We manged to walk the "Devizes Bounds West," on a sunny Sunday morning, the first time for months that it has been dry enough to venture out on the 4.5 mile walk across boggy farmyards and waterlogged fields and ditches. It was so good to feel warm again, and not have to wear my much disliked velvet hat! We walked down into the farmyard at Whistley Lane, and watched as a man fed his chickens and gathered the eggs. The chickens looked perky and ruffled their feathers in the warm sunshine. One cockerell presided over his marmalade coloured hens, as they scratched in the hay for morsels to eat.
The freshly gathered hen's eggs.
We walked on up the hill, where two dogs came running out of a near by garden and barked us on our way. We traced "Boundary Ditch," the old medieval ditch that once surrounded Devizes, and up over the stile to the hilltop, where we met a gale of wind blowing through the leafless trees. The bluebells are late blooming, but the wood anemones, celandine and primroses have opened their petals along the windy, narrow path between the tall trees. We dropped down into Hartmore Lane, and into the farmyard with its row of young cattle munching the hay.
The young cattle chew the cud and ponder the meaning of life.
Primroses in full bloom in Hartmore Lane.
St John's Churchyard and a bank of daffodils among the gravestones.
St John's Church is one of three large medieval churches in Devizes. It is, with St James's Church, still used for services. The third church of St Mary the Virgin is now redundant, and plans are afoot to turn it into an arts centre for the people of Devizes. I have seen the plans for this exciting development, and with the addition of an extension on the east side, to provide modern facilities, it will be used for singing, dancing, dramatic performances and as a meeting place for local groups. We parted company here after our interesting walk in the sunshine and wind, and went our separate ways.
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