Route Walk: Silhouettes, molehills and beacons mark the way

THERE was a nip in the air when I set off this morning, but it wasn’t unpleasant. I wore woolly hat and gloves, but towards the end had to take them off because I was too hot!

I didn’t leave as early as I’d intended because my mobile needed recharging: and I can’t do without my little cardio app that’s on the phone! I mean, how would I know how much fruit’s worth of energy I’d used? This morning I burned 228 calories – three apples’ worth! Yay! Three apples! That’s a bit more respectable than the tomato or two I notched up the other day.

The sun was a delight. As it rose the sky changed from a pinky blue to more of a creamy silver-gold, transforming trees into silhouettes as it did so. Not much fun for drivers at this time of the year, though, as it streams in through the windscreen at a low angle.

Tree silhouettes against the early morning sky

There were people up and about, dog walking, calling to the newsagents for their paper, or delivering them on their newspaper rounds; and the moles appeared to have been busy overnight, too. There was quite a long row of neat mounds, like buttons along the roadside. At least it wasn’t somebody’s garden! Moles can wreak havoc in a short amount of time, with their hills and tunnels (which can eventually collapse). Did you know that poisoned bait is sometimes used to try to get rid of the moles? According to Tom Clothier, a man who seems to know about these things, it doesn’t work very well because the bait is peanuts which, apparently, moles don’t particularly like? Well, I never knew that! In fact, I'd never even associated peanuts with moles. You certainly live and learn when you go for a walk!

You see things differently when you're on foot rather than driving around in a car, especially at different times of the day. Even Belisha Beacons can take on a whole new perspective in the dark early hours; though beware if you try to photograph them at that time of the morning - you may get one or two funny looks!