Tracks in the snow

Spotted somewhere else online that on this day in 1981 martial law was declared in Poland. Actually before most of my Polish friends were even born. Thirty-one years ago I was a student, the first time round, in Durham, a few days from the end of my first term studying Geography. That first term created the impression that Durham was a cold but relatively dry place, with many crisp cold sunny days. Friends that started their studies a year later had a completely different perception - that it was wet and damp. In December 1981 it was so cold that the River Wear froze.
The last Sunday of term I was with the Durham YOC birdwatching group working at Joe's Pond, a local nature reserve. Having been a member of the YOC back home in Dundee one of the local group leaders there had given me the contact details for the leader of the Durham group. I got in touch with him in my first term and became an assistant leader. I really enjoyed my days with the group, a way to escape from college life for a few hours every month. The kids were very knowledgeable, not just about birds, and at times I think I learned more from them than they did from me. As I remember I think that day at Joe's Pond was captured by a photographer from the Observer for a small feature in their colour magazine. Wonder if that clipping is still somewhere in the archive. And although I am still in touch with the group leader, I wonder what became of those young people, now adults in their forties.