Poors Wood

Poors Wood, Honiley, Warwickshire

I pulled up at this lay-by, checked my map, and to my good fortune, found that from the very spot a path headed east towards Kenilworth. So into the unknown I went. Ten minutes later I was in a dense wood. Easy enough, though bikes had torn up the ground, making it slippery. I should have thrown out the Gore-Tex boots I'm wearing long ago. Absolutely no sole grip whatsoever. Once out the wood I veered north-west, off the path, but in an open, featureless field.

Clambering up the side, rising in elevation, all seemed straight forward and simple enough to find a way back into the wood. I wrongly imagined. I had to bust my way over the edge of the wood to get in, and for 20 minutes say, battle through brambles and heather, the real, tough, mature variety, often tumbling into a ditch and pressing through undergrowth chin high. Still, I eventually spied a hide I had seen on the way in and so regained the path. Good fun in retrospect, though at the time I imagined I might get be-knighted, and/or plastered in ticks.

Later, as Cath and I nipped out for a late one, I was told I stunk of mud and sweat. The ultimate accolade.

Old Bakery Kenilworth, East Berkshire Brewery, Good Old Boy.

This pickie taken with my super-mini tripod that extends all the way up to your knee caps. I'm grateful in a sense. Had I fallen into the ditch with the heavyweight strapped to my pack. this entry would not have any writing in it.