PENWORTHAM

 SURPRISE ! SURPRISE !  3 Miles

Taken by surprise were :- Jim, Mike, John, Anthony, Danny.

Here we are parked up at Kingsfold leisure centre seemingly in no hurry to set off.

Barely twenty yards from our cars was a stile leading through a thickly growing hedge and into our first surprise.

Once through the hedge we were straight out of the urban and into a rural setting. And what a setting , a large area of sparkling white grassland created by the previous night hard frost. Beautiful !

The icy whiteness continued as we left the fields and took to the farm tracks.

What's this ! looks like the bottom end of a pair of shorts for an elephant.

No....... it's a large stump of a tree with a perpendicular cut to keep it from sticking out into the road.

Our next "SURPRISE" came as we  came to a "normal " farmyard (Holme Farm) only to find a large farm shop cum entertainment venue . the surprise continued as we were invited to step into the shop and have a free coffee

And here's the gentleman making our coffees.

.......and Anthony bringing his coffee out of the shop.

....to join the others of the group with THEIR free coffees.

The shop sold a huge range of goods including including many flavours of milk.

Off again through the fields ...... (will the reader please take note of the stile)

Whilst the grass was losing it's white, frosty sparkle there was still ice in the ruts.

It was still seriously cold as the steamy breath coming from Danny and Anthony bears testimony.

Well yes it's a bridge but as you have to climb over each end your writer feels it qualifies as two stiles.

The footpaths were not always straightforward or easy and as the sun melted the surface frost the fields became rather soggy.

Thinly scattered along the country lanes,  old and dignified dwellings mingled with high end new builds. Both in their own ways attractive.  Their much sought after and expensive isolated privacy is soon to disappear as the area is earmaked for extensive development............  GOOD  or BAD ? All opinions exist.

The area was definitely "Horsey" .  With barbed wire absent and wooden or  electric fences predominating.

Is that a bridge over a railway ?  Yes !  We've gone too far then. "Back we go." says our leader.

We soon found the narrow footpath we should have taken earlier and no. That's not barbed wire but a very serious bit of electric fencing. 

As we turned into this footpath there was a couple of young persons innocently chatting as we passed............................... there was also a strong smell of some exotic "Weed". 😕😝

In no time at all we were back at the cars where john invited his companions to bid faewell to his car as he would be changing it the next day.

We now drove to the local Booths Supermarket for a light lunch. Your writer did not take any photos of this activity as he considered our reader had seen enough of old fellas stuffing their faces........... He's lying again........ he just forgot !!!

SEE YOU ALL NEXT WEEK

J.W.

Did I mention STILES ?

Well proceed with caution each stile is unique. Some are simple, easy and helpful . Others seem to have evil intent. and  they get BIGGER  and  BIGGER as the years roll by. (or is that just my imagination)

Some are a delight with well spaced steps ,often with chicken wire stapled to their surfaces for grip. Others are slippery or rotten presenting a real challenge to those of us whose limbs and joints are no longer supple. On our walk today the additional hazard of ice made them quite EXCITING !!!

At the beginning of our walk our leader ( He for whom "The pipes, the pipes are calling") said there maybe a couple of stiles........ Yeah Well !

Good walk though.  Well done.