Walking through the Cornfields

Yesterday it was a the day for my Walk and Talk group. We met in the picturesque village of Kington St Michael which is just outside Chippenham in Wiltshire. We started off in a style that is becoming a bit of a habit....

A glass of Prosecco and a carrot cake to celebrate one of our groups retirement from a career as a paediatric nurse spanning 4 decades.

It was then off walking through some beautiful arable land.

We were lucky enough to see quite a selection of flora and fauna! Poppies were growing alongside the edge of the oats.

None of us knew what this was though. Any suggestions gratefully received.

We spotted a couple of orchids which were actually a darker pink than they appear in the picture. I suspect they may be pyramidal orchids.

Several deer were spotted hiding in the corn. They kept a close eye that we were not coming too close.

We then headed through the middle of some more fields of corn towards a golf course.

We managed to cross the golf course in one piece taking note of the warning signs to be aware of flying golf balls. We even stopped briefly to admire the pond.

The swallows were swooping down to drink from the water leaving rings of ripples behind. I would have loved to stop and try and capture this but was aware not only of my fellow walkers but also of the risk of stray golf balls. This is the best that I managed.

We later passed a children's nursery and our path took us through their farm / woodland walk area where their three baby alpacas were curious to see the intruders.

Our walk took us over a good number of stiles and through several overgrown paths which is not uncommon at this time of year. We then eventually emerged in the churchyard and back into the village.

It was then a short walk back to where we started and the welcome sight of the pub for lunch.