We started off in sunshine, but it soon clouded over, and was unexpectedly cold! I should have worn gloves, as by the time I got home, I had lost the feeling in my fingers, and could not turn the key in the lock to let myself in the front door! And then untying shoe laces proved difficult... Luckily we saw some lovely Spring flowers and we were both wearing red, which cheered up the photographs, which were looking very grey!
One of our first ports of call, was the Market Place, with the remains of the Shambles, (from the Anglo Saxon 'scamel' or 'little bench'), which can be seen in the picture above left. This is a piece of Shepton's history. When the market was granted its charter in 1219, the Shambles, which were all along the North and South side, were used to sell the high quality woollen cloth made from wool from the flocks of sheep which were grazed on fields overlooking the town. This industry led to the naming of the settlement - Sceap-Fold, Sheeptun, Shepton. The market was the commercial and social hub of the town and the surrounding villages.
In 1912, when the Shambles were being used by the butchers to sell freshly killed meat, the benches on the North side were taken down. What you can see now is all that is left standing. They are quite rickety, but still sometimes used on market days by a lady selling books for church funds...
We made the steep climb from the Meadows up to fields where we saw dogs being exercised, but noticed that their owners didn't seem to think that it was necessary to pick up their dog poo! They are probably more responsible in parks and more urban areas... However, it does spoil a walk when you are always having to be careful where you tread!
We passed one of our favourite houses - Old Bowlish House, whose front garden always looks good, whatever the season. Last year we had a delightful afternoon tea there, with a tour and history lesson of the area. For an account of that day follow the label below...
This morning there was a frost! Normally not a strange event in Winter, but we have just had one of the warmest and wettest December since records began! So it was unusual to see people scrapping the frost off their cars and it was good to feel a crunch underfoot instead of the normal squelch...
I walked towards Bowlish and watched the geese lunge into the local stream. Reminded me that tomorrow I will be plunging myself into the cold, deep waters of a local quarry - in a wetsuit, thank goodness! Because of the mild weather, the water hasn't been too bad so far but now...
I think many gardeners will be grateful for a frost as the plants have been confused with the warmth. Though what it will do to those flowering out of season I don't know... The top middle pics show the local allotments, cleared for planting in the Spring.
I got some great views of Shepton when I walked up over The Meadows and behind the cemetery. On the way home I couldn't resist a few photos of Collett Park, kept in pristine condition, as usual - (top left 3 pics).
The good news is that Jenny will be back on Monday - there will be a lot to catch up on...
Glove time has arrived! There was a definite chill when we started our walk this morning. We are rather obsessed with the weather, but in our defence, it does dictate what we wear. Today, Jenny got outside her door and decided that she simply wasn't wearing enough for the conditions so added an extra coat! Walking, as well as any other outdoor activity, is influenced so much by the weather. We are not cocooned in the heated, dry bubble of our cars so we are at the mercy of the elements!
Above are some of our sights today, including some more fungi on the bark of a tree, a treehouse in the woods, some colourful chrysanthemums, Chinese lanterns and pampas grasses etc. We also came across some blatant fly-tipping, right by a main road - bags of builders' rubble which will take some removing, unless they are for use by the farmer! These two geese had definite personalities and plenty to say! They were in the garden of a cottage that had come up with a great way to up-cycle a bicycle as a planter (see centre pic)! I have an old bike in my garage that I need to get rid of, perhaps this is the answer!
Sunrise this morning was 7.28am, so although it was gloomy when we started, the sun soon came out and warmed everything up. Heavy dew in the long grasses infiltrated into my socks through the suede uppers of my new boots. Must remember to wear the heavy, leather ones on such mornings.
We saw more sheep today than we have for a long time. We even saw some lambs - didn't think this was the right time of year! There always seems to be at least one black sheep per flock. Even the 'rock flock' located in the middle of Canards Grave roundabout, sculpted by local artist, Jeff Body, has one! Unfortunately, he managed to elude my photograph, the black sheep, not Jeff!!
Today was all about Autumn leaves and lingering Summer blooms... No rain, but plenty of wind which had brought down loads of leaves and conkers! Our walk took us through and around Shepton - familiar territory! We looked over some of our favourite gardens to see what was still flowering and we found a lot of colourful shrubs and flowers, including beautiful scented roses. On the footpath to Bowlish we had to go by a field full of geese. They soon spotted us and came rushing over making such a racket!
Talking about Autumn leaves, today I put some in the gallery to decorate the window. However, they were not real! I made them out of paper. Look here if you want to know how. Some were strung on paper covered wire and others spread around as fallen leaves. I did however hang a few leaves, collected on our walks, which I had laminated. That idea was hatched on an early morning talk with one of the volunteers at a local charity shop, who had just done their Autumn window, and had hung some laminated leaves which looked very effective. I don't know how long they will last and I found to my cost that you have to keep them as flat otherwise the laminator can't cope and becomes jammed!!
