I took a walk down to a different part of The Glen today, revisiting dog walks from years ago. This path along the river bank was never easy, now I find it positively scary. The last time, and only time in about ten years, that I've been  was the 15th October 2015 – looking for Merlin, and I was in too much of a state to be worried about my safety then. We were looking across the gorge to Wallace’s Cave when the lad just slithered out of sight; we weren’t actually sure that what we thought we had seen was real. Now look up to the top of the cliff at the bit of rock sticking out, that is 50 feet up or there abouts, and Merlin had already fallen/slithered 50 feet by the time he reached it. When I found him, he was lying on his back where the two rocks are in the river, six feet out from the bank in six inches of water.
He was at his lightest then, a mere 11 kg but, even so, he felt heavy as I carried him along the path here, which is not as easy as it looks, and up to the car. We phoned the vet while we were driving him there, so they were ready for him when we arrived and, by then, he was showing some signs of life without appearing to be terribly interested in it. The vet wouldn’t believe my estimate of how far he had fallen since the x-rays showed no sign of damage; neither did Mrs TD until we went back and had another look.
 
Some 10 or more years ago, a friend’s dog went over a lower precipice as did another dog at the same time. The second one didn’t survive the fall, but Bugsy was rescued by the fire brigade and appeared to be o.k. for a while but, a week later, died from his injuries. So, when Merlin had a relapse after four days, I wasn’t surprised and when I took him back to the vet’s, I didn’t expect to be bringing him home again. However, it turned out to be an infection which cleared up after a course of antibiotics.
 
We never did have the courage to tell Mrs Merlin about it, she’d have had a fit and, since she followed my Blips, it couldn’t be mentioned here either. But, the lad is now two and a half years older, past his use by date and, apparently, none the worse for the experience.
 
The extra is of a row of yew trees at the top of the path.