Winter Walking

The weekend was cold but much brighter than it has been so we enjoyed two good walks. The current Covid restrictions allow us to go out for exercise but not to travel outside our area - as we live right on the border of two local authorities, both in the same tier, we are exercising common sense and just not going too far. 

On Saturday we went to Stowe Gardens, our favourite National Trust place to visit. "Gardens" really means "very large park" where it is possible to walk miles. On a bright winter day it is glorious. The statues and buildings in the grounds where all carefully designed to form part of a themed whole. I can't pretend to understand what they are supposed to mean, but they are lovely to photograph! The building below is now available to rent as a holiday home. 

I love the ceiling on this covered bridge. I tried to get a picture without my shadow getting into the shot but didn't quite succeed! 

Yesterday's walk was round the village of Swanbourne. I have been on a genealogy kick this weekend and found out a bit more about my ancestors who lived here in the 18th century. One was a cordwainer (boot or shoemaker), which apparently was something of a local industry by the 19th century, focussed on one particular farmhouse which provided workshops. I wonder if he worked and lived in that corner of the village?). Both my 4x great and 5x great-grandfathers (and I'm sure other relatives) were baptised in this church.  

Isn't this a gorgeous building? I love the herringbone patterned brickwork, which is quite common in old houses in this area. This one dates back to the late 16th century. 

This farmhouse is a little bit newer, with a plaque bearing the date 1632. I love the contrast in this picture between the mossy wall in the foreground and the stone house behind. M says this blog is turning into a guided tour of our local area. He could well be right. I am just grateful that we have so many beautiful places nearby, particularly while our world is so much smaller. 

Our escalating Covid rates mean that the hospitals are on the edge of being overwhelmed, so the entire country has now been put into the same level of restrictions that already applies to us. In addition schools will now be staying closed, at least until half term (mid-February) and I suspect probably longer. Yet again the government has done a U-turn - yesterday most primary schools were being told to open this week. Some went back for one day, only to be told they have to close again tomorrow. At least today saw the first Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines being rolled out. We have to hope that the supply and distribution arrangements work well and that the government's ambitious plan to have all over-70s, health workers and extremely vulnerable people vaccinated by mid-February turned out to be reality and not fantasy.