Saturday 30 July 2016

A Walk in the Woods

The first week of the school holidays was a good one!  We wanted to get as much done as possible while the weather was fine and planned a rest day on Friday. Not that the kidlets needed one, but I certainly did!

Number one grandson asked if we could do something – a walk in the woods perhaps. Well why not, I said, a walk in the woods is a nice leisurely thing to do and I got together a picnic, smothered everyone in citronella and off we went.

The furthest I have ever been on a walk in the woods is over the railway bridge to the RSPB hides on the riverside. This time we carried on and found a nice spot for our picnic.

Picnic spot


Then we walked alongside the River Stour beside a huge field. Dusty and Poppy would have loved it, but they’d already had their walk and I think such a long walk might have been a bit much for Dusty just yet.

Glimpse of the Stour


Interesting roots


For the first time I saw the Grayson Perry house. I think it looks like a gingerbread house.

Grayson Perry House


I knew there was a tunnel under the railway line on the other side of the woods, but wasn't sure if we could get to it. If we couldn't we were in for a very long walk back and I was concerned as one pair of legs is only five years old - not that there was a single word of complaint. In fact he spent a lot of the time running just to prove he wasn't tired.

We skirted round the garden of a secluded house (what a dream it must be to live there – down a long narrow track far from busy roads - you can see it in the photo in front of the Grayson Perry house) and found the railway tunnel. 

Hooray!


Back up the hill and through the woods to the car park. Still quite a trek, but a much shorter distance than retracing our steps.


It was a lovely end to the week and definitely something to do again – but not sure it was quite the easy day I’d planned!


23 comments:

  1. Some walk that !
    and... I in my ignorance had to look up Grayson Perry and see his house - WOW!
    Goodness What a fantastic neighbour to have.

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    1. If you click on his name in the post it will tell you more about the house with links to more photos. Grayson Perry designed it and it is used as a holiday let - or at least it was :-) xx

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  2. What a fantastic day out, Teresa. Wonderful pictures. I bet you were thinking up all sorts of stories on your adventure :)
    Take care and enjoy the new week.

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    1. I was more thinking I hope I can make it home ;-) This week may have to be quieter as I have hurt my back, so I'm glad we got plenty done in the first week. Perhaps we'll have good weather for some sitting on the beach days :-) xx

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  3. What a wonderful blog and such gorgeous photographs. So sorry you have hurt your back but hopefully we are in for some good weather and lovely summer beach days. Fingers crossed. Carnival parade here this afternoon and the atmosphere is already hotting up. Gorgeous sunshine too. Downside is I can't believe it's a year since the last one. SCARY! xx

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    1. Hope it stays lovely for the carnival, Sue. It is the sea festival here today, but I'm going to miss it for the first time in years. I think Calamity Kate needs to stay home ;-) But it's heartening that the weather is so perfect for these events :-) xx

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  4. Sounds perfect, Teresa. I'm familiar with Grayson Perry, but not the house. Is it his?

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  5. The house is one of a few by Living Architecture (devoted to changing public perception of modern architecture) and rented out as holiday lets. If you click on Grayson Perry's name it will take you to their website and links to other properties around the country. It's proper name is A House For Essex, but everyone round here seems to call it the Grayson Perry house (or maybe that's just me!) :-) xx

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    1. Oh, I missed the link first time around. Thanks, I'll investigate further.

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  6. That was quite a walk, Teresa, but at least you had a seemingly shorter route to get back to the car park. :)

    Was that tunnel always a footpath, or did trains run under it at one time?

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    1. The trains go over the top, but I think farm vehicles use the tunnel and there are signs on it with a number to ring if you see a vehicle strike the tunnel! The house has it's own track which leads up to the road, so I can only think the tunnel was there just for access to the field. You've made me wonder now why it was there in the first place :-) xx

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    2. I looked it up and it is called Strandlands Bridge and the house on the other side is Strandlands, so perhaps it was the only access to the house at that time. There is also access to the river, so perhaps it was a means of transporting grain and crops xx

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  7. What an amazing walk, Teresa. I love the tunnel and I really enjoyed looking up the Grayson Perry house and finding out all about it. Tt's so thrilling inside! Thank you! xxx

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    1. It's certainly an interesting place isn't it :-) xx

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  8. That does sound like a long walk but an interesting one! At least you'll have tired the children out as well as yourself, Teresa.

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    1. I wish I could borrow some of their energy, Rosemary - I wouldn't want much, just a little bit :-) xx

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  9. Phew, you have some energy, and with all of the children who are growing up fast. Lovely that they suggest a walk and not adventure playgrounds that always end up giving you a headache. So far we've taken Sophie to a small animal park. She's started her first day at nursery school today. Aw, she seems a bit little really, but she needs to mix with other children as she does love their company:)) xx

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    1. Oh my goodness, Sophie off to nursery school already! Where does the time go? My eldest grandson is off to high school in September and it doesn't seem very long since I was meeting him from playgroup. I bet Sophie loves the company of the other children :-) xx

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  10. How lovely. You seem to live in a lovely part of the world, Teresa.

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    1. It is lovely, Frances, but I think you could say that of almost anywhere in this country. We are very lucky :-) xx

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  11. What a perfect day and so lovely that the children want to spend it with you and not their iPhones. Lovely post.

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