Stodge, stodge

10th March 2013

At dawn, Mr blackbird was atop the Walnut tree again, singing for a wife, And very prettily too. No one could resist him, surely.

The sky was overcast and with a sharp North Easterly, Spring was being held at bay. With the recent heavy rain, it was again: stodge, stodge, stodge through the mud. As the fields were freshly ploughed, I avoided struggling across them. Going uphill through Clearhedges, it was two steps forward, one step back.

The clock at St Giles' Church struck eight when I arrived and it was open for business. A sheep was standing on the step of a style nattering to her neighbours in the field next door; a very comical sight! She skedaddled when I approached. I mean, I wanted to use the stile, I told her!

I by-passed Ightham Mote and started the long muddy climb up to One Tree Hill near Knole. I picked some wild Garlic leaves (first forage of the year!) on the way, and there were some Primroses in flower on the south facing bank. Also a group of Lungwort; very pretty with their red and blue flowers and leaves with white spots. I said 'hello' to the Thelwell ponies.

I stopped for breakfast at the granite bench. The High Weald faded into the mist on the horizon. There were snow flurries by now while I ate my (now World famous) pea and ham soup and fresh bread. An angry Robin chuck-chucked at me to keep away while I slowly froze. The thermometer hovered around one degree. I was glad to get going again. This time all down hill (and it took half an hour to warm up), through Underriver and across to Coldharbour. The neatly trimmed hedgerow along this track is around one and a half kilometers long and here and there, Blackthorn was in flower, in spite of the weather!

I skirted Carroty Wood (PRIVATE - KEEP OUT! CCTV!) and went through Poult Wood golf course - not a golfer in sight!

Then bypassing Hadlow College and home at 1pm. I think the cold causes my back to ache. Or maybe that is a coincidence. Or maybe it's because I walked twenty-one kilometers today. Hard work in all that mud. Still, it's painful!

Sticky stodge and mucky slime,
Drag the legs and mark the time.
The heart beats fast; increase the pace,
Deny the pain upon my face.