A cold start to the day (-5C) so it’s dress up warm to walk Rocco. The fields by High Elms looked lovely this morning, and quite surreal with the moon behind:
Rocco doesn’t mind the cold, and was soon destroying a stick:
And then into the sunshine:
A lovely walk once I’d warmed up!
A cold but clear misty morning at Petts Wood on Sunday:
It’s been a nice morning, and we had some free time, so we decided to have a gentle walk around Keston Ponds and the surrounding area. Within minutes of arriving, Rocco had a stick and was in the water:
He did enjoy a swim and splash in the (fairly clean) main pond:
Padmall Woods were looking really good – gone is the monoculture of Chestnut in favour of more mixed planting:
A lovely walk!
A cold morning, so two pairs of gloves and a woolly hat today!
So we’re off to Shoreham Woods.
3° below zero according to the car, so at least most of the muddy paths will be frozen. Unfortunately, my least favourite path down the hill was a combination of uneven surfaces and icy puddles – quite a struggle to stay upright!
It was nicer further on at Polhill Bank, and while I retied my shoelaces, Rocco enjoyed shredding the stick he’d carried for the last mile:
With no one else around, and the mist suppressing distant noises, it was eerily quiet:
Later, we had to get past some ponies to get to the stile. But these ones are no problem – they must be really used to dogs by now:
A cold and misty morning today, though with no wind. High Elms is starting to dry out a bit after the last storm, so Rocco returned much cleaner than before!
This is the path across one of the fields, and yes, it does go somewhere eventually!
Rocco and I regularly walk in Petts Wood & Hawkwood woods; he enjoys it because there are lots of sticks, and ponds & rivers to get wet in.
Last February, a very large tree fell into the pond in the middle of Pondwood:
The trunk was soon cut to keep the path clear, but the branches in the water have been there ever since.
When we visited today, the rest of the tree had been cleared away, and he could have a swim again.
The whole area by the pond has also been cleared. You can see the logs by the fence line:
It’s so nice to have woods that are looked after, even if it takes a while to get things done.
Part of the Walnuts has got more colourful…
I’m not sure how many people will notice the name of a popular computer operating system painted on the wall!
The stairs up to the leisure centre have also been painted:
Rocco doesn’t seem impressed:
We occasionally go walking in Shoreham Woods, but much of it is quite noisy due to the adjacent M25. However, with lockdown, there is very little traffic and the woods were nice and peaceful:
It’s also one of the best places to see bluebells at this time of year:
Rocco of course likes wearing himself out chasing sticks:
And paths that are horrible and slippery during the winter are nice and dry:
We went a slightly different way today, and looking back you can see the phone mast at the top of the hill badly disguised as a tree:
And in close up – whoever designed the fake tree has no idea what a deciduous tree looks like:
Next is Polhill Bank, where the ground slopes down from the North Downs to the Weald. Rocco does like carrying a pair of sticks as a large X:
The railway line comes out of the tunnel under Polhill here:
and it’s a lovely spot to sit and watch the world not go by:
By this time, Rocco is often thirsty, but he remembered a water trough just off the path. The water level was a bit low for him to reach, but he solved the problem in typical Labrador fashion:
Then more nice paths and bluebells on the way back to the car:
A lovely walk in warm sunshine. Worth driving a few miles on empty roads!
Rocco has cut his paw, so I was on my own for the morning walk. One bonus was that I could walk through the “Dog Free” part of Priory Gardens, which were lovely in the spring sunshine.
The pond was looking good as well, nice and clean!
We enjoyed the bluebells in Suffolk recently, and it’s nice to know that Kent also has some reasonable displays!
Willett Woods:
and Shoreham Woods:
