Dorset in Spring

This is Dorset in Spring

At this time of year stepping out on one of our regular walks over the West Dorset hills  it’s hard to imagine a more bucolic setting with signs of new life and a sense of orderliness and tranquility.

Cheery yellow celandines, a sign that Spring is here,  line the path that take us up the hill. The hard work of climbing done we follow the ridge looking down on this valley tucked in behind the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast.  There are lambs in the fields, tended by modern day shepherds on a quad bike. While the ewes are generally intent on eating the lambs have a timid curiosity, running back to mum suddenly when they feel they’ve been a bit daring.

The sun’s still quite low in the sky casting shadows from the trees yet to come into leaf .  I’m struck by how green the fields are – probably a result of the  mild, wet winter we had.

Recently we’ve been seeing more laid hedges, according to countryside wisdom hedge laying is a job for the months with an ‘r’ in their name, when the wildlife that inhabit the hedgerows won’t be so disturbed.  I like laid hedges for their looks and the feeling of reassurance they give, it’s something to do with pattern and creating order I think.

Up here it’s peaceful, no traffic noise, just the odd anxious baa and answering bleat.

You can get away from it all in Dorset in Spring.