Author: bradcliffe2
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07/10/23 – October Egrets
I follow the tow path down, past the boats and the houses, to where the canal widens, stone sides dropping away into open banks and keep walking, greenery either side of me. I catch a glimpse of something white in the shrubbery, turn and see a little egret perched on a branch. There is a…
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22/09/23 – A big cygnet and a windy canal
Went for a windy walk before work. The canal has changed since I was last here, when it was still early summer and the brambles were full of fat ripe blackberries. Now the few berries left are mostly shriveled, but there are still a few pink flowers of Himalayan balsam tangled on the banks. I…
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04/08/23 – Cornwall – dried thrift, home scars and a tide pool
We started at the top of the cliffs, looking out over the pale bay with its jagged spikes of rock. There were people tiny on the sand but we stayed on the cliff path, following the edge of a field. The path was like a long drag of claw marks and the verges were full…
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24/07/23 – Late sun, long grass and an alarmed wren
It was the end of the day, the end of the weekend and I was exhausted by life admin when I dragged myself out for a walk. I walked past the patch of heathland where cars always linger, past the tangled bracken and high nettles. I slipped through a break in the woods, off the…
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16/07/23 – Strong winds beside the sea
Yesterday it was so windy it was an effort to walk into the face of it, but we pushed on. We were on the edge of the ocean, a raised path between the fields and the heaving blue sea. The long grass, the green leaved crops, the yellowed fields all whipped in the wind, constantly…
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03/07/23 – Old Roman walls and neck high nettles
At the weekend we went to the old Roman town of Silchester. From the car park, the path followed the edge of a field, where circular bales of hay stood proud on the fresh shorn grass, now yellow from the sun. Through a couple of gates we turned right, following the bridleway where it dipped…
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11/06/23 – Swirling river weed and bursting thistles
Went for a walk by the river at the end of my friend’s street. The evening was warm still and we saw a swan family pulled out by the weir, the parents with their strong snaking necks, the big fluffy babies huddling against the wall. The parents raised their heads and stared at us until…
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04/06/23 – Waves over the wall at the tidal pool
On Sunday I was so tired I didn’t think I had the energy for anything, but I still dragged myself to the sea. The wind was high and the waves were rushing in, bands of white flushing forward to the shore. I walked out along the concrete wall of the tidal pool, which was thick…
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27/05 – Low tide sand shapes
I waited till the evening, when the sands were quieter. I walked away from the main bay, from the beach swings and trampolines, the bodies stretched over the sand. I walk away, across the sand. The sand was high, reminding me that the beach is an ever shifting place, an edge but also a moving…
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07/05/23 – Suburban streets after rain
Went for a slow walk around the block after the rain. Everything was damp, awake, and I noticed the petals on the cherry blossom had fallen, leaving behind pink clustered stalks, like the fraying edge of cut silk. The low clouds above were reflected in shallow puddles and we came to a patch of bluebells,…
Bonnie Radcliffe 