Wye Valley – Miriam Drori, Author

Another theme from my trip to the UK is: cows. We saw them often as we hiked around the Wye Valley, mostly lazing around chomping, except on one particular afternoon…

As we rounded a clump of trees in a field, they came towards us and stood there, blocking our path.

We weren’t scared, of course. After all, they were just harmless cows.

But they were rather large. I mean, if one of those stepped on you, or pushed you against the barbed wire fence, you’d feel it.

Anyway, I had my man to protect me… until he escaped when I wasn’t looking, going round them while they concentrated their attention on me and D looked on with amusement.

Fearlessly… well not really… I tried to go round the other way, but they moved in that direction and continued to block me.

Somehow, I managed to get through at last.

At the stile, I pushed the gate and squeezed through, my head twisting my neck as I guarded my rucksack. Scared? Me? Of course not!

Although I might stick to Swiss cows in future.

As I look through the photos from my recent 5-week trip to the UK, several themes occur to me, one of which is old buildings.

They start with Leek, near Stoke-on-Trent, where I went out for a short wander before rain sent me scurrying back. (I hadn’t expected to need a raincoat.)

Then there was York, which has its fair share of ancient buildings.

St Mary's Abbey, gardens of Yorkshire Museum — St Mary’s Abbey, gardens of Yorkshire Museum

While staying in the Wye Valley, we saw:

St Martin's Church, Cwmyoy — St Martin’s Church, Cwmyoy. Yes, it really does lean even more than that tower in Pisa.

Those buildings have seen so many events since they were built: war and peace, births and deaths. Despite it all, they’re still standing, ready for us to enter between their ancient walls, read their ancient signs and muse on centuries of history.