the fields and hedgerows are filled with song and colour!
Yep, i've dined amongst cowslips, smiled at the bobbing bluebells and seen my first Swallow of the year on this weeks perambulations. The weather hereabouts has been dominated by strong winds, the temperature has been up and down like a yo yo and covered the full gamut from clear and sunny to todays 0c and hail.
Its not often i get up and start writing straight off the bat, Thursday therefore took the more usual morning walk, lunch then write format but the words were hard to come by which was disappointing.
I was keen to get out on two wheels on Friday, the SW wind suggested a trip out to the coast, Weston SM getting the gig once more, hopefully some assistance would push me back to Brizzle. Apart from the wind it was a pleasant day, sunny at times but grey and threatening rain by the time i got back. Over 800m of climbing decorated the almost 118km ride, a regular holiday compared to my Welsh rides!
Saturday it was back to the keyboard - after a reasonable walk of course. I got the chapter finished and posted to Patreon, i seem to have turned a bit of a corner, the storyline has squeezed through the obstruction at least.
Which brings us to today, a Sunday without a new post. The forecast was for more wind and some damp later so the plan was always to do a shorter ride. Okay, i know short for me might seem huge for others but i consider anything under 75km to be short. Today it was down to Bath with the intension of taking in some lane / byway i'd not previously ridden to the east of the city.
Charmy Down is/was home to the RAF base of the same name from 1941 to 1946, used primarily for night fighters by both Commonwealth squadrons and latterly the USAAF. To be honest i didn't know it was there until i literally rode onto it this lunchtime, i do like a bit of WW2 archaeology and the bit i saw was pretty nice, various pill boxes, the gun aiming range, some runway and the perimeter road - its worthy of a longer visit on foot, the control tower and some other buildings still exist to the north of where i found myself. I stopped for my lunch looking at the gunnery range, sat amongst cowslips and listening to the skylarks doing their stuff despite the stiff wind across the exposed hill top.
Yep i know they're dandelions, the cowslips were on the bank i was sat on and yes, those trees really were blowing over that much, i said it was a strong wind up there! The building is the gunnery range.
Then it was time to head back, more 'gravel' riding to reach Bath and then that hailstorm, driven by 30mph winds, i was frozen and soaked through in seconds, deep joy. By the time i left the city it was just the wind to contend with, i stopped the clock at just shy of 60km and a decent 518m of up and of course soaked to the skin.
No new free stuff this week, but i expect a BC debut next weekend. I may not be able to post until next weekend, i'm off to GOC tomorrow to see my sibling and my kidlings for a few days, a late 8th birthday for one and an early 60th for another. These visits are precious and far too few for my liking but things are as they are, partly of my own unintended doing, so its a case of making the most of things. As things look, i'll be in Leeds on Tuesday and possibly doing some walking on the Eastern Edges on Wednesday/Thursday before returning on Friday.
So that's all for today, i'll be back next Sunday,
Wiedersehn,
Madeline Anafrid
