where a mole has thrown up some fresh soil after someone has knocked an earlier molehill over. The fine soil moles produce is excellent for potting up young seedlings, or repotting plants. Some people actually go round with a little shovel and a bag to collect this for their gardens



This old boundary oak has been severely pruned, no doubt due to storm damage, and is getting very hollow



There are some good trees tucked away in the jungle



and some that have suffered when very young



Here something has taken a dislike to a pigeon



But in a nearby garden I just catch a magpie scavenging



Nearing home a butterfly lands almost at my feet to display in a patch of sunlight, hoping for a mate



But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel which means that home and a coffee is very close

[Deleted]

That is an absolutely fantastic nature walk and once again proof that one doesn't have to travel far to see the beauty of the world.

[lagatta]

Yes, it is lovely.

[onlyMark]

I think I'll go back to the UK.

[breeze]

Even I would be inspired to get fit if I could walk through woods like that every day. The combination of old trees with character, a stream, a patch of bluebells, and the sunken road would be irresistible to me. I like walking where I can see changes in wildflowers or leaves as spring and summer and fall go by. (As for winter, bah humbug.)

[cheerypeabrain]

Love your walk Mossie. Beautifully documented.

[bixaorellana]

So beautiful, Mossie. I love the way you capture details and the loveliness of sun and shadow. It's so nice to see that some people still know how to really take a walk and enjoy their surroundings without needing special sports clothing or fitbits, etc. Thanks for this!

[tod2]

Really really lovely Mossie. I can't wait to be in England again this year.

[questa]

English woodlands...from Peter Rabbit to Watership Down, Enid Blyton to Thomas Hardy, I have imagined what they must be like.
Now Mossie has shown me a slice of England which exceeds my expectations. It is all so GREEN and gentle. Great stuff, Mossie.

[mickthecactus]

2 months ago it looked like the Serengeti...

[mossie]

Thanks Questa for reopening this thread, you must be clairvoyant. My normal Sunday routine is to hop out of bed about 6 am, rush downstairs with my washing and set the machine going, the full cycle takes 2 hours. Then I can have another hour or so in bed and watch the 7 o'clock news on the bedroom TV. During this time I decide what to do with the morning. Today being quite reasonable and wanting to rest the car, I thought I would have another little walk perhaps as far as the pond and back. So after sorting out breakfast and the laundry, all dried and folded away, set out.
Very close to home I pass this tumbledown building, which was an outbuilding of the farm which used to occupy the site of this large housing estate. This bit of land is still to be developed, but, long story, and I doubt anything will happen in the near future. Perhaps you can tell me Questa?



Then it is off down the lane which once upon a time was the main drag through the farm, but is now well overgrown. The honesty caught my eye, the pennies are fully developed.



The lane runs almost straight through to the Speedway Wood at the end of the estate



Above it stands the original farmhouse, much extended and modernised



But some of the sides are being developed now, I dread to think what this mansion will be worth when completed



But I reach the pond at the end, it is totally choked with reeds and irises, the water one sees is at the foot of the little dam made to form what once was the millpond for a long gone mill



Resting on the bench I see a little track through the long grass where someone goes down to drink in the stream.



As I move away a rustling in the tree above the path alerts me to this fellow, scrumping blackberries



From there I scramble up the steep bank to reach the Speedway car park



Here is the Speedway track fenced off



The entrance tells the story, it was originally laid out for the motorbike Speedway, and a stock car track was added round it later. Notice the speedway team are the Ipswich Witches, in pre PC days a group of lads spying suitable females would raise the shout "Up the Witches"



But I had come to have a quick look at the "car boot sale". No, they are not selling the boots, or trunks, of their cars, but all the unwanted household junk which may raise a few bob. There are also small traders selling plants and odds and ends, and a stall selling refreshments. Most of it is rubbish and will soon end up in the tip.



On the way out I spot the old caravans, no doubt kept for the next caravan race where they are most unlikely to finish in one piece, an hilarious thing to watch and the best thing that could happen to any of those mobile chicanes



Down through the wood for another rest on the bench, I notice some ivy which will soon be full bloom



But before long I pass the entrance to my little cul-de-sac where as soon as I get home I can make some well earned coffee



Plenty of cars, most house have at least 2. Some close neighbours, a couple on their own, have 2 cars EACH, such is the way of things

Rant over, hope you enjoyed the exercise

[bjd]

I expected the English to be too well-behaved to park on sidewalks!

We have what you call car-boot sales too, called vide-grenier (empty the attic), but people have to pay a few euros to get a space and lay their stuff out. No cars at all. They are very popular -- at least the junk doesn't go in the landfill immediately.

[patricklondon]

I think it's usual for people at car boot sales in the UK to pay for a spot too. It's a useful bit of extra revenue for anyone with some land not in constant use for something else, though I imagine there's some tidying up to be done afterwards.

My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings
"too literate to be spam"

[kerouac2]

These photos are fantastically interesting, but I think that during Mossie's next visit to Paris, I need to take him to places that he has not seen before, since he has such a perfect eye for things to photograph.

I really must admit that I am very intrigued by those abandoned caravans.

[bixaorellana]

You are going to have to explain to me what a caravan race is, Mossie. I can't imagine how those things could be dragged or pushed enough to race.

I'm surprised by the Speedway. Is it still in use and, if so, is it as close to the expensive housing development as it seems to be?

I absolutely adore your pictures of the gone-to-nature green places. Great capture of that squirrel and so impressive how you've spotted all the small signs, such as what remains to be seen of the pond and where the animals go to drink. Can't wait for the next installment.

[mossie]

Taking me out of my comfort zone Kerouac, as if I need to be led astray at my advanced age.

The caravans are to take part in a "destruction Derby", where they will be towed round the track by stock cars, in a race where ramming competitors is encouraged. Most do not finish and the winner is generally been reduced to a chassis on wheels.

The track is separated from the housing by the little wooded bank and the noise is a cause of complaint. The operators are limited to the number of events and timing, but the track was there long before the houses were built.

[bjd]

I would have thought that speedways, stock car racing and things like that were limited to North America, where gas is cheap and all teenage boys seem to grow up with cars. I hadn't realized that such things exist in Britain.

There is a dragway a few kilometres from my son's house in Quebec and you can hear the noise on Sunday afternoons in the summer.

[kerouac2]

There is a dragway near CDG. The only reason I have noticed it is because it is near Ikea. It is a very busy place.

www.circuit-carole.com/

[mossie]

The stock cars were going strong yesterday, I can hear it through my double glazing, but it is not loud enough to be intrusive.

This mornings little walk didn't last long but I noticed how that, in the nick of time, this ivy had been stopped from totally overwhelming this tree



As I took the photo I head this squirrel scampering above me, he thinks I can't see him because he is hiding behind the twig

[bixaorellana]

The nick of time? That ivy must be many years old. Whoever hacked through did so with a power tool, but apparently was too lazy to do a more thorough job.

Darling squirrel! Wonderful picture.

[kerouac2]

I'm always a bit sad when thriving ivy is assassinated, but I know it has to be done sometimes. Perfect squirrel picture, almost enough to make one forget what nasty little creatures they are.