Last month’s post ended with a greyest of grey days shot looking from the bridge on Moor Lane, what I didn’t know then was that February would continue to be grey, and then some. Though at least it’s a short month, and well there wasn’t much more to say about the month until the very end when the sun did start to show itself.

So once again there was only one venture out - we have a couple of set routes, and it all depends on whether we go left or right at the crossroads, which can often be a last minute decision, though it can also be based on footwear!

We set off early afternoon, when we were hoping that the temperatures would be at their highest - and after a round of watching Six Nations matches on the TV and ahead of watching Liverpool in the FA Cup, it was good to get out and stretch our legs. We opted for a road-based walked, heading once again down Moor Lane. Our choice was rewarded by the flowering gorse as we followed the road as it rose up over the A46.

As we walked down the other side of the A46 I paused as the area alongside the bridle path (and the path to Elston) looked different, with several of the bare, twiggy shrubs down. MOH hadn’t noticed, but I think that’s one of the things that these posts do is make me more aware of my surroundings, which I’m grateful for. Looking again it was clear that some large machinery had been amongst the still-standing shrubs.

It wasn’t until we were a little further along that it became apparent why, some work had clearly taken place to clear the ditches which run alongside the fields, as they were also looking much clearer, with much less debris - and no doubt this is part of the management of the area to catch water draining off the fields and generally manage its flow safely. And to my non-qualified eye, it looks a job well done.

But it really was grey, even the buzzing electricity pylon agreed.

But at least my photo from the bridge was slightly less grey than MOH’s photo which I ended on last month - though you can still see it’s pretty grey, and murky!

Thanks for joining me for this update, if you enjoyed this post you may also like to see all of the posts in this series. It’s less than a week into the month and I’ve already got one walk under my belt, and have booked onto a guided talk and walk for next week, so I already know there’s going to be content for next month, so I hope to see you then!

I said the next post in this series would be here before you know it, and here it is - but first it’s a year now since I started these posts and it’s been an interesting way to learn about the countryside on our doorstep, and I’m sure that this year there’ll be similarities but also differences and it will be a fun way of noticing and sharing those.

Anyway, in January I only made it out on one walk - and I didn’t want to go on that! To be fair it was the day after New Year’s Day, and my cough and cold was just starting to show itself. Of course once I got out it was fine, if not a little chilly - and as our more usual New Year’s Day walk had been rained off, it seemed only right.

We headed down School Lane, into Church Lane and down to the Trent - a walk we’ve done many times, and I’m sure the photos are familiar to you too. We started our walk mid-morning, and to give you an idea of how cold it was this was my car windscreen less than half an hour before we set off.

As we walked down towards the church there were plenty of iced up muddy puddles which also formed some interesting designs.

But with a view like this in front of you it was almost possible to forget how chilly it was, turning and looking behind me though I got a great view of the church surrounded by the trees branches, but don’t be fooled by that sky it was still cold.

The track to the river was strewn with puddles and walking around them must surely have added some steps to our total count - thankfully though I’d opted for walking boots, and of course left a small trail of dried mud in the house before I left, but never mind.

Reaching the Trent it was clear to see the river levels were higher than normal. The vegetation was much lower though given the time of year, and we spotted the path to the jetty we’d spotted earlier in the summer - only the four post tops were visible, which gives an indication of how much additional water the river was dealing with. It’ll be interesting to see how the jetty and its post fare in future updates, vegetation permitting.

A few days, and more rain later, MOH ventured out for another walk this time heading down Moor Lane where he usually cycles, but given the ice he’d opted to go on foot. By this time I was full of cold and had no interest in leaving the house unless I needed to, but I was keen to see his pictures.

It was the greyest of grey days, as his photo shows!

The bridge at Moor Lane - with both field and stream full of water

What it also shows is the bridge on Moor Lane where we usually pause and turn back - both the field on the left and the stream are full of water. I don’t think I’ll ever get over seeing how much water floods onto the fields semi-regularly here, let alone when it goes further and houses are affected, it’s not something that was even a consideration when we lived up the hill from Greenwich in South London, and I suspect many people who don’t see it for themselves also can’t comprehend it either.

Thanks for joining me for this update, if you enjoyed this post you may also like to see all of the posts in this series. Hopefully I’ll still be ‘on schedule’ for an earlier in the month post next month, and I’ve pulled on my walking boots and have some photos to share in the meantime!