Hooray!
Today I went for the first decent walk since I caught The Cold.
It was a beautiful spring day; blue skies, warm sunshine and light breezes.
Aah the smell of green growing things and warming earth.
So Jean-Luc and I threw our boots into the boot and set off for a walk around Tockholes Wood. This is a lovely beech wood that surrounds the Roddlesworth reservoir lakes.
We saw:
Old stone walls covered in moss and plants
Trees covered in lichens
Streams flowing over rocks and through roots
Windswept trees standing starkly against the sky
Rooks drifting atmospherically against the hills and trees.
(These rooks were drifting much more atmospherically against the sky about 30 seconds earlier but by the camera had decided to zoom in on them they'd decided to land - hmmph).
The reservoirs - these pictures don't really capture the blue sky, warm sunshine (we were in T-shirts by the end of the walk) and general 'spring-ness' of the day - my bad photography I'm afraid.
Handsome crows
The overflow stairway from the reservoir - this huge flight of steps looked like it should be a funeral processional path in Minas Tirith. An amazing piece of engineering.
Thunderbird 1 - International Rescue were obviously on a mission.
In reality this the Jubilee Tower which sits on Darwen Hill and was completed in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
Charcoal burning, this is a very old woodland industry and has, along with other management practices such as coppicing, been instrumental in shaping the ancient woodlands of Britain; from the physical structure of woodlands to the diversity of woodland flora.
We had a wonderful time and returned tired, uplifted and with lungs full of fresh air. Just what the doctor ordered.
I am glad you are feeling better. I am so jealous of all your green, ours is still under 8 feet of snow. What beautiful country photos.
ReplyDeleteCarol
I was so envious of your snow - until the scary blizzards hit. Our countryside seems quite tame compared to yours; even the remotest places are barely a days walk from civilisation and most of it bares the mark of previous occupation or industry (even if it is Roman or Anglo Saxon). :-)
DeleteWhat a great walk! I've been there but not seen the overflow stairway ... you're right straight out of Middle Earth!
ReplyDeleteHi Annie, we've been there numerous times but this is the first time we'd seen the overflow stairway; it's at the furthest end of the second reservoir and I think United Utilities had been doing work on the access path so it's not been possible to get down there. It was a great find. :-)
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