Horses two days running

I went to the far side of Stroud to drop off a package to a friend and was able to drop off Helena for her class. Philip wasn't home, so after posting the envelope I walked along Bread Street for a couple of hundred yards.

As I hadn't been in this valley with my camera before, I was just looking for potential images, particularly of the landscape. You can't help seeing these headlands of the Cotswold hills, when looking south towards Uley and Dursley. They've been sites of strategic importance for several thousand years.

I heard the now common sound of horses' shoes on the road and quite soon I saw these two with their riders approaching up the hill, and a slower pony following on behind with a child rider. Just like yesterday the horses had just volunteered to be in my view, so I decided to blip this scene.

I eventually drove on up the road through Ruscombe to Whiteshill, which is lined by many old and new cottages and houses, with a working farm towards the valley bottom. The houses are perched on any stable area of land above the clay outcrops, and thus above the springs which pop out of the hillside in many places just below the road. The slopes are liable to landslips, as the water from the springs starts the process of forming cwms and then valleys.

I used to come here to visit John and Liz about thirty years ago when the lived in the old pub at Ludlow Green a half mile ahead of me. Now after a third move, they live in the next valley and that is where I went for a cup of tea.

John and I were at school together in Surrey and have been in and out of touch ever since. I wanted to hear how his latest project was developing, to do with microscopes, and he showed me his latest tests. I was able to view some diatoms at 900 x magnification and was delighted at what I could see. After a chat, I think I was able to help John work out a small but vital step forward, which had been concerning him. I think we will go for a good long walk near his house in the next week.

I blipped this scene from his work space a long time ago. You can see a diatom photo on John's blog.