The walk was 11 miles, out Stevenage way - we arrived by train, then took a local bus to Aston, all in sporadic sunshine and calm air. Conditions changed once we got going, walking over, around, and across fields, such is the joy of the countryside.
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| Blue sky and catkins |
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| Grey skies and mud |
Until lunchtime - the larger part of the walk - it was All Mud - and sometimes the mud was thicker, gooeyer, stickier at the top of a hill than at the bottom.
Moments after taking this photo, before I could put the phone/camera in my jacket pocket and zip it up securely, I skidded and fell, and the phone landed in the mud. All those little holes in the bottom - speaker, mike, jack, port for charger - filled with mud. The tiniest hole - the most delicate and the hardest to clean - is the microphone ... I'd had it cleaned out two days ago and will have to take the phone back for more attention.
By lunchtime I'd thoroughly used up all my tissues to keep the ever-dripping nose in check and, worse, developed a blister which brought on despairing thoughts of the four or five miles ahead. Fortunately someone gave me a plaster and it was definitely a lifesaver ... next time I'll carry copious plasters.
Also by lunchtime it was drizzling steadily, ie making fresh mud, and the wind was quite sharp. I had my picnic lunch outside at the pub [too muddy to go in] and waited around impatiently. Finally we set off - in the wrong direction, but not very far - and oh joy, most of the rest of the walk was along paved roads. We even took a few moments to visit the church in
Datchworth (a village settled by 700AD by Saxons though there's evidence of Belgic settlement before that) -
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| (Identical) graves of the Pennyfeather family, 19th century |
Mostly it was one foot in front of another to Knebworth station, where buses replaced trains in both directions. Two hours on the southbound bus, calling at all stations ... I was glad to get home.
If this had been the first walk I'd gone on, I would never have risked another. Even with proper walking gear, that sticky mud was a killer.
We did see horses, geese, snowdrops, and some dotty sheep that couldn't be bothered to get out of the way - very un-sheepish behaviour -
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| Baa baa black sheep... |
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| Two distinct breeds in the flock |
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| Many sightings of snowdrops under hedges |
... and signposts, and lots of landscape -
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| Woods and rolling fields - an ancient landscape |
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| Not a lot of signposts came our way |
5 comments:
your energy constantly amazes me
You got a good story out of the day...
Poor you - a really tough one with claggy mud stuck on your boots - l know that feeling well of past long walks! The relief of getting home can't be under-estimated!
That was a long hike! The mud had to make is exhausting. I have been thinking about heading to the trail that runs behind my neighborhood, but I need a pair of Wellies(sp?) rather that just a pair of hiking boots because I know there is an area at the bottom that is water logged and muddy. I would have needed a nap after that hike!
I was amused to see the sign to Knebworth in one of your photos, having taught there for a few years in the 1980s. In total, we lived in the village of Weston between Stevenage and Baldock for almost 20 years so this whole area with its paths (and its mud) is very familiar to us and seeing it again brought back happy memories.
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