And Yet More Mud!

We did a lot of walking over the weekend - I am determined to keep moving, despite the grumbling back. On Saturday we pushed the envelope a bit and met up with R (plus dog) for a walk at Woburn. We ended up doing a 5 mile circuit around Woburn Park and the small village of Eversholt. It was a lovely springlike morning. And yes, there was much mud! I tried in the New Year to buy wellies, but the only pairs I could find online were ridiculously expensive. However R had managed to find some recently through an online sports retailer, so after just barely making it through some very dicy sections without disaster I came home and ordered a pair each for myself and M.  

I spotted this postbox in Eversholt and assumed that the GR meant King George VI. When I looked it up, I discovered it is actually George V, so a genuinely antique letter box, still in use. George VI's monogram has a little 'VI' in it and a more ornate crown. 

Some of the mud. The picture really doesn't show the full extent of the gloopy, slippy, nastiness. Rather nicer was spotting some of the deer, including some in woodland who were so well camouflaged they were only easy to see when they were moving. By the time we got home from our walk H had gone out to walk with her BF. She had tried to persuade him to walk a marathon but failed and they compromised on a half marathon. The managed the full 13 miles, which was impressive not just for the distance but because they didn't encounter any major muddy stretches! 

We did another four mile walk yesterday, mud free this time, down through the town to the canal, along the tow path and back up via the only dry path up past the woods. We narrowly missed some excitement on the way. I discovered later from a local social media group that within half an hour or so of us walking along a particular road, one of the residents was digging in his garden and unearthed a WW2 bomb. The area was closed off, a few people were evacuated and the bomb squad dealt with what turned out to be a mortar they described as "not viable". Even nearly 80 years after the war it is not that unusual for bits of unexploded ordinance to turn up, though fortunately it is extremely rare for any to explode. Several years ago my brother had a job cutting turf in a field near a former WW2 airfield and uncovered a bomb which had to be defused. I was amused that the resident interviewed by the local press about yesterday's incident took the view that at least it had made the day interesting and different from all the other identical lockdown days!  

This afternoon the government announced its plans for lifting lockdown in stages over the next four months. As predicted schools will be reopening in two weeks time, then at the end of March people will be allowed to socialise outside in groups of six. If the vaccine rollout continues to go to plan and nothing adverse gets in the way non-essential shops, gyms, hairdressers and so on will open on April 12th, along with outside areas of pubs and restaurants. Inside socialising and full opening of pubs and restaurants is expected in May, and if all continues to go well, then all restrictions and social distancing will be lifted before the end of June. On the one hand, several more weeks with not much changing (apart from schools) seems a long time; on the other, pretty much back to normal by the summer seems too good to be true. Self-catering holiday accommodation can reopen on 12th April, which means that the trip to Cornwall we were meant to take last Easter can't happen this Easter either (no great surprise!), so we will probably end up going in April 2022.