Gloucestershire 3 ~ The Cotswolds Over Two Seasons ~ Early Summer and High Summer and Thence Autumn
Gloucestershire 3
The Cotswolds Over Two Seasons
Early Summer, High Summer and Thence Autumn
Written on 12 February 2024
I went for a walk this afternoon, bracing as the wind had an edge to it not immediately apparent as the Escarpment of Cleeve Hill was framed within azure blue skies.
I appreciated the fact that the Cheltenham Racecourse provides me with some very beautiful walks. You know, no matter what the weather is, my day always starts with a coffee in the garden. I like the wind on my face. The feel of Nature, connectivity with something higher. I do not define this. All of us have our own definition, and that is how it should be.
I like to stand, to listen, to see how many of our feathered friends I can identify in the Bird Song.
The other morning there was quite a to-do. One second, a host of chirps all around the place, then suddenly just above me, two pigeons flew from their sentry point on my rooftop - they make quite a sound when they take off - and then sudden silence. A second later, I saw why.
Fifty meters from me, and about eighty feet (24 meters) above me, a beautiful Kestrel, the full wing span creating an ominous circle over all the houses and gardens. On this occasion, the Kestrel decided to move further away, and no sooner than a few seconds, the birdsong returned, and the blue-tits came “bouncing” on the air into the garden to the bird feeders. I have to laugh. They’re real acrobats! They hang upside down to get at whatever has caught their eye, and then vhrooooom. They’re back up again into the trees above me.
The Gallery captures my mind’s eye of my own Shire, Gloucestershire. The inspiration is the work by J H B Peel (1913-1983). His writing and art influenced me enormously in the 1970s.
4 June 2024
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LIVERPOOL
© 2024 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Digital Artwork by KTW unless otherwise credited
Last published 13 February 2024
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
