Longendale

Guelder rose 

After yesterday's debacle I put today's plans in ice. I decided to keep things local but then it started pouring down and I struggled to think of anywhere local that had much shelter. In the end I decided to get the train to Hadfield and have a quick look at the Longendale Trail before scuttling back for the next train. The trains are every half hour and the service consists of two trains shuttling between Piccadilly and Hadfield so it tends to be reliable. And so it was, despite all the late runnings and cancellations being announced at Oxford Road and Piccadilly.

Longendale Trail 

The rain was steady but not heavy when I got to Hadfield. I decided I'd walk as far as the bench overlooking Bottoms Reservoir and back just to get the bit of exercise. Jackdaws and woodpigeons sat on the chimney pots of Hadfield but as I walked round the corner and joined the trail the trees were silent except for the sound of rain hitting leaves.

The path not taken

Just past the entrance I noticed a path I hadn't seen before. I'd assumed the wall went into the hedgerow but there's a gap and a rough path runs parallel to the trail on the other side of the drain then goes into the trees. It wasn't the weather for exploring rough paths. I'll bear it in mind, though.

Under the bridge

I'd reached the Padfield Main Road bridge when the first chiffchaff of the afternoon squeaked in the trees. Beyond the bridge there were woodpigeons feeding quietly in the hawthorns or sitting out the rain in the treetops. Every so often I'd hear quiet contact calls of blackbirds, robins or great tits.

Longendale Trail 

Counterintuitively there were more birds in the more open country than in the wooded stretch of the trail. Dunnocks called in brambles and a willow warbler from the trees by a field of cattle. The surprise of the afternoon was a family of chiffchaffs bouncing through the trees including four very fidgety youngsters that still had yellow gapes and very short wings. And not one of them could stay still for a moment, adding to my "There was a warbler there" portfolio of pictures.

Bottoms Reservoir 

I reached the bench and looked over the reservoir. There was nothing on the water except a couple of buoys and nothing visible at this distance on the banks. Jackdaws and carrion crows called from the fields. The rain asserted itself and I walked back to the station, a couple of robins doing vocal exercises in the hedgerows along the way.

Guelder rose