Wortley Walk

A visit to the bank in Barnsley in the morning, the first time I’ve been there since before the lock down - it felt busy as the market stalls were out.  Is Tuesday market day?  I’ve not really thought about it before.  It was a lovely morning so I’m sure that too had brought people out.  I was early, so thought I’d treat myself to some M&S food to put in the freezer.  Not for everyday, but very welcome for those occasions when I don’t want to prepare food from scratch.  I’m struggling with food buying and catering for one at the moment.  I eventually got to the right bank having started in the Yorkshire Bank, who didn’t know anything about my appointment - there were lots of people and I felt as though I was queue jumping, I discovered I was in the wrong bank!  Yorkshire is our Tai Chi Bank and I needed the Coop Bank around the corner.  Is this the price we pay for getting old or simply the emotional consequence of bereavement?  Anyway, a very nice young man greeted me in an otherwise empty bank.  Why Yorkshire was more popular with Barnsley folk than the Coop Bank I really can’t say, but it suited me.  He helped me to sort out what I needed to do next, which basically was to get Jon’s signature on the papers (he’s co executor) and then I think the closure of her account will prove simpler than when I had to do a similar thing when my dad died.  A big relief, in fact it looks as though we won’t have to apply for probate.

I needed to post the form to Jon at Wortley Post Office to guarantee it going that day, which gave me another opportunity for a short walk.  I haven’t really walked the short Wortley Hall circuit on my own since I used to collect a paper on a Sunday morning from the Post Office (they gave up opening years ago).  So a beautiful afternoon with lots of dramatic clouds in the sky (as I was still keeping my fictional Paul the Weatherman audience in mind I needed another landscape with weather features) and I set forth in search of my Blip.  By the time I reached the hall grounds I was ready for a sit down and a drink of water, so sat on the seat opposite the hall under a tree, only to discover lots of Bolete fungi growing all around me.  Though they varied a little in colour and form, my guess is that they were all the same species, but I’m not sure which (they were growing under Silver Birch).  There were also two very slug damaged Fly Agaric which weren’t worth photographing.  I had my small gorilla pod with me, so I spent a short time on my knees focused on trying to capture reasonable images of them in the grass which provided a mini holiday from the other thoughts that have been crowding my mind.  I chose the route back past the reservoir and the noisy ducks who were demanding food from any available passer-by and the on past the `old oak tree’ with it’s tremendous girth and sculptural facade and finally up the hall road in full sun.  It hasn’t been this warm for weeks.