After a rainy day and not moving far on Saturday, it was perfect weather to go for a longer walk. After work on weekdays in the early evening, there’s a great loop around the field paths, it’s about 2 1/2 miles. Then there’s a longer regular circular walk we do which is six, or eight miles. It depends if we go past a farm and what was once a rather stately home. It’s now a remote rural conference centre. It was around eleven thirty when we set off in really warm sunshine.

Not long along the road the stunning pink tree mallow stopped me in my tracks and I was already reaching for my phone to take a picture (or four!) I usually get a bit further along before I stop. Isn’t it beautiful? So worth the pause. Like the glorious roses that are thriving everywhere this summer, tree mallows seem to have been very happy with the combination of a very dry, cool spring, then some hot spells in the early summer and now rainy, cloudy days…

We walked down to the green lane which I’m sure was once a busy thoroughfare, in the olden days between settlements.

“Green lanes are historic tracks and routes used by walkers, cyclists, horse riders and motor vehicles. They are an important part of access – a story of people and industry, wildlife and habitats, links to communities, beautiful views, tranquility and inspiration for the benefit of all.”

A good general definition of green lanes from the Peak District government website.

You definitely couldn’t get a vehicle down this one, it’s very narrow in places. Quite overgrown. You occasionally come across horse riders and mountain bikers, dog walkers and runners. Amblers like us too.

I absolutely love this green lane because you can almost see the ghosts of ancient traders, a man and horse plodding along with a laden cart of goods to sell at the market. A family going to church. A pair of sweethearts walking out together. Children making dens and climbing trees.

Many fields around us are golden now, with poppies along the edges of the fields of golden barley and still green wheat. There’s something so arresting about the golden crops with the flash of red. I tried to limit how many photos I take as it’s a walk and I don’t want to keep stopping too often. Although I do make sure that I pause and look around every now and then, peering through the hedgerow and in between the trees to take in the hills, the spread of the countryside and the far reaching views. It’s really easy to trudge looking down to check that you’re not going to be tripped up by fiendish tree roots or stumble over stones. I have to remind myself to look up.

We always take water bottles, but have never been good at being organised, or thinking to take a snack. So, when we get to the 5 mile point and sit I’m always starting to feel hungry, energy levels dipping and stomach rumbling! The problem is that if there’s an appealing snack in the house it’s sometimes already been eaten before the walk, usually on a Friday night with a glass of something celebratory. Nuts and raisins are the worst for this, because they’re so appealing when we’ve got the nibbles. We don’t buy biscuits, crisps or anything particularly snacky, so mid-walk snacks are never much more exciting than an apple. Not that they’re very practical with the water bottles in the rucksack bumping them all the way along. What do you take when you’re going on a walk? Almonds with their skins on have been most successful in the past, because they’re really not that appealing with a gin and tonic. I once read somewhere that 3 to 5 almonds is a good snack when you need a quick boost. This ‘fact’ always makes Someone teases as it’s so specific. It did work for awhile, but we challenged the rule and used to have 7. What rebels. Lately I’ve got out of the habit of buying them.

As we sat by cow parsley and blackberry brambles I noticed bindweed winding its way (anticlockwise) along long strands of grass. I recently heard a gardener say that runner beans always wrap themselves anticlockwise around bean canes. Since then I’ve noticed this is common with lots of plants. Are they tracking the direction of the sun, perhaps? I couldn’t photograph the bindweed, it just didn’t work, but there was something really amazing about the neatness of the strand of bind weed climbing nearly to the top of the grass’s seed head. It’s parasitic. As I sat and idly watched I realised there were many insects all around. Particularly teeny little beetle types, with an orange and brown body, crawling all over the heads of the cow parsley flowers. Bees, probably honey bees from the nearby farmhouse, buzzing onto the blackberry flowers and many butterflies and moths. Incidentally we saw there was an honestly box and honey for sale during the week, but didn’t have any cash. So we walked back again past the old farmhouse prepared with cash on Sunday, and the honey wasn’t out! We never ever time it right, have been planning to buy their honey for several years!

As we walked along one section of the field path I was suddenly and briefly surrounded by a cloud of white butterflies. I felt like I was in the middle of a Disney film, like Snow White. I’m wondering if there’s a free app you can get for insect ID? I’ve got one for plants which is amazing. Someone has one for the night sky, that you aim at constellations. Have you found a good one for insects?

It was all going beautifully until the last mile, when we were both looking forward to getting home for something to eat and a rest. The heavens opened and rain poured down. In no time at all I was so wet that my feet were squelching in my walking trainers and my clothes were sopping. Why I wore mascara for a six mile country walk I’m not sure; by home my face was a picture of streaks and black smudges! As soon as we reached home and had stripped off in the kitchen to put all the muddy wet things straight into the wash, the sun came out. Bright blue skies and fluffy clouds. Typically it was then beautiful all afternoon!