Avon

The temperatures soared above zero here for the first time in eight days, the thaw bringing with it a grey drabness together with miserable rain, the kind you don't especially notice but which seeps into your very soul, diluting every fibre of the spirit.

Although we are a couple of weeks away from the solstice, the sunset is now as early as it will get here, give or take a minute, as the days are shortening instead at the sunrise end, and the sun seems to give up trying to shine before even noon has arrived.

I couldn't think where to go, or what to take today. One spot I had in mind to visit, somewhere I had never been before, was the hamlet of Avon, on the outskirts of Chippenham. There is a footpath that leads through Carpenter's Farm to the River Avon. I plan to explore it again next year when the weather is more favourable, but here it is at its most wintry, stark but still striking with its ominous gathering rain clouds and eerie ghost echoes. I rather liked it.

River Avon (Alternative View)