It’s been drizzling with rain pretty much all day, which makes 15 minutes of green a bit tricky. But, no excuses. At lunchtime, I donned my waterproof coat and headed out into Abingdon, through the Abbey Gardens and up the footpath that borders the old mill stream to Abingdon lock.
Note: you can make this a longer circular walk by crossing the river Thames at Abingdon lock and heading back to the town along the main river bank … but not today!
As you can see, there wasn’t a lot of ‘traffic’ along the footpath. It was wonderfully peaceful. I passed a couple of dog walkers (with very muddy dogs!), one runner, a fisherman (can you spot him under his green brolly in the photo below?).
Plus the usual entourage of mallards. If you stop for more than 5 seconds at the side of the stream the ducks come a-paddling and a-quacking on the assumption that you are toting vast quantities of stale bread.
This brisk 20-minute walk ticked all sorts of green-therapy boxes: lungfuls of fresh air, entertaining grey squirrels in the canopy overhanging the stream (who needs Cirque du Soleil?!), an enjoyable and impromptu workout, and another chance to soak up that amazing autumnal colour palette.
Make sure you get your fix, while there are are still some leaves on the trees. Judging by the amount of leaf litter around, our autumnal days are numbered.