Up Lypiatt way

The sun shone warmly this crisp morning. I planned to go up to the farm shop in Bisley but by the time I was ready to leave the cloud had shrouded the sunshine.

On the way back I turned off the road to Stroud to take what I think is an old droving road, which meanders between old hedgebanks and stone walls lining the fields. I parked at a crossing point to take some pictures of the cloudy sky behind a swathe of Old Man's Beard covering the hedgerow. I soon heard the sound of horses walking towards me on the road. As they approached me, I decided not to photograph them, but to get out of their way in this narrow lane, and drove on a mile further south to Nether Lypiatt Manor.

I walked back to the house and took some architectural images of a very pretty 17th century house and its estate buildings. It is no longer a working environment, the house seeming to be a residence only, with formal gardens. I will blip some of it one day. This place is only a mile away from our house as the crow flies, literally.

As I was preparing to return the familiar clip-clop of the horses returned and I stayed put. Two women were leading two ponies and a foal back to the stable opposite the house. I asked the woman leading if I could take a picture, which she said was fine. As they reached where I was standing, she said to me the darker pony was afraid of cameras, just as I took this shot. All went well and they calmly went into the stable block.