Adventure Run to Snowdrop Hall

I realised I've been very amiss the last few weeks i my attempts to run a few new routes, and visit a few new places, so despite the stiff legs planked into me by yesterday's reasonably decent 10km, I decided to head out of town.

My mother had told me of how Kelham Hall is carpeted with snowdrops at the moment, so I decided that was today's objective; to see the snowdrops of Kelham Hall.

This necessitated a run out along the farmer's fields on the cross country route to Kelham Village, and judging by the traffic I think I might have choked to death on diesel fumes. No such worries for the kestrel watching me from atop the rugby club goalposts, safely above all the bad air at ground level. The fields are bleak at the moment, brown soil and grabby scrub, but there was still a sizable number of fieldfare playing chicken with me, letting me see only their slate grey rumps as they flew off.

Plenty of starling too, I noted. The town has been short of murmurations this year, compared to the major displays we've had over the past couple of winters. . I was trying to use this run to contemplate issues such as this, but I was finding the going much too hard.

When I arrived at the hall itself, I was initially disappointed, as the promised snowdrops were being rather shy in the woodland, and not in any great numbers either. But as I carried on round, past the soon to be defunct council HQ and its rather gaudy helicopter, I caught glimpses of white in between the trees that hinted at better things.

There is a church on the Kelham Hall site, which was being used as a filming location by some college kids today, and either side of it was simply carpeted in white. I've never seen so many snowdrops in one place in my life, it was like a scene from Tolkien. I was half expecting to bump into Feanor and the rest of the elves from "The Silmarillion". And now, as I write this, I regret not having taken more photographs.

The inevitable hardy caravanners were around on the field, as they have been by law since leisure vehicle time began.

The way home was along the dirt track to the sugar factory, reinforcing as ever the fact that as my runs alternate beauty and bleakness, then life is pretty much the same.

Si

Snowdrops. I thought this was as good as it was going to get.

Close up. Still just about hanging on

There is a wonderful intricacy about moss

The Kelham Hall dome

Corner tower

Oh stop posing

This is beautiful

Like trees for fairies

The church

Hello to you too girls!