Walk #30dayswild 6

I'm still taking part in the #30DaysWild project - celebrating the 'wildness' of our surroundings, whether up on the hills or wild and windy moors or along suburban streets or in my case today - on university campus grounds.

Youngest had been allocated a 'clear your room out and hand your keys back' slot by his university. We, the parents were not allowed to enter any buildings due to their CV19 restrictions, so we left Youngest to tidy and clear out the room and we set off for a walk.

The campus grounds has a circular route which is predominantly through mature woods - so despite the built up surrounds (the university) and the motorway  - we walked along well maintained paths beneath huge and stately trees.

We followed the path along a long man made pond - a natural drainage point, which had naturalised into a serpentine lake. At the far end were Mallard families, pootling round in the shallows for the ducklings or preening their feathers.

At the other end of the water, quietly pushing through the water lily leaves and 

Ranunculus flowers - a coot intent on finding something to eat.

And another quietly incubating the next generation on a floating raft nest.

The grounds, although still tidy were a little shaggy around edges,

and the birds were making the most of the abandoned playing fields.

Then, once we'd received the call from Youngest  saying he'd sorted out all he had to do,

 we returned to the car - filled to bursting point.

There is beauty in the most unexpected of places.

#30dayswild #staywild #walk1000miles 

Wild wet and windy

Storm Ciara made herself known yesterday - she howled and she raged and she danced around the house. Leaves and twigs joined in the mad jig and twirled and whirled around corners and into the air. Rivers swelled and burst and roared with full bodied force, leaving strand lines on fences high above their normal level.

We walked out - in a short spell of reasonable calm.  Where we had to lean into the wind while she flew around trying to rip off our hats.

We listened to the thunderous voices of the river crashing down the boulders.

We walked over the metal bridge which had only an hour or so before, been under water. Usually it is two metres above a benign muddy stream but on Sunday it was a riotous angry river.

Fields, usually reserved for football and village shows were deep enough under water for a Part-Otter-Part-Dog-Full-Idiot to swim and to splash. She was in her element. I, buffeted almost into submission, cowered against the sports pavilion as she and Himself threw caution (and sticks) to the wind and defiantly played on.

It struck me that the wind herself has no sound or visible action, however the trees hear her and give her voice, screaming or howling and dancing at her beck and call. Then, when Storm Ciara briefly paused for breath, the trees would rest, limbs lowering and twigs trembling ready for the next barrage.

Surprisingly few trees succumbed to the force however flooding was more in evidence.

On our return bluster,hats pulled down hard and walking at a novel angle, we came alongside a novel 'just in case' moment - a helping 'hand' keeping a small and rather flimsy roof from taking off in the wind.

Later, much later, we returned Youngest to Uni from his weekend of RnR with us (read that as Restocking and Resting and washing and being fed and sleeping and sleeping and sleeping).

 Something made me take my camera - glad I did, the lights at the Uni glowed through the final dregs of Storm Ciara. Almost defiantly.

Here is to a calmer Monday xxxxxx

PS ... there are now 'ninja hail showers'* completely obscuring the view and making rooves and roads crusty and white.

* I will forever think of short sharp showers as 'ninja' showers thanks to justjill of Land of the Big Sky

In which York was trod and airheads are dissed.

Saturday had been planned for a while - a day in York - not a jolly out though,  no, this was serious stuff. We were off to check out the University of York for Youngest.  I, recalling how far we trogged around University of Lancaster for Eldest, thought that it would be a good way to clock up some miles for my #walk1000miles challenge.

I managed to squeeze my much improved and getting thinner ankle into my boot, set up my 'strava' (my mileage logging app) and took my knitting (for in-car entertainment of course). We had to be there for 10am so it was an early start. Wow the weather was foul!  Storm Erik was playing out too and to show his presence he'd kindly tossed down a few trees and branches down along the way (so kind...)

Anyhoo - we arrived in good time despite Erik's truculence. Youngest - usually fairly ebullient was decidedly unsure and chattered nervously however once we'd signed in and started the programme of events he suddenly became very quiet. The talks given were interesting - albeit a little light on information but we had been promised more details in the afternoon as we were to be taken on a tour by existing students where we could chat to them and ask them questions.

What is not very clear are the words on the sign .. it says ..

DANGER - thin ice keep off (must be very thin, the geese were swimming)

I quietly took a look at my 'strava' and saw that the miles were quietly stacking up - I'd reached 3 miles just walking around the campus between the talks. By now it was lunch time, we'd found details about housing and finance among other necessary things and we were suddenly starving.  One cafe later (fresh sarnies and hot tea have magical properties I am sure) we made our way to the afternoon programme. This time we had to meet at the department were Youngest would be based, the students would go and meet the lecturers who'd taken them around and chat to them while we would meet the present students who would give us an insight to uni life.

oh boy.

We walked out. If we had to hear a silly little girl saying .... literally, like, oh yeah.... one...more...*!!*//!! time I was going to shake her...... I have never met more vacuous pair airheads as these two - I did originally write a slightly sharper account of them but felt I needed to retract ... **

What did they take us to see?

Accommodation? Nope
Library? Nope
Anything ? Nope - unless you mean three bars and a hall where they have regular 'soirees' .....

Before you think - but they are young etc - the Lancaster University talks were also given by students and we saw all the varieties of accommodation available, where the library was, the laundry, recycling, dustbins - whoa! What a difference......

Youngest will be happy here.

Any hoo - having turned around and walked away with a ...this is the best bar- literally ... ringing in our ears, we walked to York.

What a breath of fresh air - 'literally'.

We walked through fields away from the university and tumbled into some allotments - it was wonderful peeking into sleeping secret gardens, adorned with winter hardy leeks or kale and hosting the most characterful sheds and lean-tos. The allotments gave way to suburbia then to historic walls and finally we found the river. Full to bursting after Storm Erik induced rains.

York centre, despite it being off-peak season and a rather blustery and cold day was full of folk, so we did a quick yomp through the Shambles and one or two other famous places then returned to the riverine walk.

This too was full of folk but they were all walking with a purpose rather than congregating for shopping or meeting up with friends. Eventually it was time to turn back so we followed another route back to the university - this time through a military training grounds - with the most amusingly appropriate yet different road sign. It tickled me :)

We returned to the uni - back to the pre-arranged waiting place (a warm reception room in the departmental building) and sat and sat and sat. My tired ankle was giving a good impression of toothache and I was ready for home. But no sign of Youngest.

About 3/4 hour after we'd arrived, the airheads and their group of bored-silly parents wandered in and joined us. They looked fed up and cold. The airheads both gave us a sneaky sideways look as they walked past us - pah. I felt vindicated at going AWOL.

Youngest eventually appeared - in his usual languid loping gait - He seen the library.....walked past some accommodation ... visited a few lecture halls and he'd had a very successful afternoon and enjoyed it.

Oh oh oh and my mileage??? A whole 11.10 miles - wow!


Durham Uni in a fortnight... 

** I am saddened that, at this day and age of proactive equality, girls still feel the need to act and appear silly and helpless - I don't want to say 'man up' although until there is a better genderless way to say get a grip (oh - hey - I'll use that one :) ) those silly silly girls need to 'get a grip and man up'.