Away from it All

A distant place away from it all is what we all crave for at times

“Few people in this overcrowded country have not some favourite heath or common or moor to which they retire when they need solitude, unpolluted fresh air, the glimpse of wildlife, or the sound of water falling over stones.”

So wrote the landscape expert WG Hoskins over a generation ago and they still ring true today as they ever have, we will as a species always need special places where we are able to contemplate the natural world. Granted it is more evident in some than others but that basic need for space is always there.
Where people find that space depends on many circumstances and one mans space is another mans phobia. We are fortunate living in the northeast of England that we are still blessed with miles of open hills, moors and river valleys where we can not see a single other soul all day. However, you do not need to travel far to be alone or find the tranquil surrounding of solitude. Many of my favourite places are within the urban fringe and even here, sometimes, if the wind is in the right direction or the time of the day is early you can escape the drone of traffic and rush of modern life.

But for real solitude you have to get up and go, one Sunday afternoon last year, I suddenly felt the need to escape from my busy urban surroundings and to get a dose of solitude, wildlife and unpolluted fresh air. So it was into the car and off up the road for some blessed heaven away from all the numpties that treat my street like Le Mans. This spot is great its about as far as you can get from a well used road so background noise is minimal, and the other thing is that any body else who does come along rarely walk far from their cars so stretching the legs can often get you away from most and alone.


You need solitude when you look like this

Well almost alone, my dogs are never ending companions and once the initial rush around discovering new smells, holes and any other nook and cranny is over they now fall regularly to heel just as interested as me to discover what is around the next corner, well there might be a rabbit to chase? This area isn’t the easiest place to see wildlife but in late spring there is an abundance of new life out there that can be so naïve. Skylarks sang high in the sky, a meadow pipit launched into the air and parachuted down to earth, singing as it fell and a family of stonechats scolded us as we drifted by.

Coal tits seeped their notes from the canopy

Further on we passed through a small copse this too alive with bird song, chaffinches sang their almost monotonous impression of a fast bowlers run up. Coal tits and goldcrests seeped their notes from the canopy, and in the distance, a green woodpecker lolloped off laughing all the way.

By now it was almost seven o’clock, and the sun was low in the sky, bathing the whinny bushes and the heather in a golden light. We sat back and watched the insects dance in the columns of sunlight with nothing but natural sounds filling the air.

A tiny movement to my side and the sudden alertness of the dogs said there was something there. At first I couldn’t make any thing out but then the movement became clearer amongst the fronds of dead bracken where the last rays of sunshine illuminated the antagonists. Standing upright and weaving around each other were two adders, obviously male because of the behaviour. We watched intrigued as I have never seen this activity before despite having seen countless adders over the years.

The much maligned common adder

The jousting males were soon joined by a third much larger and almost black male who clearly had the edge on size and weight so he soon displaced the too smaller snakes, which rolled down the bank leaving him to seek what, had drawn them to this spot. And there she was, a beautifully marked almost red female curled at the base of a gorse bush no more than three feet from the contest. A chance encounter of a very special nature if not to every ones cup of tea. It was time to go but one brief moment I had shared the life of a small, often un-noticed, creature.