Yogi's day out

On Sunday we wanted to do something special for Yogi. There is a walk in Hertfordshire (where we used to live) that is probably one of my favourite walks of all time. So although he has done this walk many times before, it is still special to everyone. We have walked it for over 20 years with various dogs. It changes through the seasons but always has a kind of "good atmoshphere" about it. Although it can't be described as local any more, it is still worth the 80 odd mile round trip. The walk is around Ayot St Lawrence, home of the playwright George Bernard Shaw. It's about 7 miles long and takes in water meadows, woods, fields, a church, a village and personal points of interest such as "the face of the moon" (lumpy bumpy bridleway) leading to "Hunters Bridge" (filmed for scenes in Band of Brothers) and "bat alley" (walk at dusk, throw pebbles in the air and watch the bats divebomb them) and of course the pub :o).
The first time we walked it, we were fairly novice walkers. We thought it would be good to get a book of local walks. These tend to be pretty vague to say the least, but if you follow them in daylight you should just about find your way around. The first time we did this walk was a beautiful summers evening. We took a wrong turn about a third of the way around but eventually found our way to the Brocket Arms, the local. After a few pints too many and not realising that evening was drawing in we wandered off onto what seemed like "the face of the moon" in the dark and trying to follow a well used bridleway, well, that's what it felt like....The only way we could read the book was by Rich's lighter which selfishly ran out after about 30 mins. I had pictures of waiting for daylight huddled up in the woods with just Monty to keep warm :o) Eventually we found our way back though. I think all in all the walk took about 7 hours, was the middle of the night before we reached civilisation :o).
Yesterday the weather was like a perfect spring day, we started off pretty early and took time to enjoy all the different landscapes and views. Then settled in the pub for a while :o) Dogs had crisps, we had Abbot ale and very nice it was too. The proprietor of the pub is Toby Wingfield Digby who has been a very genial host over the last couple of decades. When we had sociable dogs, they were welcomed by the massive fireplace to chat to the locals. Now it's the garden, but still as welcoming. Yogi had a great day I so hope he has many more.

.....and then came the beers :o)