Tag Archives: dog

A walk in Watford

It’s Nick here again today, as Frances is at a funeral.

I’ve been scratching my head over what to write about today, however I decided I’d take photos with my phone while out walking Danny this morning. It’s not until you get a dog that you discover so many interesting places to walk near your home, and I was surprised at just how much there is near us, so I wanted to share this with you.

First up, we’ve known about this field for ages; it’s home to loads of skylarks (which is a good thing as these poor birds are in decline across the country due to changes in farming methods). I know you can’t see any in this photo, but it’s the first taste of rural scenery on the walk after I cross the busy road near our house

There’s a footpath alongside this field that leads to the Ebury Way – a converted railway line that now acts as a footpath from Watford to Rickmansworth (I mentioned this in a previous post). The connecting path heads through some trees, then up some steps to the Ebury Way:

If you turn left at the top of the steps, the path crosses the river Colne, with beautiful views downstream

It looks particularly nice when there’s a layer of mist hanging around – this is from a few years ago:

Further along the Ebury Way there are sites of interest that you can go and visit, such as Lairage Land. A Lairage is an area of land set aside for resting cattle en route to market, and the one in Watford is now a nature reserve. I didn’t visit it today, but it’s only a short walk from the footpath.

The path crosses a road leading to a farm, which is where I leave the Ebury Way on my morning walk and head into the meadow where the footpath runs alongside a lake, which is often teeming with terns, herons, geese and grebes.

The path then crosses the river Colne again, next to Hamper Mill, and old mill that is often used as a filming location.

We cross the road into the large, former golf course that is now Oxhey Playing Fields, a wide open space where Danny can run free with all his friends

It has plenty of woodland too, and Danny loves to pose on the felled trees

After a good three mile walk, and a quick drink, he loves to cool off by rolling around in long grass for a good scratch

So there you have it: Watford, not quite as bad as you might expect!

Thanks again to Frances for letting me share this with you. See you all again soon!

Puppy love

Hi all – Frances is returning home tomorrow after a trip down South, so it’s Nick here again to keep you entertained.

Just an update on Danny’s progress for you.

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He is an absolute joy to have around. He learns really quickly and is now starting to be trusted off the lead when out on walks. This discipline is sorely tested when we meet a dog coming the other way however, and I often find myself standing alone on a path, looking backwards, calling his name and trying not to show the desperation behind my feigned enthusiasm, before giving up and going to collect him in person.

He loves the company of other dogs, and we have met loads in our local walking park. He’s also one of the fastest dogs in the pack too, and is quite a sight when he’s in full flow. We’ve not met any greyhounds yet, but when we do it would be interesting to see how he compares…

Anyway, he does need a LOT of exercise, so we try to take him out at least twice a day, so that when he’s back home he’ll just chill in his crate rather than trying to rip to shreds anything we accidentally leave lying around. Frances has been great in giving advice on how to make him behave, and it’s paying dividends.

So to leave you, here he is doing his best cute face:

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How could anyone resist those eyes?