Immediately, I spotted an eye-catching old lodge house that must have once guarded the entrance to the Wallingwells Hall estate. We walked on and followed one muddy path after another. I am sure that life can present us with far worse things but squelching along muddy paths is not the most pleasing human activity.
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| Shirley's i-phone picture with yours truly from behind |
At one point, Shirley clicked me on her phone. It was a bloody awful path, made worse by horses. We clung to the edges of the so-called path and occasionally. our boots were gripped by the ankle-deep mud. A "Schloop!" sound was emitted when we managed to pry our boots out of the quagmire.
Effectively we were circling the woodland that encloses Wallingwells Hall and the remains of Wallingwells Castle with its ruinous gardens. Having finished our orbit we were none the wiser. It all remains a woodland mystery.
Returning to Clint with our now entirely brown boots we saw wood anemones like fallen stars by the paths in Wallingwells Woods. Hungry and thirsty, we soon headed to the humble cafe at Langold Country Park like soldiers returning from the trenches. But it was still a lovely day out with the signs of springtime bursting everywhere in the bright sunshine.
Effectively we were circling the woodland that encloses Wallingwells Hall and the remains of Wallingwells Castle with its ruinous gardens. Having finished our orbit we were none the wiser. It all remains a woodland mystery.
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| Junction of bridleways in what was once Wallingwells Park |
I remember losing my boot in mud once and balancing on one leg trying to retrieve it. lol
ReplyDeleteI love the appearance of the first little woodland flowers, I noticed the celandines were flowering last weekend.
Briony
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It is always a good idea to make sure one's boots are properly tied before entering the mud - mol!*
Delete*mol! = moan out loud.
You didn't go for a walk, you went for a squelch. Everywhere is the same at the moment, very boggy and muddy underfoot.
ReplyDeleteAs my late father sometimes said - you can't beat a good squelch!
DeleteIt's going to take weeks before that is resembling dry under foot!
ReplyDeleteI like the flowers and I like that you walked with her ladyship :)
I bought her ladyship new walking boots for her birthday in March. They look very different now!
DeleteYou'll be in good training for Glastonbury, if ever you should decide to go there. The sky was blue and the sun shone here yesterday too. Twas a wonderful and rare sight.
ReplyDeleteGlastonbury? Hey I am not a hippy ADDY!
DeleteI was a little sunburnt after that walk.
Why do it, then? The "squelching along muddy paths is not the most pleasing human activity."
ReplyDeleteI can't see the fun in traipsing through mud, if one doesn't have to do so! Please explain! :)
Well - when you park up ready to walk in an unfamiliar area you don't know what the paths might be like. Even after a wet period, paths can often be dry and easy to walk. Sometimes you get to a point where it's easier to press on with the walk than to turn back and that is how it was when we reached that especially muddy section in Shirley's picture of me.
DeleteHmmmmmm....I'll let that pass...just! :)
DeleteThank you Your Honour.
DeleteHahahaha! Your punishment is a plate of crispy, golden fish and chips with mushy peas....!!
DeleteThat does indeed look like a LOT of mud! I hope by now both your pairs of walking boots are mud-free again, and you did not use the kitchen sink for the cleaning (a "sin" I admit to - but then it is MY kitchen sink, so I can do what I want with it).
ReplyDeleteAnemones - don't you just love them! Just now, on my way back from work, I walked past a big park-like garden where the ground between the large old trees is covered in the pretty white flowers. Yes, spring is well and truly here!
My own boots were left to dry out in the sun. Today I bought a new, stiff scrubbing brush and scrubbed off the dry mud. They look almost as good as new. Shirley left her boots indoors and the mud has not yet dried off. When they are dry I will have a go at them too.
DeleteIt's too bad the path turned out to be so wet. It makes for a hard walk. Your phrase describing the anemones "like fallen stars" is very apt.
ReplyDeletePleased you appreciated that simile Jenny.
DeleteI see now the reason for walking boots. Clint wouldn't like you to bring all that mud in to mess up the floor mats.
ReplyDeleteClint breathed a sigh of relief when he realised we had clean shoes in his boot. We put our boots in his boot!
DeleteHow nice that her ladyship had the opportunity to break in her new birthday boots! At this point I would welcome any spring walk muddy or not if only we could see spring again! We had snow and ice on Easter here and more snow forecast tonight - most unusual April weather for Missouri. I love the old lodge house and the spring flowers are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI expected Hansel and Gretel to skip out of that old lodge house Bonnie.
DeleteWell, your and Shirley's slog thru the mud was well worth it if just for the picture of the wood anemones. Brightened up my day sitting here watching it snow.
ReplyDeleteI am happy you liked the wood anemones Big Sis. Mythology says that the anenome flower first sprang up where Aphrodite’s tears fell as she wept over the death of her lover, Adonis.
DeleteEven in the mountains of Colorado it is surely time for the snow to disappear.
Not so fast, Little Brother. Give it at least another month. At this altitude, there are only 57 days during a year that we do not have a freeze (on average). I have seen it snow every month except August. Now, when we move "down the slope", things will be a little different!
DeleteWow! Only 57 days! I guess that Colorado mountain beauty comes at quite a cost.
DeleteMy days of hiking through mud are largely over...or so I could have said. However not long after I had my knee replaced I did a reasonable yomp over the moors with my son and his father-in-law and had forgotten that when walking over Lewis moors even in dry weather there is an inordinate amount of bog to be walked through.
ReplyDeleteI remember you blogging about that yomp. You were a good advertisement for knee replacements.
DeleteMud? Boots? What a strange climate you inhabit, Mr. Pudding. :)
ReplyDeleteThere's a legend in the west that it once rained in Arizona but I don't believe it.
DeleteMay I ask what brand Shirley's boots are? Same as yours? I presume you recommend them? I need a new pair but they must be both strong and light.
ReplyDeleteLovely Anemones.
Hers are Karimor. They are strong, light and waterproof. She preferred them to the other, more expensive boots she tried on.
DeleteThanks Neil. A good, enduring brand.
DeleteWell, thank goodness the weather was nice, but that IS a bloody horrible path. I've walked plenty of horrible paths but I think that might be the worst I've seen. I might have turned back!
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