A late walk today it’s after 4.30 and I hear the bikes as I enter, growling angrily below, the large boys seem too much for these small motors and they are straining as they cut up the wet turf on the football pitch. I decide to go towards the ridge, up and away from the noise. The park is busy with families and young children, still here as we are nearing the end of a bright Saturday. Even on the ridge it’s busy, under the oak are some youths taking time out with a pair of burly-shouldered pit bulls, large and small, both with silver velvet coats rippling their bodies, the smaller one is “Luna”, a leggy brindle-spotted whippet roams nearby, the lads are smoking and taking in the view. A father and son bound down together as I do the loop, they are speaking French. I walk back past the ducks and the night reflections on the pond, passing one of my favourite silhouettes – the eccentric Swamp cypress.
