Our Garden of England

That feeling when the sun comes out after a long, hard Winter!

We took the girls for a long ramble through our local woods, around the perimeter of the pear orchard and across a huge 'scrubby field' yesterday. The sun shone, it was warm and we noticed a gentle hue of fresh green cast over the landscape and tiny buds on trees ... we were left in no doubt that Spring is close by.

And of course, there is nothing quite like owning Golden Retrievers to help you fully appreciate the joy of Spring as goldies positively bounce with excitement whenever the sun comes out!

Sadly, like so many areas in the South of England, our local green spaces are now under threat of development. What was once a beautiful field full of wildlife, birds, berries, crops and happy memories of beautiful evening sunsets, is now bricks and tarmac. We watch helplessly each week as yet more trees are torn from our lovely pear orchard to make way for a community centre and with our hearts sinking, await the inevitable moment when diggers plough ruthlessly through our ancient bluebell woodland to lay an approved road. Dear old 'Scrubby field' will also eventually be built upon, as we fear, will our favourite 'Pea field'. These are sad, sad times for this county, historically celebrated as 'The Garden of England'.

Naturally as a walker and a dog owner, I enjoy our natural environment at all times of year, but in Spring, nature's moment for rebirth, somehow this loss seems ever more poignant ...

:-/

I also write a blog called 'Polly's Progress' and almost six years ago, wrote the post below ... 

I hope you enjoy sharing these happy memories of 'our field'.

A field for all seasons

:-)