Photos and Report from Monday Morning Meander on 30th June
Eight intrepid walkers left the car park at Kirkby Overblow on the latest Monday Morning Meander - they were a few minutes late because the youngest member of the party had to be dug out of bed! It was cool and cloudy but ideal for walking, and spirits were high as they set off. To begin with the route was straightforward, the views magnificent, and the wildlife varied and beautiful. Cries of delight accompanied the sighting of each new bird or flower and the walkers were even treated to the sight of a fawn bounding across the path.
Blind faith in the map was not rewarded however, and before long the expedition leader was wearing a puzzled frown. Did the path go down this side of the fence or the other, and were our lives in danger from the cow valiantly protecting her calf? After several false turns, a hazardous trek across a building site and two knife edge scrambles under an electric fence, we emerged into idyllic woodland and the grounds of a monastery. After a five minute break for water and a sit down we resumed our trudge, while a few people made wistful remarks about lunch, and others commented that it might have been meant to be an eight mile walk but surely we had done ten already!
Worse was to come! The lamentable decline in the nation's walking habits and the abundant growth of early summer (nettles, brambles, weeds, etc) meant that the remaining paths were almost completely overgrown. What had started as a typical country ramble now became a desperate struggle with almost tropical undergrowth, much of it head high - at least for the shorter members of the party! The aforementioned lie-a-bed now became the expedition's hero as he forged a path through the nettles and laid low the brambles for others to pass. As for our noble leader, she wrapped her map around her legs in a vain attempt to protect herself from stinging weeds.
Despite all obstacles, but rather later than intended, we arrived back in Kirby Overblow for a well deserved lunch. And despite all reports to the contrary, you can see from the photos that everyone had a really great time!
(Click on images to enlarge)
Blind faith in the map was not rewarded however, and before long the expedition leader was wearing a puzzled frown. Did the path go down this side of the fence or the other, and were our lives in danger from the cow valiantly protecting her calf? After several false turns, a hazardous trek across a building site and two knife edge scrambles under an electric fence, we emerged into idyllic woodland and the grounds of a monastery. After a five minute break for water and a sit down we resumed our trudge, while a few people made wistful remarks about lunch, and others commented that it might have been meant to be an eight mile walk but surely we had done ten already!
Worse was to come! The lamentable decline in the nation's walking habits and the abundant growth of early summer (nettles, brambles, weeds, etc) meant that the remaining paths were almost completely overgrown. What had started as a typical country ramble now became a desperate struggle with almost tropical undergrowth, much of it head high - at least for the shorter members of the party! The aforementioned lie-a-bed now became the expedition's hero as he forged a path through the nettles and laid low the brambles for others to pass. As for our noble leader, she wrapped her map around her legs in a vain attempt to protect herself from stinging weeds.
Despite all obstacles, but rather later than intended, we arrived back in Kirby Overblow for a well deserved lunch. And despite all reports to the contrary, you can see from the photos that everyone had a really great time!
(Click on images to enlarge)
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