Familiar and new faces made up our jolly group of 17 people on Saturday 7th February. Clad in waterproofs and wellies, we embraced the wind, rain and mud for our second beautiful looped walk around the village – in true ‘Wild’ About Lympstone style! Arriving first on Cliff Field, we paused to take in the beautiful views across the estuary and admire the hardy Holm Oaks that cling to our cliffs here, resplendent in their evergreen glory. As we crossed over the railway bridge we spotted the stunning snake-like markings of the naturalised ivy-leafed cyclamen and stopped to appreciate the hardy gorse flowers, prized in herbal medicines for their relief of anxiety and respiratory issues.
A flash of blue and green greeted us down at the estuary as our local kingfisher gave us a spectacular flyby! We were also treated to Brian’s beautiful bar-tailed godwit (not real, metal version only) – one of the many beautiful migratory birds seen on our estuary in February. Apparently one (tagged) 5-month-old bar-tailed godwit set the world record for the longest non stop flight in 2022, traveling over 13,560 km from Alaska to Tasmania in 11 days and 1 hour. All without resting, eating, drinking or sat nav!
As we walked across Candy’s Field, through our peaceful churchyard and onto the front meadow, we spotted many signs of both winter and early spring plant life. The heady scent of witch-hazel by the school playground, the purple and golden hazel catkins, emerging tree buds, bright red guelder rose berries and the stalwart early flowers of snowdrops, celandines and primroses. “The wellbeing walk is fun. Everybody is friendly, there’s cool nature and it’s just a really nice thing to do”. Wilf, aged 9 (thanks for the great photos!)
Our last pause point was by the Wotton Brook to admire the majestic willow tree – ‘Queen of the waters’, this is the Celtic tree of February. Revered for its natural painkiller and anti-inflammatory properties, and its symbolism for resilience and adaptability, the willow is also known as the tree of love. To honour this, I gave 2 whips of my garden willow to each walker with an invitation to weave them together with messages of love both for themselves and the ones they love. Brought into the home, the Celts believed these would ward off evil spirts and bring good fortune. What better way to end than with a merry drink and chat back at the Swan. “Thank you very much for a very enjoyable WAL outing in Lympstone. I look forward to the next walk”. Gerry, Rose Cottage, Longmeadow Rd
If you’d like to join us, our next walk will be at 10.30am on Saturday 18th April, along the Lypmstone foreshore. We already have people signed up and as places are limited please send us an email asap if you’d like to join. We hope to see you there!
Warm wishes
Rebecca Abrahams and Mary Turner, on behalf of the WAL Team
WAL email: wildaboutlympstone@gmail.com
Website:https://www.lympstone.org/clubs-socities/wild-about-lympstone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WildAboutLympstone
