Distractions, reflections

David Ing, at large … Sometimes, my mind wanders

2008/09/14 Walks in Happy Valley Park and Coulsdon Common, farm in Surrey

For a quiet family Sunday, Greg and Scott suggested seeing the countryside nearby.  I’m used to touring the urbanized London, but the Green Belt near the southern suburbs has a completely different feel.  We drove over to Happy Valley Park in Croydon.

DI_20080914 092908 HappyValley kiosk

In the parking lot, we encountered some urban art:  a burned out car.  This vandalism was probably was the work of some juveniles.  We wondered why the chassis hadn’t been taken away, already.

DI_20080914 092740 HappyValley burned car

Down the road, we walked into Happy Valley Park.  The park was quiet, and we encountered a few other families on the way.

DI_20080914 093206 HappyValley family walk

On the way, Jasper stopped to check out some interesting smells.

DI_20080914 093312 HappyValley dog stop

The road led to a clearing, at the perimeter of the park.

DI_20080914 094026 HappyValley walk clearing

Directly adjoining, the Coulsdon Common includes woodlands and grasslands.

DI_20080914 094330 CoulsdonCommon

We paused to give Jasper a drink.  This was a great photo opportunity for Scott, Daniel and Greg.

DI_20080914 094414 CoulsdonCommon SW DE GE

The commons were relatively open.  The picnic table seemed to be the only sign of civilization.

DI_20080914 094542 CoulsdonCommons picnic table

We circled back around the field.  The ground had a few traces of horseback riders in the area.

DI_20080914 094936 CoulsdonCommons field

Next, we then drove over to Godstone, to the Surrey Flower Farm Shop.

DI_20080914 103702 Surrey FlowerFarmShop

Behind the store, there’s a farm.  I didn’t expect to see corn growing in England.

DI_20080914 103842 Surrey FlowerFarmShop cornfield

There’s nothing fresher than picking corn right off the stalk.

DI_20080914 103906 Surrey FlowerFarmShop cornfield picking

It wouldn’t be the same playing hide-‘n-seek in the produce section of a grocery store.

DI_20080914 104036 Surrey FlowerFarmShop cornfield hidden

The farm had pumpkins, but they were too early to harvest.

DI_20080914 104402 Surrey FlowerFarmShop pumpkins

Further along, we found some raspberry bushes.

DI_20080914 104520 Surrey FlowerFarmShop raspberry picking

A few rows over were blackberries.

DI_20080914 105036 Surrey FlowerFarmShop blackberry picking

Inside the store were some other foods not grown on the farm.

DI_20080914 110318 Surrey FlowerFarmShop shopping veg

This store isn’t a big operation, but it had what we needed for the Sunday.

DI_20080914 110644 Surrey FlowerFarmShop checkout

I’ve seen some of the English countryside on my travels on trains.  There’s a lot of greenery outside the cities that I don’t always think about.

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