Tag: horse

Close to Land’s End

In the distance of the first picture you can see some white buildings. That’s as close as we got to Land’s End, the most westerly point in the country. Somewhere along the way we passed a Bronze Age barrow cemetery but it wasn’t tremendously apparent where it began and ended. If you click to enlarge the picture of the beach (click the post title first if you’re seeing this in an email), you can see a couple of people down there to provide some sense of scale and distance. As we walked back from almost-Land’s End to Nanjizal we came upon the same herd of horses who again tried nibbling at my clothes (while one napped).

Nanjizal

On Thursday 25 May, the penultimate of our walking group tour, we started out from Nanjizal. The horse below (click to see it larger) came right up and started chewing on my shirt, then my jeans and then started nuzzling my backpack. It either was smelling my lunch in there or was merely hoping for some food, I think. The long straight line in the map is us driving from Nanjizal up to Botallack. More about that anon. If viewing in email, click the post title to click into the images and see them larger.

Walkhampton Common, 3

On the same 10-mile hike shown in the last 2 posts we also came upon horses in the trail. I thought one of the colts was about to come right up to me but at the last moment it shied away. If viewing in email, click the post title to click into the images and see them larger.

Merrivale Stone Circle

After leaving the prison museum we went up to have a look at the neolithic Merrivale Stone Circles and Rows. While the pictures are not particularly impressive, the sight of these ancient mysterious constructions fills one with awe. If viewing in email, click the post title to click into the images and see them larger.

Driving South

Next we took a combination of A3x roads towards our destination of Lyme Regis and I managed a few snaps out the window as we went (I wasn’t the one driving). As we grew closer to Lyme Regis we passed through thick fog, or maybe a cloud.

Public Footpath

South Downs Way, Farnham

A recent article in the NY Times discussed the millions of acres of public land in the US that are inaccessible to the public because they’re entirely surrounded by private property, which is sacrosanct. In the UK, by contrast, there is custom going back centuries, that protects the people’s access to the commons. Everywhere you go you find public footpaths that cross private land, allowing one walking and rambling access to extensive swathes of the countryside. Of course, this is not wholly uncontested even here but the notion of public goods is much more widely recognized.

Screebe Falls

Our first stop after leaving Galway town was a roadside stop to capture the Screebe Falls, but there were some other things of interest there as well. Click any image to see them all enlarged (in your browser).

Keswick to Walla Crag

The next morning, after another hearty breakfast, a taxi took our bags onward to our hotel in Keswick and deposited us in the town center. From there we hiked up to Wall Crag, at an elevation of over 375 meters, for even more stunning views including of the Derwent Water.

Click any individual image to see each one enlarged to full size.