After several days of dull, damp and sometimes misty weather today turned out to be glorious, with a cloudless blue sky and wall-to-wall sunshine. The dogs hadn’t had a decent walk all week so when I got back from my lunchtime job I grabbed the camera, loaded the pair of them into the van and drove three miles up the road from home to the village of Belmont which, although classed as part of my home town, is actually a village in its own right as it’s completely surrounded by fields and moorland.
Leaving the van in the car park of the Black Dog pub at the bottom end of the village I walked up the main road to the top end of the village then took a short path down onto the reservoir dam. The reservoir is an important wintering place for wildfowl and is also home to Belmont Sailing Club, but with no boats in evidence my only view at that point was of a large stretch of water backed by a huge expanse of moorland with one farm in the distance. At the far side of the dam a lane took me past steeply sloping fields on one side and open moorland on the other; the views aren’t as attractive as other local places but the lane is traffic free for about a mile so it’s great for the dogs, and on a clear day it’s possible to see right over the town to Manchester and beyond.
Eventually the traffic free lane ended and I came to the junction of another lane; turning right would eventually take me back to the bottom end of the village but I decided to turn left and go along to the Blue Lake, a beauty spot hidden away down a footpath off the main lane. With the reflection of the blue sky in the water the lake seemed to deserve its name, but somehow I don’t think it would look so attractive with a dull grey sky overhead.
Unfortunately those were to be the last shots of the afternoon. It had been quite a long while since I’d last been to the Blue Lake so I’d forgotten just how far away from the junction of the two lanes it was and I was running out of time to take the dogs home before I went to work again, so I couldn’t linger any longer. I still had quite a distance to go to get back to the village so my usual brisk walking pace was stepped up to a jog a couple of times and I made it back to the van in twenty minutes. My ‘quick’ afternoon walk, which would normally have taken less than an hour, had actually taken an hour and twenty minutes but I made it home in time and I wasn’t late for work, so with the photos I got I think I can say the afternoon was a good one.
It’s hard to believe this is a January day! The weather is really changeable just now but that was a good day for a walk and beautiful photos. It’s a shame you couldn’t linger longer but I’m glad you made it back in time for work.
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That’s actually the first time I’ve taken Sophie and Poppie on that walk. I have a friend who lives in Belmont, unfortunately due to ill health she can no longer take her own dog for long walks so I often do it and that’s one of the walks I do. It’s good that part of it is traffic free too, at least the dogs can be let off the lead for a while.
It looks like it’s going to be a nice day again today so I think I’ll put the camera batteries on charge for later 🙂
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The scenery looks very pretty, Eunice. Everywhere looks better with blue skies, doesn’t it? 🙂 Thanks for the link up.
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Blue skies are definitely the best Jo, especially for photos 🙂
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Great shots, Eunice. I enjoyed your walk, thank you very much. The reservoir view reminds me of landscape near us. The moors, looking south to Manchester, remind me of farmland overlooking the Pacific Ocean to the north of us.
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Looking south, Manchester would be about seventeen and a half miles away from where I was. You can’t really tell from that small photo but the high rise office and apartment blocks in the city are just about visible – on a clear day they really stand out. Strange to think that there’s similar landscape near you 🙂
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What a lovely stroll. Your pictures are stunning and I just love the idea of the map at the end – might have to borrow this brilliant concept ☺
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Glad you like the photos Becky, though I don’t think they’d look as good with a grey sky.
I’ve only just recently thought of the map idea and I wasn’t sure at first if it would work, but now I know it does I’ll add one to each walk I do.
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Wish you could stroll with my book in hand & then click a Pic with that . Loved your Pics . I too keep my camera handy when I walk around . But I walk around in #Guwahati & #Machhiwara ! ( In India ) .
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Thank you for your comment, I’m glad you like the pics 🙂
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