The Walk

Sunday morning. It felt like a day to relax. Despite the forecast for wet and windy weather, it seemed to be bright outside – a day for being outside, enjoying the outdoors, at least that’s how it felt to me. A long walk in the countryside, that’s what was called for, I thought. Not just the usual tour of the local park with the dog, but a walk with inspiring views. My husband didn’t quite understand my version of a relaxing day however he agreed to join us.

‘Where do you want to go?’ he asked. We worked out a rough idea and set off.

As we left the house, the sun began to beat down, surprisingly warm for mid March, seeming to promise a ... outing. Our route started on a quiet mid town road, leading to a cut through between two schools – plenty of ‘weemails’ for the dog as she happily pottered along, sniffing the hedgerow and picking the new spring grass, which was a favoured delicacy of hers.

The unexpected weather had brought people outside –we passed a father and son on cycles and an older group taking a leisurely stroll. Our route left the second school behind and we ventured into a housing estate, which we had planned as a short cut to reach the country lane we had in mind, at the same time avoiding a busy road (the perils of living in the middle of a town!)

However, we hadn’t quite planned our route through the estate in detail. We followed the (main) road into the estate, with its wide green verges and open greens around which the houses sat. It should have been an inviting scene, however the houses all around were almost overpowering. I very quickly felt pulled into the estate with no clear exit in view, quite different to houses on a street. My husband did however observe in contrast to me feelings that this estate, being that much older, was much more spacious than those housing estates that have appeared in the last decade or so.

Our intention was to veer to the right, and find the footpath that would join us to the main road. We knew the footpath existed but weren’t quite sure how to find it.

Needless to say, it wasn’t long before we were walking in circles, having lost our way somewhat. The estate had many routes which appeared to be the footpath we were looking for, however they just led to front doors. At this point I was starting to think I should have just stuck with the local park, not enjoying the tour of the estate we seemed to be doing, particularly encountering various cats sunning themselves which drove the dog mad with excitement.

Out came the phone and the map app, but to no avail. Google simply wasn’t detailed enough to help us on our way. We resorted in the end to accosting another dog walker and her friend, who seemed to be sure of their route, strolling along with a pushchair and Jack Russell. I hung back at a distance, having already had the dog excited by the cats we have seen, she was not inclined to focus on me but would prefer to greet the Russell in her usual bouncy style which can be somewhat alarming for the owner. Husband duly approached the pair who helpfully advised we only had to venture around the next corner to find the path we were looking for. We thanked them and sought our escape from the estate, me vowing never to try this ‘short cut’ again.

We ventured around the corner to see, as promised, the top of the steps to get us back on route. Despite our treacherous short cut, we still had a stretch ahead on the main road. The noise of the

cars was too loud to chat and the footpath much too narrow for comfort. Approaching the brow of the hill the cars accelerated to reach the brow, fortunately we spied our escape route.

Within a moment of entry to the country lane, we were out of sight of the traffic with the just bird song for company. At last we had found the relaxing walk we were looking for, looking out towards the Malvern Hills, spying a converted timber barn ...

A short stroll and we reached a public footpath sign, leading us across a field further away from civilisation. However, our next challenge was all too apparent. Being spring, the field was full of tiny lambs and their wary mothers – something we hadn’t stopped to consider when setting out sometime earlier. Now dogs and sheep do not tend to be the best of bedfellows, and our dog was no exception. Whether or not she would actually harm them, she would certainly unsettle them given half a chance. She was eager to see everything around and required a short leash so she did not cause too much alarm.

The walk across the field was not much fun – the last two days had seen enough rain to make a slippery surface, with the downward slope making the going even more tricky together with a dog who wanted to go any way but the direction we needed to go.

I say that, however, half way across the field and no further footpath markers, we were starting to wonder which direction was the right one. The sign had clearly shown the direction as straight through the middle, but no gate or style was in sight. As my stress levels rose, I escaped to the edge of the field away from the sheep, and my husband volunteered to scout around the fence to find the next sign and get us back on track.

The sun by this point is blazing down. Bearing in mind the forecast of bitter winds and falling temperatures, I hadn’t dressed for the warmth of the sun together with the struggle with the dog. It was time to delayer with the dog safely secured to a fence post.

After a short break to cool down, I see my husband waving in my direction – he has found our next escape route! I venture around the edge of the field, sinking ankle deep in the watery mud, thankful for my waterproof soaks (my boots gave up being waterproof some years ago – I really need to replace them).

He has found a stile in the bottom corner of the field. Clearly not a dog friendly route as no provision for the dog to get through. Our next challenge (number 3?) has arrived. The agility training we have been doing for almost a year now comes in handy as I guide her to tackle the two zig zag steps, over the fence and back down the other side – probably our easiest challenge to date (I hope I haven’t thought that too soon!).

We find ourselves in another boggy field, with, you’ve guessed it, more lambs and sheep! We still have no idea where we should be going to follow the footpath we started with so stick to the edge of the field, heading back up the hill we have minutes earlier slipped down. Low and behold we are back to the country lane having completed a circular walk around two fields full of sheep and gone precisely nowhere.

I mini conference takes place – I have no desire to retrace our steps yet, back to the noise and speed of the main road. My vote is to continue along the country lane and have the chance to relax, even if we are just putting of the inevitable for a while.

Peace rains again, the baaing and squelching mud had filled the air, and we get back to our pleasant country stroll in the sun. We pass a drive way and my husband recalls a recent escapade pushing his colleagues car out of the snow when she had taken a wrong turn several months ago. Something makes me look twice and I glimpse a post hidden in the overhanging tree branches. I double back and realise it is another footpath sign – if this is the path we should have taken in the first place, I wonder? It has to be worth a try.

We crunch along the gravel drive, past a brick built cottage nestling in the trees and on through a further gate, spying a pony in the field beyond. After our fun to date with the animals we have encountered, hopefully this will be third time lucky. The pony has no intention of moving off the path and his field mate, a curious youngster rugged up against the expected cold, joins him at the gate. Our dog is equally curious and there are a few moments of nose sniffing between them before we leave them behind at the gate.

The path winds its way through a small copse and into an open field. The rest our walk is clearly sign posted, across rolling hills interspersed with cross country jumps for the avid jockey. The views are glorious – blue sky, green sloping fields, hedgerows full of birds and the sun shining. The trials and tribulations had been worth it.