The other Way

I tried today and this isn't what I really wanted. Technically deficient and just not right, but it is all I have as time is short.

I drove to Gloucester to stock up on fresh tofu, some of it for tonight's supper. Yum, yum. I took my camera but forgot to look for a shot. Then I passed through this favourite stretch of old beech woodland, where the road delves into the dappled light. I stopped quickly and walked back up the road.

Recently I have been reading The Place Names of Gloucestershire, particularly about the old roads and tracks and their names. This area where I am standing is in the Hundred of Bisley, near to Painswick, and there are several ancient highways criss-crossing the valleys which I am keen to explore.

On the right, there seems to be an old hollow-way leading up the hillside to the dry ground, above the beech trees, which often seem to like growing on the strata of Fullers Earth, which can be quite clayey. I expect the tarmac road is relatively new and was built to more easily traverse the wetter, clayey soils, so vehicles could use the lower part of the valley to get to Stroud.

I thought of the line in the song about O ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road: And I'll be in Scotland ..... , although in this case it would be the other way round. That song is of course about the beautiful Loch Lomond, which we drive along when going to see The Dear, Helena's mother, near Oban.

I wanted the car to be blurred but I don't know how to get what i want with my basic kit and no tripod. I shall keep trying and will also be back here one day to walk up this track to wherever it goes.