That was an hour away and I don't wish to drive that sort of distance today so I guess I am going to have to cover old ground. Mind you, revisiting a circular walk I have completed in the past is never quite the same. The season, the light, the changes we see in nature -it's always subtly different from before.
Another sunny morning in Lockdown Land. These past three months - March, April and now May have all been exceptionally dry. The earth is crying out for rain.
On Monday I walked by two vast fields of broad beans. They were hanging on but hardly thriving in their sun-baked clay soil. In this country, most farmers rely upon rain from the sky to make their crops grow, We are not set up for artificial irrigation in the way that farms are in southern France or the Central Valley of California. Usually our problem is too much rainwater rather than too little.
Anyway, I need to get my act together now. The countryside is calling though I still don't know where I am going. I will tell you later where I went - assuming I make it home of course...
Down here, at the South Coast, it's what the Angel calls "lush". Green trees and grass in full, well, green. Just enough rain (largely at night and early morning) to keep everything in fine fettle. Of course, whether that's enough for farmers' produce to flourish I wouldn't know this minute.
ReplyDeleteOne of this country's peculiarities (and I write if off to its many [peculiarities]) that in a place, famed for its rain, one minute you'll be soaked the next there are droughts and hose pipe bans. I am sure someone (probably the Angel's father) once upon a time explained to me the rationale (!) behind it all. I still stand in wonderment. Cue the motherland's mantra "efficiency". I do not believe the concept of efficiency features much in England. Muddle more like it. Still, you have to love the English and their odd ways. Ask me again when they boot me out - post Brexit.
Enjoy your walk, YP. I am sure you'll come back with a gem or two of a story and/or photos.
U
Yorkshire people don't really think of themselves as English. We are Yorkshire first and English second. If you need a reference to support your residency on this "sceptred isle" post-Brexit, I will be happy to supply one free of charge.
DeleteI see my Dad's birthplace marked there on your map - Barnsley. I have never been there. Perhaps one day I may get over to have a look.
ReplyDeleteMy late husband was from a place near Barnsley, too small to feature on this map (Wath on Dearne). We went to Barnsley for shopping, and it was in Barnsley (at Yates', if I rememeber correctly) where he proposed to me.
DeleteHow romantic! That's lovely.
DeleteI like Barnsley. The people there are the salt of the earth and some of the surrounding countryside is quite lovely though of course there is visible social deprivation in parts of the town itself.
DeleteHave you walked the Pennine Way or the Coast to Coast YP?
ReplyDeleteNo. I wouldn't fancy lugging a huge rucksack and walking big distances every day Northsider.
DeleteI walked over 100 miles of the Dingle Way and the Maharees with rucksack and tent and blistered feet. It wasn't very enjoyable like you describe.
DeleteLike you, I enjoy walking familiar paths; they are never exactly the same for the reasons you mention, and also because I may be in a different mood or frame of mind than when I walked there previously.
ReplyDeleteBut of course, the innate curiosity in our species makes exploring new paths so exciting. I am looking forward to reading about today's walk tomorrow.
I hope I won't disappoint.
DeleteI can see a crossroads near where I live on that map.
ReplyDeleteMay I humbly suggest that you are mistaken Lord Tasker? Harewood House is not on this map.
DeleteA slow amble through beautiful downtown Huddersfield, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteI am really worried about the lack of rain. All this sunny weather, while personally pleasant, is bizarre for England!
Huddersfield is an interesting town. I have taken pictures there before but I have not covered the entire town.
DeleteOne of the things I genuinely love about England is the sheer unpredictability of the weather.
Without car and avoiding public transport, about 2 km from home is just about as far as I dare go (knowing that I'll also have to walk back). Luckily there are still ways to vary my walks a little - and noticing details and watching the seasons change does make difference from one day to the next, not least in spring.
ReplyDeleteWhen I walk I am grateful that I have mobility and no pain. Precious gifts which we should not take for granted.
DeleteSince lockdown most of my walking has been done in my garden and in the immediate vicinity of home. In Scotland the recommendation was not to travel more than 5 miles to walk and the Castle Grounds is 7 each way. I would have been elastic enough to do that but I've been perfectly content for the last 72 days just doing as I have done. An afternoon in the garden according to Walkmeter is between 3 and 4 miles walking. I reckon a full day is about 5 with a lot of physical effort added in. My car usually averages 1200 miles a month and in the last 72 days has done less than 50. This tells me that I don't have your wanderlust and that contentment comes to me more easily. Anyway I can enjoying rambling vicariously via Blogland.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased that you have been safe, healthy and contented in your seaside home Graham. Thanks for accompanying me vicariously on a few of my walks.
DeleteI thought the lockdown had been somewhat relaxed as far as the distance you are allowed to travel? I must have misunderstood something I read. Have you ever thought about, when you are able of course, taking a week or so and traveling to a different area that you have never walked. Then each day you could head out in a totally new direction and greatly increase your Geograph miles.
ReplyDeleteWe are currently allowed to travel as far as we want to for exercise Bonnie but we cannot stay overnight. In the past, I have done what you suggest on several occasions.
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