As I drove towards our rendezvous at Roxton I listened to the late Sandy Denny’s rendition of the folk song “The Banks of the Nile”. Truly worth a listen especially as we approach the centenary of The armistice. ‘Twas always thus with soldiers sent by governments and monarchs to fight in wars and die.

The church at Roxton was decorated with red poppies and flags to commemorate the “Great War” and the lives of those who fought and never returned. The poppies in the trees were made from plastic bottle and painted red and black, made by the pupils of the local Roxton school……may they never have to fight and kill and die.

We continued on our route with the river to our right and later a fishing lake to our left.

Such tremendous beauty in this green and pleasant land.

We passed the congregational chapel with its thatched roof. One of our group had preached there one Sunday some years ago, to a small group of ten elderly congregants. When he returned on another occasion there were only eight in the pews and he wondered what he had done wrong!

Further along three house boats were moored on the river and the wooden lean to, solar panel and wood piles on the banks led me to assume that they are homes as well as river vehicles. Romantic but probably chilly in the depths of winter.

Another wonderful walk – thanks to our route leader Jenny.