Category: Uncategorized
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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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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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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 