Walking In the Hills

At noon we sat down under a large old oak tree on a wild hillside with masses of rocks, The day was very warm and I took off my knapsack and rested by the foot of an old tree, Below was a spread of orchards, next to meadows, and the glades sat with watery mead's, Above, a beech forest that stretched, many miles the greenery touching the white clouds, White clouds in a beautiful blue sky, shapes constantly changing shape, in a light cool wind. Looking around there was much to see, there were lapwings and golden plovers in the trees, Down below in a meadow a carter was leading a pair of horses off to plough a grassy field, Then a fox crept from a hedge into a ploughed field and dropped right down into a furrow, On a flooded mead a Great Crested Grebe dived under the water looking for some fresh fish, And the water looked like sheets of polished glass and the sun reflected great rods of beams. The track we walked soon vanished and then lofty pillars of beach-boles with thick canopies, The earth was brown, withered leaves scattered amoung small pieces of rock green with wet moss, Here and there were shallow bogs with the 'touch-me-not' plant with bright yellow flowers, A plant whose name gives significant caution, as where it grows, there is treacherous footing, Legend says mountain climbers make their peace with God if they meet some in a rocky crag. Half an hour's progress and we were going in the right direction the scene was impressive, As we wandered through woods with no out let visible the shade was heavy, deep and silent, Then through a gap in far off trees was an opening and buttercups formed a carpet of gold, On a bough was a Goldcrest the smallest British bird, he hopped from twig to twig for insects, Their tiny nests made from mosses and spiders webs, slung underneath the branch of a tree.