In keeping with my goal to do one long walk each week I went to Middleton Lakes ~ an RSPB Reserve. To be honest anything further than walking round Sainsburys is a long walk.
However this was 6km or so (or 3.75 miles in old money!)
I'm not sure whether the distance is calculated on when you get to the start of the walk or includes the distance from the car park!
Anyway after I'd walked the Wetland Trail and met one couple taking photos and a man carrying a mountain bike, I met the aforementioned biker. Who was very nice, and very chatty. He wore camouflage trousers and jacket and a bright red top! He had a fabulous Nikon camera with the most amazing lens. However he said he had wanted to buy a larger one which cost £12,000 and instead had bought a Nikon Bridge Camera for £300 which had the same capacity - 800 mill (whatever that is).
His opening gambit had been 'It's very quiet here today.' So thinking about the 3 people I had seen, I said yes it was but this was the first time I had visited so had no idea how busy it might be. To which he replied 'Well most of the birds seem to be hiding and I haven't seen the longhorn cattle.' (Keep scrolling down for the rest of the conversation!)
Love the idea of this notice - wildlife only please - rather than the usual No entry - do NOT style of sign.
Not sure what these are since I was on the same path as the greater-spotted bird-spotting biker. Look like Longhorns to me!
The path round the meadow eventually came out alongside the canal. What a dfference a few years make. Below this photo is the same canal in January 2009.
Just see how muddy the path was. I asked the gsbs biker if the whole path was muddy and he said some of it was. I said I should have worn my walking boots rather than my walking shoes, but at least I wasn't in my ordinary shoes.
To which he responded: 'I saw a woman who was getting on a bit, she was about 60, and I just had to tell her that the sandals she was wearing weren't suitable for the walk.' I refrained from telling him that I'm 62. Anyway this bit of path was the beginning and end and much of the middle was less muddy!
Near the car park was a farm where there was this stand-off.
And here's the gsbs biker's bike in the car park.
Today is also 10 on the 10th day over at Shimelle's blog. I thought I would show you 10 of my photos from today's walk. Of course, you will have noticed there are 11 photos ~ but the one from 2009 doesn't count. If you want to see more 10 on the 10th click here.
