I had a meeting this afternoon which gave me the excuse to have a walk round Lower Lydbrook, a long, straggly village with a coal mining history, that meanders down from the Forest of Dean to the edge of the River Wye.

I came across a fabulous bit of Ice. Cars had splashed water from a puddle over a fence and the lower branches of the hedge, where it had frozen to create fabulous shapes.

There seems to be a lot of mistletoe around this year. One clump of trees over the river, they look like may trees, looked as green as summer.

I walked up a very steep footpath and found a massive stone bulkhead at the top. It seems there used to be a viaduct crossing the valley. I’ll have to find out why.

The path took me down to the main road, which I have driven down many times in the past twenty years. It’s amazing what you see when you are walking. I was taken by a flattened shed – it must be dug out inside because you couldn’t stand up.

On the side of the road was this now dried up spring – I say dried up – of course it could just be frozen up. I feel there must have been a trough underneath it once for the horses to drink from.

I felt quite brave walking on my own of my immediate turf. I guess the more you do things outside your comfort zone the more normal it becomes.