A walk from the door

I love walking.  The simple act of putting one foot in front of another always calms me, cheers me and makes me engage with the world outside me and stills the chatter of my internal world.  One of the great things about living here is that you can walk straight from the door into countryside that people would travel miles to find.  I used to walk in cities too, pounding the streets at dusk when you can look through newly lit windows into other people's lives.  I still like that but I love the fact that here I can walk out of the door and straight into the green world.

I have been here by myself for the last couple of days as Ian was working at our son's house in Manchester.  I am still catching up from our week away with the family, washing and ironing and gardening and shopping.  It was a glorious day here yesterday and as I trudged in from the car with bags to unpack I suddenly thought that rather than sit down with a cup of tea as a break I would walk up the hill,


No sooner thought than acted upon.  Out of the house, along the track through our neighbour's farmyard and out into the lane.  This is steeper than it looks!  There is always that moment when you need to push your legs into the next gear.


As you walk uphill the first bend in the lane reveals the first view, out across the stubble of newly cut fields and up towards the hillforts along the top of the Clwydian range.  Our little valley dips away and rises on the other side towards the rounded dome of Moel Arthur.


There are flowers along the edge of the lane, particularly after the tarmac stops and it becomes a stone track.  Knapweed is heavy with butterflies.  There were Red Admirals and Meadow Browns on the grasses but this Peacock was the only one I could catch.


Rosebay willow herb is just going over, revealing the elegant structure of the flower as the petals fall and before the fluffy seed heads blur its beauty.


There are thistles, the flowers crowding together at every stage from bud through flower to seedhead.


There is ragwort, not welcome in the fields because of the danger to horses, but rather beautiful just by the roadside, thronged with insects.



My favourite are the harebells.  There is no blue more intense and I love the delicacy of the flower.  As a child I loved Alison Uttley's Little Grey Rabbit books and the harebell always reminds me of them.  A bunch of them should be on Little Grey Rabbit's kitchen table.



There is beauty too in the shapes of the trees.  The higher you go the more they show the effects of the prevailing wind, the westerly that has come across the sea from Ireland and over the mountains of Snowdonia.


The track ends and if I had a lot more time I would go up here, on top of Penycloddiau, the largest hillfort in Wales.  Or I could go through the gate and look out across the Vale of Clwyd, across to Snowdonia and down to the sea.  Not today though.  Today I turn back at the gate and walk back home in the warm wind.

Comments

  1. Thanks for taking us along on this beautiful morning walk. I've decided to delay mine a bit and have a second cup of tea before heading out. In any case, my views this morning won't be as lovely as yours. :-)

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  2. What a lovely post - a breath of lovely Welsh air - thank you. It is so important to use every single hour of summer sunshine and store up the joy of it for the winter evenings.

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  3. What a lovely walk! Thank you for taking us and for doing all the hard leg work! xx

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  4. I also want to thank you for taking us along with you on your walk. A little look into your world.

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  5. Lucky you! What a wonderful, wonderful place to walk. Thanks for sharing! (interesting to learn that Fireweed is called Rosebay Willowherb across the big pond)

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  6. Lovely to have such beauty on your doorstep - you just step out into it - fabulous.

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  7. A lovely blog taking us on your walk, I love walking too, its good for the health and head :)

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  8. Such a beautiful walk I can see that it would do the job of a cup of tea on a day not so pretty.
    I am getting used to beach and village walking. Early morning Bayside strolls and quick trips on foot to the grocery, library or bakery. Like you, I enjoy pushing myself just enough to make every walk a tiny workout. I remember your big walk of a few years back and have often thought I'd love to work up to something similar.
    I like your name for Fireweed!

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  9. Wonderful! Thanks for taking us with you.

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  10. I so love going on walks with fellow bloggers. Lovely.

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  11. Beautiful. Harebells are one of my favourites too, as were the Little Grey Rabbit books.

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  12. So nice you took us with you on this lovely walk in beautiful Wales.

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  13. Lovely walking country, we walked up Moel Famau a couple of years ago and really must do it again. We are lucky here to, a walk out of the village and up the lanes give us stunning views towards Snowdonia one way ad the Berwyns the other. I am biased but I do love the Welsh countryside! Have a lovely Sunday, Jane x

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  14. Walking is always uplifting and especially important when alone for a few days as I sometimes find myself too, although with a dog, I never really feel alone and she is such good company on our walks - the best part of the day. Are you ever tempted?

    Your views and the wildlife are wonderful too - I especially love the harebells but haven't seen any in this part of the world. Enjoy the last days of summer Elizabeth!

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  15. what a treat to come on a walk with you !

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  16. A marvellous walk Elizabeth thankyou-I do love harebells and ragwort too. A real indicator of the seasons round here are they not. The latter is such a nuisance for horses but it is marvellous to find cinnabar moth caterpillars feeding on it - although I understand in some areas where the ragwort has been totally destroyed this pretty moth is getting quite rare
    Pat

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  17. What a lovely walk to have on your doorstep and so full of history too. I also love harebells but this year haven't seen any so far, like you I loved the Little Grey Rabbit books as a child and still have a couple for my granddaughters to read, I might just buy a couple more to add to the pile I think:)

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  18. Elizabeth, I am so glad that you took your camera along with you on this walk.

    Your countryside is so, so beautiful. To have this landscape so accessible must always bring joy, along with a very pleasant way to exercise those muscles.

    I love the photographs of the flowers, and congratulate you on catching the photograph of the peacock.

    xo

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  19. I am from the mining towns of south Wales and envy your your beautiful walks.

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  20. Next time I walk up Moel Arthur I shall be giving you a wave!

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  21. A rare thing, a truly beautiful walk from the door. So often a drive is necessary or you have to avert your gaze until you get to something approaching a scenic view.

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    Replies
    1. Great to see a wide view in a garden blog. And I do really like the headline photos.

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