An early spring road trip to Wales and Wiltshire

Gull on a road trip

One of the surest signs of spring is Jinny and Millie coming back to their narrowboat on the Kennet and Avon canal, after three months spent wintering in West Wales. And look, there's blackthorn blossom, which must mean it's time to go and pick them up from Pont Abraham services in Carmarthenshire, a sort of halfway house between Newquay, in Cardiganshire, where the family home is, and their mooring near Trowbridge in Wiltshire. 

First, though, a quick walk for Cwtch around the playing fields near the street where I spent the first two and a half years of my life, and where I like to park when we go there. And look how the people living directly opposite my first home have painted their house!

I can honestly say, my parents would have had a fit if they'd drawn the front bedroom curtains every morning and been confronted with this. 😎

Then, two quick stops to drop Cwtch back home and get petrol, and I was off over the Severn and on into South Wales, on a beautiful morning, hazy morning. The only thing lacking was red kites - I didn't spot a single one - but since I saw eleven on my recent trip to St Albans, it felt a bit greedy to complain.

Jinny and Millie were already waiting for me at Pont Abraham when I arrived, and after their belongings were transferred into my car, we headed back along the M4 to England. It always feels such a shame to me when visits to Wales have to be flying ones, but there was a lot of driving to get done, and that was the focus. 

Back at Jinny's mooring, there was a cluster of purple crocuses waiting to greet her and Millie by the steps to their boat. And then the carrying and barrowing of all their stuff from where the car was parked to the boat; a salutary reminder to me of what hard work life is on a boat. (I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hack it, and I salute those who manage to.)

And then the promise to get Cwtch and Millie together for a walk soon, and an easy drive up to the M4 and back home. A good day's work.

Winter Walks in Bristol

Spring is hammering at the door now, so I'd better record my winter walks around the edges of Bristol before it's all cowslips and daffodils and way too late.

Before Christmas, we had another walk out beyond Lyde Green Common, which was memorable for its beauty and ugliness. We walked as far as a couple of lakes at a fishery, where we spotted a heron, pretending to be a branch, high in a tree.

We enountered a roe deer too, a dead one with injuries to its throat and hind-quarters, which was upsetting. Not long afterwards, we met a man with a terrier on a lead who asked if Cwtch - who was off-lead - was all right around deer, as there were quite a few about. I said she was curious but not murderous, and he said his dog would have one if he could ... and I did wonder if he'd said that because he already had. I did take a photo of the deer in case it was of interest to any wildlife organisations, but won't post it here as it's pretty horrible.

We also had a walk on the Downs, which manage to be on the western edge of Bristol but also near the centre of the city. It was bitterly cold that day, but a Palestinian flag painted on some sort of container in Leigh Woods, on the other side of the River Avon, cheered us somewhat. 

We've been on several walks through our old favourite, Badock's Wood, from when it was still looking quite autumnal. 

Being situated in and along the top of the River Trym's miniature gorge, it didn't suffer as badly as the woods on Purdown during Storm Darragh, though a few young trees were downed.

The badgers have also been making changes, namely enlarging their setts by incorporating some of the footpath, which isn't their best idea. 

And of course, we managed to do some more water-walking in the River Trym, Cwtch and I. She's a lot less nervous then she used to be, though she'll still only go in if I'm there with her. 

Another early frosty morning found us in Stoke Gifford, having dropped the car off at the garage for an MOT. 

St Michael's

We've had one more visit to Eastville since the previous frosty misty one earlier this month that merited an blogpost all of its own ...

... and many turns around the woods and parkland on Purdown. I've already posted some photos of the sunrises that occured in the first week of the new year; there were more to come through the remainder of January. 

One morning we had the great fortune of watching the sun rise while a kestrel hunted in the foreground.

While on Purdown, we had a wander around the WWII battery, where some of the graffiti is goat-themed, there being goats penned nearby to graze the scrub. 

Other fauna encountered include about eight buzzards circling together, a very noisy ring-necked parakeet ... 

... and black-headed gulls becoming ... well, black-headed gulls again.

We've also been for wanders through the woods.

my favourite oak on Purdown

There's been lots of felling of trees in the woods recently, mostly close to the paths. I wonder if Storm Darragh, in which about a dozen large trees were toppled, prompted a Health and Safety review.

mediaeval pillow mounds

I always think of fungi as something you see predominantly in summer and autumn, but there's been plenty about through winter too. I don't know enough about fungi to name them with any accuracy, though I'm pretty sure they included a couple I hadn't spotted before, namely rosy bonnets and stagshorn.

And yes, there have been signs of spring, as our winter walks grow warmer and occasionally sunny, with more of interest to look at, so I'll end with them: 

snowdrops ...

Greek anemones ...

and whitethorn leaves in Meade Park, Stoke Gifford

Blackthorn in Millennium Park

Plum blossom ...

wild garlic ...

and bluebells on Purdown.

Robins