The Narrative
Beating the building heat, I headed out early into a blustery 24°C breeze that made things feel a touch cooler. Along the way, I met a young man with a friendly, purebred chocolate-brown spaniel, a refreshing sight indeed. Nearby, cabbage whites drifted along the verges, while the factory rooftop gulls held their usual loud, raucous convention.
On the playing field, a flock of about twenty rooks and jackdaws held the ground, framed by a vibrant spread of pink field bindweed along the borders. Moving on to the cemetery road, the goji berry hedge was positively alive with darting sparrows and small brown butterflies.
The cemetery’s central path offered a grand turnout: wood pigeons, a magpie, sparrows, and a blackbird all feeding on the verges, surrounded by a flurry of cabbage whites and small brown commas. I paused to photograph a silver birch heavy with catkins and a rowan tree laden with ripening red berries, before cutting through the wildflower garden where small white butterflies zoomed amongst the plants. Finally, I reached the leisure centre, where a lone feral pigeon stood sentinel on the roof.
The Stats
Distance: 1.82 miles
Time: 39 minutes
Google Fit: 22 heart points
Copyright ©️ Text, photographs and videos Written by John Yeo – All rights reserved.
