August Dog Days
Grasses waving beneath an oak tree, yesterday morning at Ickworth. I set out by going through the gate in the back fence, which takes one onto Pony Club land. Normally you pass through the gate to the left, and end up by the entrance gate of Ickworth Park - except they're grazing sheep on it at the moment, and its surrounded by electrified fencing so I couldn't get through. So I went through the right gate, and came out onto the road I had meant to follow left-to-right, which I followed right-to-left. It's a part of the park I haven't made it to before.
It was quite hot - no really, it was. I was glad to get to the shelter of the woods on the second half of my 6-8 mile ramble.
The creek runs between the fields of barley and wheat, edged with gnarly old trees that made me think of Old Man Willow in Lord of the Rings. Except these seemed benign - or at least indifferent to the humans.
Apart from the creek and gnarly trees, this part of the walk is mainly open fields edged with hills. The harvest is in, which may be just as well: my passion for wheat fields would possibly have overwhelmed me if I'd seen these large open fields in grain, with the sky so huge above, and the culvert containing the creek... There might even have been poetry under those circumstances, so thank your lucky stars and we'll say no more about it.
A little while later, there was another gnarly old tree. Just a bit further around from this tree, I joined the paths I have taken before. I have been avoiding the "short" bit, while frequently walking the "long" bit - I assumed it was the other way around.
Back on familiar territory, partway through the woods, past the Banquetting House, the Vineyard, and the Canal, is the Fairy Lake. This is a fallen log in one end of it.
And this is a closeup of the interesting fungus on the fallen log. The naturalists among you can probably tell me what it is.
I was a little tired after I got home. The full circuit of Ickworth Park is 8 miles (although Mr Host says that's a slight exaggeration). I did not do the full sweep, as there are some windy bits where you can take the unmarked shortcut between the two shortest points. I did that yesterday because of the heat.
Today I have done sedentary work - bit stiff, and chasing a work deadline - but I think I might go for another walk tomorrow. Maybe I can do the whole thing, going the long way.