The set up
It is a Monday evening of what I would call a very typical July British summer rainy day. I am having a break from work for a week and my first day off has been a bit of a disappointment with the on and off rain, which didn’t give me much choice of outdoors activities. I must admit to being a bit grumpy and showing signs of sluginess because of it, which at first made me think that my positivity levels were pretty low. However, I discovered that my mood is very much similar to a child experiencing boredom on a rainy summer day and as I’m the eternal child at heart that explains my mood. I’m much happier with this side of things rather than admit to being a grumpy adult!
I’m also a bit technically challenged as my beloved laptop has broken down and has been sent to Hewlett Packard for resuscitation. This means that I’m typing this blog on my tablet. Not very convenient but at least it is an option. Despite the weather and technical setbacks writing my blog is always a comfort so this is the perfect time to write about the Butterfly Walk which took place quite some time ago. It was the first walk that I did when it was announced that we could drive further than five miles and also for non essential reasons.
Origins of the name
The name came about not because of the actual place of where I walked but because of the line that Strava created around the steps I have done which resembled strangely of the shape of a butterfly. It was not done consciously so when I saw it I was happily surprised and decided to call it the Butterfly Walk.
The actual walk was a very much anticipated one. It was in Tewinbury Farm and it was one that I have seen when I went for afternoon tea with my parents a few Christmases ago. It looked quite promising and last summer when my parents were visiting, we said we would go and explore it but we didn’t get around to it. It’s always been on the back of my mind to do the walk on a weekend but with my pre-Covid busy social and working life it just didn’t happen. However, there is always a time and a place for everything. And the right time for the walk came when I started exploring more of local walks because of the lock down.
High expectations
I set off early on a mid-May Sunday morning with my Ulysses, eagerly anticipating the walk and feeling the freedom of venturing a little bit further than the confines of the close to home options for weekend outings. As usual my imagination was rallying on with how it would, what I would see and discover without actually having any clue as there was no actual reference on the Internet about it, which I put down to it being very local and hidden.
There was also a small fear at the back of my mind about exploring this new walk on my own. Despite my excellent walking skills and my love for discovery, I am not the best navigator and although modern technology and Google maps are quite helpful, there is always a bit of insecurity. What wins in the end is my boldness and my optimistic – or foolish- predisposition that I’ll find my way around somehow, which is exactly what I kept reminding me myself about my fears for this walk as well.
Fears and imagination aside, I arrived outside Tewinbury Farm and the first setback appeared as the actual site was closed because of covid. Naively, I thought that while the hotel and restaurant would be closed, I would be able to have access to the car park, but unfortunately, that was not the case. I took a few minutes trying to assess the situation as the farm being in the middle of a country road meant that there was no obvious alternative to parking. At first it seemed that I would have to return back home without doing the walk. However, I felt so strongly about this walk that I started considering if I could park somewhere near. I felt like it would be a defeat to return back having made plans for the day, so I put my mind to good work to find a solution that would help me fulfill my goal. I started thinking that as I was driving towards the farm I noticed that about five minutes up the road, there was a turn towards Passhanger Golf Club, so I thought that I could take that turn and see where it led. With plan B in mind I made my way towards that turn and as I drove up a small hill, I eventually reached a small residential area where it felt safe to park the car on a small road and then walk towards the farm. Not wanting to get lost I made the safe thing of noting down the name of the street where I parked and the main road so as not to forget where I left it. And so I set my Strava on and I started the brief walk towards the actual place where I was supposed to start my original walk.
Not quite what I imagined
When I reached the start of the walk I was relieved to see that I was not the only one walking about in that spot which was reassuring. There were no great instructions to follow other than a small description about the route following the river and the nature that surrounds the trail. It wasn’t much to hold on to so the first clouds of disappointment appeared. Still I marched on and started taking in the scenery. The weather was quite cloudy as well which added to the morose sense that encompassed me.
After walking for about a mile and feeling unimpressed of the scenery which felt boring, uneventful and with no photographic interest I remembered my friend telling me about a church nearby in Tewin, so I looked it up on the map and tried to make my way towards it. As I was walking towards the church I started noticing pathways in the field and my exploring side wondered where they might lead. Looking at other people walking towards some of them, I deviated slightly from the route that would take me to the church and started following the new tracks that I discovered. Since others were walking on them already I didn’t feel alone and it made it safe on my mind to carry on.
I was desperately trying to make something of this walk as none of it met my imaginary expectations of it. I took photos despite the lack of inspiration as it was part of my lock down project of depicting my walking adventures. All in all, I did everything in my power to make something out of nothing with this walk. I wanted to ensure that I exhausted all possible pathways that were available before declaring it a flop. In pursuit of doing so, I found a forest- like pathway that brought about something a bit more intriguing and kept me amused for a little. The only other thing that was of interest was St Peter’s Church in Tewin. A small village church that looked very very old and provided and interesting theme to capture for my photo collection.
Having reached the village church, I felt that I sort of accomplished my goal of having explored the surroundings to the best of my ability and I started making my way back to the car. Not determined to give up on finding a final twist that would make my expedition worthwhile, I took a slightly different route on the way back which took me side by side with the Passhanger Golf Club which was empty and silent. A very unusual view for a golf club on a Sunday which I suspect would have been quite a busy one in normal circumstances, but which due to the lockdown it was totally unused and empty.
The epilogue
When I returned home, I looked at the Strava depiction of my walk and that was when I discovered that it resembled a butterfly. For the first time, I found something to bring a smile on my face about this walk. Somehow, it made me reflect that despite expectations not being met I managed after all to spend the whole morning in this area and get a good exercise at the same time. Moreover, when looking at the photography at the end of the day and sharing it with my artist Highgate friend, his positive feedback about it made me realise that I’ve actually managed to transform with my lens something that in the real context was plain and ordinary.
This walk may not have been one of the best I’ve done, but it certainly gave me a good lesson about finding something in nothing to make me feel better about my unrequited imaginary high expectations.
Walks and Smiles 