Firetop

One of the main reasons I don’t live in London, despite working there, is the fact that I can step off the train each night into the relaxing environment of the Surrey countryside. Of course I don’t live on a farm and the station isn’t immediately situated in a field, but a short drive from home gets me away from vehicles, fumes and more importantly other people. Following two weeks of intensely long hours I was feeling a bit stressed by the time the weekend arrived. Suzie_Q reminded me that there was a family dog we could borrow for a quiet stroll down the local public footpaths, and with Sunday being unusually warm it was the perfect opportunity for some gentle exercise.

One of the funny things about public footpaths is that they very often cross through fields populated by farm animals. With no angry bulls in sight it seemed safe to cross a field of cows, only to find that they all began mooing at us and heading in our direction rather fast - single file. Cows are quite large animals, and rather intimidating en-mass so I hurried Suzie_Q along until we were safely over the stile. I was then faced with about fifty cows all stomping their feet and mooing looking up at me whilst I sat above them on the fence. I don’t know if they were hungry and thought I was the farmer, or annoyed by our dog… but they didn’t bother us on the return journey.

Unfortunately you can’t get away from the daily grind even in the surrey hills, the Gatwick to Reading railway line runs through the valley. Luckily, so as not to obstruct the public footpath, there is a manually operated gate which can be opened to cross the track. It must be one of the few places where getting into such close proximity with the track and trains is legal (take note train spotters!). A sign marked ‘Stop - Look - Listen’ is the only safety feature here, reminds me very much of something from an Enid Blyton story.

Technorati Tags: countryside, surrey hills, dorking, rambling, chasing cows

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