Goodness me we were windswept on our walks today. The wind threatens
to blow away what remains of one of the most colourful autumnal displays that I
can recall. The gusty weather infuses even more madness into the dogs and in
the early evening darkness keeping track of what mischief they are getting up to
becomes increasingly difficult.
Those of us who enjoy walking seem to be in an ever
decreasing minority. I was taken aback to learn that in the findings of a
survey of visitors to National Trust sites, the average distance people walk
from the car park is a pitiful100 yards! Aren’t people aware that beyond the
Gift Shop/Café/ Toilets lay some of the most beautiful open spaces in Britain ? Nope,
it seems that people don’t want to walk much now-a-days. The cruel irony is that
when they no longer can walk it will be the one singular thing that they do want.
The health benefits of walking cannot be overstated and
there is still a great deal to discover in the big outdoors . . . even in this
country. Maybe I am just old fashioned or a grumpy old man – potentially both. I
believe that people are missing out on so much and that the decline in walkers
will in turn mean more public footpath closures. If access to the countryside becomes
increasingly limited then so does general awareness of the natural world and
care for wildlife will be in decline. We risk losing something very dear,
something very precious. We’re all doomed.
How the values of the British public have changed since I
was a lad. I’ll wager that come the spring, on a sunny evening when I take the
dogs down for a walk over the marshes, I will struggle to get a fag paper
between the cars parked around the green at Salthouse. The first time I
witnessed this, my heart sank thinking that there would be hundreds of people making
their way out to the sea. They weren’t of course; they were all at the Dun Cow
pub. Granted they were actually ‘outside’ in the pub garden. However, they were
oblivious to their surroundings (and each other) glued to their phones or
tablets apparently only able to experience the world via a small screen.
Perhaps they were watching ‘Springwatch’
Here is today's (bargain) painting:
Beets 'n' Leeks
Oil on Linen Panel
8"x 6"
Framed
£85
And framed it looks like this and measures 10" x 8" . . . and looks great in the kitchen
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