Shelf Footpaths - May 2020
Even with all its restrictions, lockdown affords us opportunities. For me it has been the time to explore the network of footpaths that lie behind my house. To my eternal shame, in the 6 years I have lived here, I have never set foot on any of them and this has been my chance to rectify that. In under a minute from locking my house door, I am in open fields. These have been cut recently and I have been watching flocks of starlings and sparrows feasting on the fallen seeds. Crossing the fields, I come to Blackshaw Beck which marks the boundary between Calderdale and Bradford. As I approached the bridge one day I happened to look up and my attention was drawn to the tree that stands at this point - or should I say trees. Elm branches overhang the bridge but the top of the tree showed an ash in flower. Closer inspection revealed that the trunks of the trees had fused together making a striking feature.