Walking with Pip along the Welsh border

I drove beyond the forest of Dean to visit my good friend Pip, whom I've known since my mid-teens. He has moved temporarily from Bristol to the Welsh borders near Abergavenny while he looks for a down-sized dwelling to buy, probably back in Bristol.

We hadn't met for ages of course, so it was a particularly good thing to be able to do. I hadn't seen the family house he is staying in, nor the lovely village in the more than rolling hills bordering on Herefordshire.

After a fine lunch we drove to the nearby River Monnow and then walked beside it through fields and woodland edges to reach to a small 'beach' on the river.  Pip spotted a couple of lapwings feeding amongst a large new crop of maize plants in a field by the river. Surprisingly there was very little other bird life.

As we traced our steps back to the car these cows appeared peering over the edge of a steep bank, a bit perplexed to see us strolling by. A few minutes later the herd with its very young calves had relaxed and moved back into the pasture.