I haven’t been on any big (for us!!) walks this week, I’m in the final week of a garmin challenge to do at least 20 minutes walking 4 times a week, I’ve kept up to it so far, but this week I’ve been using my every day walks to get my 20 minutes, rather than going out specifically.

Last night however, despite spending all day gardening, my step count was woefully low so I decided to do a short walk down the old railway line behind us. The railway closed along with thousands of other smaller stations and lines about 1965 with the Beeching cuts.

Our back garden gate opens straight onto the railway line, it’s perfect for dog walking, though Lucy, our bichon frise, isn’t so keen on anything further than the garden these days, she’s an old lady!

It was one of those lovely evenings where the sun shines dappled through the leaves, lighting up flowers beneath. This cow parsley (I’m happy to be corrected if it’s one of the similar flowers!) looked gorgeous…

The path is finally starting to dry up a bit, so it is passable in trainers rather than wellies, though it’s quite a narrow path past the boggy bit still. There’s been many a time when I’ve been walking the dogs in a pretty cotton summer dress…and wellies 🙂

Does anyone else give names to trees? or is it just me! There’s a few trees along here that are like marker trees, something to aim for when either the dogs or the kids didn’t want to go so far…we’ll go as far as the twin trees…well this one is the spider tree! It’s nothing to do with the eight legged variety, well only indirectly, it’s the nickname for one of the views we use in angios of the heart arteries to see the main stem clearly and the initial bifurcations. This tree reminds me of the way the arteries divide off in different directions.

Up and down the railway line from our garden is just over a mile, there’s sheep and rabbits to see and occasionally deer. Lots of bird song to listen to and try and spot their owner, one day I saw a sparrowhawk just sitting quietly on a fence post. There’s often another dog walker to have a chat to, I often only know them by their dogs name!

This little dark glade is the entrance back to our garden. It has confused many a dog walker when they have seen me walking up ahead and then I suddenly disappear from view.

And here’s our garden gate with the clematis arch going over it, the clematis is making a break for freedom up the ash tree at the moment.

Next week I will hopefully have a more exciting walk as I have rashly put my name down for a walk organised for the Otley Walking Festival next week. There were several I fancied but most were already booked up. The walk I’m going on is called Early Birds in the Wetlands, a dawn walk round the nature reserve, we have to meet at 5am, it may not seem such a good idea when my alarm clock goes off at 4am 🙂