Golden Valley II

It was a grey start to the day but no rain had been forecast. We had the pleasure of two groupies today - Sarah and Lynne (mark and Nigel's other halves) I put together a nice little trek around the other part of Golden Valley in Wick. The walk started in the Rose & Crown car park where we got our boots on and I studied the map trying to work where our first footpath was.

I was not sure of the name of the road but it went by the Rose and Crown and sort of curved behind it. We followed it for a few hundred yards before finding our first footpath on our right.

We entered a field overlooked by sitting cows; scattered across the brow of the hill. As we got further in to the field we noticed lots of badger holes dug into the sloping grassland. It was quite a moody morning, the clouds looked quite threatening in terms of rain but there was just enough blue sky to prevent us from finding shelter.

Our path brought us out onto a narrow road that sloped down into the valley ahead. We past Court farm on our right and was presented with a cross roads. Our footpath was on the junction and lead us into another field. The grass was quite long so we thought it best to walk around the edge incase we lost Mark.

Dotted in amongst the farmers newly sown crop was the odd tree giving the landscape depth and more mood. I rattled off a few shots as I walked on by. In the distance was an old farm building that looked quite interesting against the bleak backdrop. In the distance was the row of trees that I have always wanted to get up close to. They are noticeable for miles around, even from my back garden.

It was good to be out again feeling the fresh clean breeze in our faces and melodic variance of tweeting birds. Of course we had our eyes peeled for a Kingfisher as we brushed alongside the River Boyd. We were now on a familiar trail, the Monarchs Way - heading towards a sewage works. The path was well defined as it was one of those double paths made by the large tread of tractors.

The scenery was quite atmospheric as you probably know I like trees and I was spoilt for choice especially with the sky as it was. We crossed a small wooden bridge and ventured along the edge of a field sticking to the river's side.

I know I keep repeating myself but I am truly staggered by how much beauty lies within a stones throw of our homes. The three of us (and groupies) live in amongst a maze of bricks and mortar but its easy to escape it. All of our walks have taken us to some really stunning places and what we were seeing today was a mile or two from Wick. We realised later on in the walk that the area that we were about to embark on was quite an affluent area. Some really big houses and all tucked away just out of view.

I know I keep repeating myself but I am truly staggered by how much beauty lies within a stones throw of our homes. The three of us (and groupies) live in amongst a maze of bricks and mortar but its easy to escape it. All of our walks have taken us to some really stunning places and what we were seeing today was a mile or two from Wick. We realised later on in the walk that the area that we were about to embark on was quite an affluent area. Some really big houses and all tucked away just out of view.

We exited the field over a style and spilled out on to a junction. We took the road to our right which took us over the Boyd. We stopped for a bit of a breather and took in some refreshment as we peered over the side of the bridge - still no flicker of electric blue.

Though we did pass quite a strange looking building that was peaking out from behind a few bushes and trees. It had a slogan written across the top We Wish You Health It had a bad drawing of some people doing something painted on the side, but it was difficult to make out through the limbs of the trees. It had a date on the top of 1977 so it was not very old it was just a bit odd. We could not work out what it may have been used for. If anybody knows - write it in the comments at the bottom of this post.

We left the road and took the footpath into yet another field. We followed the edge as it seemed to fall away into a deeper valley on our left. We passed through a narrow cutting with hedges on either side before going over a style. We passed a large building on our left that on the map stated that it was 'The Old Mill'. This was either one big house or a few but whatever it was it looked very nice. The field we were in was also the home of a few horses. We diagonally crossed the field and passed through a gate onto a road where we were passed by a group of female joggers.

We headed on down the road and came to another bridge that crossed the Boyd. It was quite a picturesque setting below the bridge. We had another short refreshment break before heading towards Boyd Farm.

The road took us to Mill Hill and into Upton Cheyney. We passed a rectory that was being refurbished or possibly made into a home it had scaffolding up outside of it. Nigel looked at it thinking that would do him. Apologies for not getting a photo. Its a bit frustrating really because you can be walking along and see something interesting and once you have past it by some considerable distance you think to yourself, Shit! I forgot to get a photo of it. Anyway it was onward to another field that had cows in it and two horses. We saw quite a lot of horses on this walk but not much wildlife which was a little disappointing.

We walked across an area of land called Mount Pleasant, this too had quite a few badger sets in the hedge rows. These were more like small caves, those badgers sure know how to dig. We were heading towards a huge rural complex called Beach. In the middle of a meadow was a triangular shaped bush that looked quite strange. We were not sure if it had been cut that way or it was its natural shape. I did manage to get a photo of that. We crossed into a quite well maintained path that was fenced along the left side.

We reached Beach, this appeared to be one big complex as it was Beach this and Beach that. It was difficult to make out what it actually was. It had a series of holiday cottages, wood yard, reclaimed stone yard and then a big house called you guessed it Beach house. We passed the house which was massive. Its garage which had at least four electric doors was bigger than each of our homes. Lynne joked about it being an ideal place for storage for all of her car- booting stock and wears. Nigel giggled at the thought of having to fit it all with sufficient shelving.

As we walked passed the luxury of how the other half live we were about to be hit with a dead end. The map did not state such an obstruction but with every step the green wall ahead got closer. I was thinking to myself well its happened on every other walk why not this one? As we got closer I realised that what we were approaching were large wooden gates rather than a fence. Maybe if we did not have the groupies with us we would have hopped over it but that was not an ideal option. We still needed to get through the gates but how? I noticed a button on the wall, it read : Press for exit - Mind the cattle grid - Enjoy your day! I thought what a nice gesture. Nigel clocked the button but not the message, he saw me reach across and press it. His face was a picture as one of the gates began to swing open. I laughed as he could not believe what I had just done. He probably thought I had pressed on a private intercom or something. We all had a good giggle about it and passed through the gate onto.... Beach Lane!

We then turned left leaving Beach behind. It was along this road back up to Wick and including Beach that we saw lots of detached large houses. We followed this road to a crossroads. I was getting it in the neck from Lynne who is not fond of inclines of any sort and unfortunately it was pretty much uphill all the way to Wick which I apologise for it is quite hilly round these parts. Anyway she did a grand job and tackled it. We eventually made it back onto the road we had started on when we left the pub.

We headed on round to the car park realising that we were half an hour too soon. The pub did not open for another half an hour (or so it said on the webernet) After patiently waiting for the doors to swing open revealing a warm cosy seat beside the embers of a small fire and the welcoming smile of a buxom bar maid the door remained shut. I tried to ring them but there was no answer. I made an assumption that the interweb was out of date and that they perhaps opened at 12. We decided to get in the car and head down to the White heart on the Common where we forced a few down and had a good laugh about the aspect of the walk - Cheers!

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