The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

Neither The Weather, Nor The Season

I suspected that the lack of joy that I took in yesterday’s surroundings was largely due to the weather and the season. Today I proved that not to be the case.

On paper, I thought that yesterday’s walk in the area circled below…

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The red triangle marks Bardon Hill, which was my objective

…looked more promising than today’s walk in a little chink in the urban sprawl that surrounds Birmingham:

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Today’s red triangle was Walton Hill

Paper can be deceiving. Yesterday’s walk was mainly thoroughly dull surroundings, walking along muddy alley-esque paths behind houses, across open land that had a wasteland look about it, through old woodland that boasted no prettiness, and past quarry extension works. There were a few short good bits, but they were the exception.

Today I only knew that I was so very near to major urban areas because the map told me so. If someone had just plonked me there blind-folded and sent me on the walk I walked, I would never have guessed my true location. The weather was similar to yesterday’s and obviously the season is still the same (mud, mud, glorious mud…), but there were fine (even if severely curtailed) views, the woodland was (without exception) attractive, the autumn colours stood out (thanks to the lumps and bumps in the landscape) and it was all quite lovely. I’d very much like to go back on a sunny day.

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