Tracey and Lana's horse

At last the day has started with some sun shining in through the windows quickly clearing the frost and giving us a much needed boost to our spirits. But by the time I had properly got going and was ready to drive us to town, the clouds had begun to return. Woodpeckers was going on errands and hoped to visit a couple of the print exhibitions that will end at the weekend.

I decided I'd head up to Bisley after dropping her off near the charity shop where she wanted to get rid of some of our excess. We need some fresh vegetables and eggs as well as stocks of sunflower seeds for the birds, which have just run out after the heavy demand in the recent cold weather lasting weeks.

As we reached the car, we noticed two horses way down the road, standing as their riders talked to some residents. As they started walking up the road, I grabbed my camera from its bag and managed to grab a few pics as they passed by us on their way to the footpath leading to Horns Road and on to the riding stables at the far end of the Horns valley.

It was only then that Tracey, our next door neighbour, arrived in her Land Rover, as she had been one of the people talking to the riders down the road. She told us that the two horses belonged to her and her daughter, Lana, and were being ridden by friends who were able to handle the rather difficult horse which I have pictured. Lana is a proficient event rider, buying and selling horses to try and get better mounts to compete with, but she has to work during the day. We often have horses passing the house, which I really like, as many of the riders want to use the local roads to get the horses used to walking on them.

My trip to Bisley was marked by my sighting a buzzard sitting on a Cotswold stone wall close to the road, which prompted me to turn the car round when it was safe and to head back to see if I could get up close. As I approached I pulled in to a farm entrance to prepare the camera for any eventuality, but then I saw a van screech to a halt on seeing the buzzard and stopped very close to its perch. Within a couple of seconds it had taken off in fright and turned away across the open field to trees far beyond. That was the end of that.

I did spend some time looking over walls into field beyond which I knew would have good views. I spotted two bulls at the head of the Stancombe valley and I now know where to look for a footpath to try and get down to what looks to be a rather pretty coombe with views far into the distance. Another spot two miles nearer to Stroud gave me views into Lypiatt Park, a huge estate where the former owner Lynn Chadwick, who was a renowned sculptor , had installed many of his works across the landscape of open grassland, woods and small lakes. It is private but I do know someone who might be able to take me round there one day.