All This Used to Be Fields

This morning the dog and I set off for our very local walk. It's a short stroll from our front door, along a pathway and a quiet road where the oil depot sits. It is very peaceful - the oil tankers are few and far between and are very respectful of walkers. There is a little pond in an adjacent field and the route is often populated by sheep, horses and cows in the fields.

We climb a stile into a large field, where Alfie can run free if there are no sheep (he's a bit of a sheep rustler at heart). After that we climb another stile and mooch along a leafy pathway next to the golf course before emerging back onto the road back home, where we sometimes pass children on their way to school.

Occasionally we bump into other dog walkers, rarely we see a golfer, but we are always accompanied by birdsong. I've walked this route in all weathers, learnt to run here and it is very close to my heart.

 Which is why I feel so sad this morning, having seen the early stages of devastation that the new by-pass road is causing.

 The boundaries of these fields were lined with trees and hedgerows. I can't help wondering what has happened to any nesting birds.

All of the trees and hedges have been uprooted and shredded leaving just a mess of sawdust.

Just beyond the sawdust there used to be a line of trees screening the golf course beyond.

Alfie is looking a bit confused- this is where I used to lift him over the stile and there were trees screening us from the field on the right.

It seems such a shame. I think I may have to walk elsewhere for a while.