Bliss!

Following a week of snow and storms, the weather suddenly changed and we had three days of brilliant sunshine. Furthermore, the paths around Old Milverton were dry and hard. Perfect. So, for the first time in months, we were able to walk in the countryside. Bliss! I cannot begin to describe how wonderful this was. 

We took the path that's off the allotments aiming to walk to the Saxon Mill. This path used to be quite narrow, but in the last year it's expanded to four times its width, due to walkers attempting to keep social distance from other walkers. The farmer is not happy at all and there are signs about this all along this stretch.

We could see the ruins of Guy's Cliff house on our left.

We did this walk three days in a row as we were so happy to be able to walk in the country - I took these photographs on a Sunday, and as you can see, there were lots of people around, doing what we were doing. We did not mind, there was plenty of space for everyone. We walked down the slope

 

and followed the river

on our left the ruins of the house

on our left, the field (it's wheat this year) with the old farmhouse and the spire of St James' church in the distance

at one point, the path was half-blocked by a fallen tree - a result of the storms of the previous week

at the end of the path, the bridge that leads to the Old Saxon Mill

a small pool on our left

and the river 

the bridge over the weir

and the water as it cascades down

the Saxon Mill, pub and restaurant, now closed due to lockdown

over the bridge we went,

the view on our left

and  on our right

it's lovely here and very quiet.

We turned around, over the two bridges,

and took the path that leads to 

St James' Church.

It's a beautiful church, and I love the spire

We walked through the churchyard and came to this small enclosure which is now an extension of the graveyard as the originad is now full.  We sat on this bench for quite a while, sunbathing

very quiet here, except for birdsong, the flapping of birds' wings and the hum of the bees.

Eentually, we got up and took the path that would take us home.