If you don't know where you want to go, then
it doesn't matter which path you take.
Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland"
Coastal path above Redcar Sands, North Yorkshire
Paths up hills and paths down dales. Paths through cornfields and paths through woods. Paths by rivers and paths by railway tracks. Summer paths and wintry paths. Well-trodden paths and forgotten paths. Paths to caves and paths to churches. Paths through cities and paths to the sea. Paths by prisons and paths by farms. Overgrown paths and paths made from old paving stones lowered by helicopters. Paths that miners walked and paths that weavers walked. Paths shown in maps and paths imprinted in our minds forever. Paths of memory and paths of hope.
Over at the Geograph site, I have deposited 2575 images for which the principal label is "path". A path takes us to somewhere else, somewhere different. And we are all on paths, striding to the future. The path of life, sometimes crisscrossing with other people's paths. Onward we will go until the path reaches its inevitable end.
Accompanying this blogpost are just seven of the path images I have captured in recent years.
Path by fields to South Anston
Path crossing Blacka Dike
In The Limb Valley
Over Bottoms Reservoir Dam, Tintwistle
Path from Top Riley, Stoney Middleton
River bank path to Whitgift Lighthouse
All of these are lovely. I can imagine myself trekking down any of them, but I think I would most like to be in The Limb Valley or by the fields to South Anston.
ReplyDeleteImaginings can enrich us but not as much as the real thing.
DeleteRedcar Sands. Blacka Dyke. Tintwistle. Stoney Middleton. Whitgift ...
ReplyDeleteHeaven lies about us in our infancy. And in our silver years too.
What a bewitchingly beautiful country England is !
Max Tegmark, eminent physicist, thinks we could be the only advanced life
in the cosmos, the only creatures capable of thought, wonder and reflection.
So does John Gribbin in his book *Alone in the Universe* and Paul Davies
in his book *The Eerie Silence*.
What would Alice have made of that notion ? Or the Mad Hatter ?
I recommend Penguin's *The Annotated Alice* edited by Martin Gardner.
To be read alongside the black Penguin Classic edition.
It will fcuk with your head.
But in a good way.
I wish I had all the time I would need to pick up on your recommendations John.
DeleteI am always envious when I see how a great system of paths has been set up.
ReplyDeleteFor me it is one of the jewels in England's crown.
DeleteGorgeous paths that make you want to walk them to the end.
ReplyDeletePaths lead you on. You never know what might be round the next corner.
DeleteI like all of the paths and wish Australia had more paths. There are "walking trails" but most go through bushland and you need to be in a group and watch out for snakes. The Limb Valley one reminds me of walking the path in the hills above Stirling township. Sometimes alone and sometimes with the oldest grandkids when they were primary school age.
ReplyDeleteGlad that this post helped you to recall a pleasant memory of times gone by.
DeleteYou know me and paths! Most of those you have pictured I find very alluring.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know a place was named after me - I am well chuffed and feel very honoured.
That path descends from the area where "The Riley Graves" are located.
DeleteIt was 38 degrees here today and that maximum temperature will be reached Sunday and Monday. So, in the light of that, I really like the Limb Valley path. It looks cool and calm. The Stoney Middleton path looks a bit too cool.
ReplyDeleteOOOOH! That's "Scorchio!" Wouldn't you like to roll naked down that snowy path?
DeleteI expect I would roll very well nowadays YP.
DeleteYour first paragraph has an echo of John Betjeman about it. Excellent photos, as always, of paths well trodden.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carol though I would prefer to be compared with Seamus Heaney.
DeleteDid you meet Roy Chubby Brown at Red Car Sands YP?
ReplyDeleteNo. I did not meet him but he had the privilege of meeting me and asked how he might beef up his tame comedy routines.
DeleteMany paths in life to chose from.
ReplyDeleteAnd many actual paths too...
DeleteThe path crossing Blacka Dike reminds me of being in the North Carolina mountains. These are all lovely but that one is my favorite here.
ReplyDeleteThat particular path is just beyond Sheffield's boundaries - two miles from this keyboard.
DeleteLovely photos which make me long for an end to winter. Why is it called Limb Valley?
ReplyDeleteI love the red poppies. I used to have a patient who loved poppies.
The Limb is the name of the stream that runs along the valley before it feeds into The River Sheaf.
DeleteI love the one with the poppies. One of the UK's greatest assets is its network of walking paths. The USA has plenty of good trails, but not public paths crossing private property like here.
ReplyDeleteTo me that vast network of paths is a jewel in England's crown. There are over 140,000 miles of public footpaths in England and Wales.
DeleteThe one alongside the poppy field looks so peaceful, as does the one over the river. I love my front path too, as it means I am almost home.
ReplyDeleteYes. Some paths are short and familiar.
DeleteYour contributions to geograph are quite a legacy!
ReplyDeleteDozens of menbers have contributed many more photos than me and so far I have submitted 17,859 images.
DeleteMy favorite is the poppies! Well done, Neil!
ReplyDeleteWalk with me along that path Ellen. I have brought cheese and tomato sandwiches, a flask of coffee and a tartan rug.
Delete