Winter Days Diary - ... it is (still) very cold

7th January 2009

And out again! Greyer than yesterday, apparently a degree or two above freezing but felt colder, yet the day had a good feel to it. I'd actually planned a different kind of day, although those former plans had included a walk. Instead, I phoned my parents and invited them out which they accepted.

First of all into town again to get Dad some new walking shoes while Mum phoned the local council to sort them out ... again.

After a bite of warm lunch and armed with a flask of coffee and gingersnap biscuits, we set off.

All the walks I'd tried to plan were all about 5 or 6 miles, a little too much for someone who's still convalescing after heart surgery so in the end I decided the Tall Trees Trail (aborted from yesterday) would be ideal, with a look-in at the Blackwater Arboretum.

We parked at Blackwater Car Park, where you are encouraged to make a donation (£2 is suggested). There was no wind under the trees and despite the sharp air it was a lovely walk through towering conifers with their branches drooping under the weight of their dark green "skirts". There is a bomb crater towards the end of the first part of the walk (assuming the start north from the car park). During WWII this part of the Forest was used as a munitions store. Presumably it was a small bomb or grenade that blew accidentally rather than the result of a bomb dropped from the air as it is not a terribly big crater. There are also great bushes of rhododendrons along the path.

Just after this, you cross the road for the return path. The trees are closer here and the Forest beyond the Trail to the right is more densly packed with fewer paths leading off. The Trail winds along a narrower way with a hedge of dark-leaved rhododendrons shielding the path from the road. It is quite a romantic walk, and I am looking forward to seeing it in the spring when the rhododendrons are in full flower.

About half way along this part of the Trail, a wide ride heads off on the right and is flanked on either side by two giant sequioas with huge red trunks and tops tapering into the sky high above anything else near them. They are not the tallest tree on the Trail, however. There is a redwood a little further on which is as tall as two Nelson Columns.

The path winds on to a pretty wooden bridge and bends around and out through wooden railings. Here, you can turn left back across the road to the car park, or turn right up to the Arboretum which is accessed from this side by a beautifully constructed wooden gateway. The Arboretum contains many different trees and is a sensory garden. That is, you are encouraged to touch and smell the trees as well as look at them. I have seen the Arboretum in all its summer glory, and although it seemed a little sad under the cold grey sky with leaves strewn on the ground, it is still my ideal for my own private garden with a little cottage attached that has dog-roses growing around the door, and numerous cats running about the place.

My Dad saw a sign by one tree with a hand-sign and the word "Bark" - so he did ... *sigh!* Can't take him anywhere.

As Dad was now starting to get tired, we left the Arboretum and returned to the car for coffee and biscuits. Mum and I went down to the little river, either Black Water or Fletchers Water, and took pictures of the ice-lined water with ferns and Forest beyond on both sides.

After which we headed for home and I made a mental note that for my next excursion I would come out to White Moor and go exploring over that intriguing bit of countryside the very next opportunity I get.