Walking East Stoke's lanes: October 2024

This month not only is this post almost on the schedule I set myself it covers three separate walks - all of which took us in different directions, unlike last month’s post which only had a single walk. Some months are like that, and that’s ok. It’s also true that two of this month’s walks involved lunch out, once at the pub in the next village and another at the farm shop in the other direction - and that’s more than ok by me too.

Let’s start with a walk towards Elston, stopping briefly to admire the tyre track patterns in one of the muddy fields along Moor Lane.

MOOR LANE

It was only the first week of the month but already the rosehips and sloes were very much in evidence - reminding me that last year I foraged some rosehips to bring inside, and which ending up lasting until Christmas and became part of my Christmas decorations. It’s a bit early for that, but Christmas preparations seem to get earlier and earlier each year - that’s definitely something you don’t want to ask MOH about - or maybe you do, who knows.

ALONG THE PATH TO ELSTON

The leaves were already turning quite red in places and it was a joy to see - I think autumn and its leaves are one of my most favourite things, and these really did make me smile. The leaves in both of these pictures were glistening from recent rainfall, though thankfully the path itself was easily walkable and free from mud much to my delight.

Lunch at the pub was good too - steak and ale pies, and a much slower walk home. A few days later we were out again, this time heading down School Lane, along Church Lane and towards the River Trent, still dodging the puddles.

CHURCH LANE

TO THE JETTY…

There were of course stops to admire the views and the plants growing in the hedgerows. And this time knowing that there is a jetty - we first saw this in June - we purposely looked for it, though there was a small gap there was very little jetty on show!

We stopped by the church yard on the way back to pick up some conkers - my forage activity for the autumn - and as the sun had come out also took a look inside. This statue on top of Baron Pauncefote’s grave is particularly impressive; as was he - he was the first ambassador to the US, who was buried here after dying in Washington in 1902.

Our third and final jaunt out involved more lunch and was one of those ‘break in the showers, let’s get out’ type of opportunities. There was a chance they’d start again at any point, but thankfully mostly held off. This time we headed down Moor Lane and then turned off towards Thorpe, retracing our steps later that afternoon.

Thorpe is a pretty village and even in October there were flowers in the gardens - and in the case of the hollyhocks escaping the gardens, that we passed.

Heading out the other side of the village these twin trees caught my eye initially but then I saw the gates, which immediately reminded me of the gates we’d seen while walking in Portugal.

On our return journey - and still managing to stay just about dry - we spotted some workmen at the top of one of the pylons. Definitely rather them than me!

And then we spotted clusters of mushrooms, and wished we knew anything about mushrooms - though I’m not sure I’d ever be brave enough to try any, even if I was pretty sure what they were - would you?

Thanks for joining me this month, if you enjoyed this post you may also like to see all of the posts in this series or some previous series where I revisit the same place - there’s my year in Greenwich Park and remember that time when I followed a tree?

Walking East Stoke's lanes: September 2024

With a few days away in Glasgow during the month, there was less opportunity to get out and explore the lanes local to us, especially as I seemed to have also picked up some bugs this month - but I do have some pictures from a very blue skied walk along Moor Lane - though it was cut short as I was still struggling for breath. The cold that came after Glasgow - and which MOH avoided - lasted way longer than it was welcome!

But with blue skies such as these, it was hard to resist a walk along the lanes starting right from our front door.

The walk up and over the A46 always amuses me - the view promises so much (and it delivers once you’re on the other side) but it’s a bit of disappointment to see the traffic whizzing past with no real idea of what they’re missing. Even the verges on this section of lane are full of changing flora.

The seedheads that are almost ready to explode and fling their seed far and wide, not caring perhaps that a lot of those will be onto the tarmac road, and therefore lost - unless of course they make it as far as the nearest pothole (and let’s face it that’s never as far as we think is it?!)

The rosehips reminded me of those we foraged last winter which stood in the tall glass vase in our kitchen bringing their jewel colours to our impromptu Christmas decorations - and reminded me not to leave it quite so late this year, as it looks as if I can have an extra month or two of them in the house.

The weeds in the picture below also made me smile as I crouched down to snap them - at this angle they remind me of tall, proud sunflowers - but of course they’re not!

It really was a good day for skies and taking my recovering cold-full self out, but sadly we didn’t make it anywhere near as far as we normally would. No picture from the bridge for this month’s post, I only got as far as the bend in the lane before calling it quits - thankfully though the cold was much less short lived after this trip, finally.

Thanks for joining me this month, if you enjoyed this post you may also like some previous series where I revisit the same place - there’s my year in Greenwich Park and remember that time when I followed a tree?

Walking East Stoke's Lanes: August 2024

It’s still later than I hoped, but much less late than last month’s post - the photos in this post are from a couple of walks, one to the pub in Elston on our way to steak night, and the second later in the month further along our usual walking route of Moor Lane.

I don’t remember seeing teasels in flower before, though I’m sure I must have, but seeing these only just in flower made me think how such a delicately coloured flower can conceal such a prickly inner!

MOOR LANE

Along the bridleway/path to Elston there were clear signs that summer was soon be done - the sloes, or are they damsons, the blackberries - we never did get back to pick any this year, and most of all the rosehips with their jewel-like berries being restrained by the fencing.

It’s lovely to watch the changing of the seasons, but it seems a little early this year - and I’m still in denial today!

As we left the path and walked along the lane to Elston I was pleased to see what is I think one of my favourite views in our new area - and I was even more pleased when I saw how I’d symmetrically captured this shot.

HEADING TOWARDS ELSTON

A few days later we headed back along Moor Lane again, this time it was the seed heads of these cow parsley which caught my attention, getting ready to disperse their seeds far and wide I’m sure.

The newly laid hedgerows had been growing well all summer, and it’s easy to see how well in the photo below.

It wasn’t long before we reached our turning point of the bridge, and after a few moments to see how the view had changed this month - a freshly ploughed field and a mown edge - we turned and headed back towards East Stoke.

It really is a glorious place to live, and to observe how the seasons and farming and the local landscape change throughout the year.

Thanks for joining me this month, hopefully I’ll be back to sharing the next instalment around the third week of the month, but in the meantime if you enjoyed this post you may also like some previous series where I revisit the same place - there’s my year in Greenwich Park and remember that time when I followed a tree?