"Allo, allo, allo! Wot's goin' on 'ere then?"

The allure of a delightfully acrid aroma stopped me in my tracks as we were crossing Potarch Bridge at the start of our Wednesday afternoon walk*. But Gail, who could see over the bridge parapet, tugged at my lead, saying, "hurry along Bertie, we need to look like we're exercising".

And she explained the scene on the river bank below. Two youngsters, enjoying a picnic in the sun, had just been 'spoken to' by a couple of local police and, given that the youngsters were packing up their things, it seems they had been 'advised' to move on. 

So we crossed hastily into Sluie Woods, and only when well clear of the road did Gail stop muttering under her breath about there perhaps being more effective ways to prevent coronavirus from spreading, and start to relax a bit and enjoy the warm sweet smell of pine resin and the splashes of wildflowers on the trackside verges. 

At the end of the walk, and noting that the police car had gone and no-one else was around, Gail allowed me a wee paddle in the river just upstream of the bridge. 

I do believe she was wishing she could go for a swim herself...

*Gail confesses to stretching the definition of 'local area' a bit for this otherwise fully 'lockdown compliant' hike.

Happy Nature Friday friends! And once again, massive thanks to Arty, Jakey and Rosy for hosting the Blog Hop.