A fine afternoon walk

It was a beautiful afternoon and, determined to escape from the pressure at home* I decided to take my ipod and go off for a walk in the village.



Our village is littered with these small grassy paths, originally used for the ponies to take the woolpacks down to the valley and the canal below. Some have become roads, others have been resurfaced but many remain grassy like this one.



The fun begins when someone's satnav system suggests that this might be a good route to take. Sure, they often take the most direct route up and down the hillside, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to try to drive up or down many of them.

We always preface any directions to strangers visiting our area with the warning that, if there's a sign to say "Unsuitable for Motor Vehicles" then it probably is!

There is great fun to be had by aimlessly wandering up and down these paths, for they all look so similar and even if you get hopelessly lost, at some point you will emerge on a "proper" road and be able to navigate yourself back to where you intended to go. The path above is my favourite one, though.

Because it leads to my favourite place of all.

* Pressure at home stems from the fact that a book will soon be published with stories of "The Gloucestershire Flood 2007", all proceeds to the Gloucestershire Flood Relief Fund. Though we are so nearly there, one or two loose ends needed to be tied up, a few phone calls made and a little bit of firm persuasion applied. Watch this space for news of publication - mid November scheduled at the moment. The cover went to print today!