Dirt Bikes

Not for any reason other than it's pretty, it's got Dad's 2CV in the picture and it's right near where his 2CV crowd are doing up their project car, Mademoiselle d'Armentieres; a picture of Sarre Windmill, in Kent

http://www.open-sandwich.co.uk/mills/sarre.htm

Look at that blue sky. That's how it's been here for the last couple of days - a good thing in some ways. not in others. "Not" when it keeps Dad away playing 2CV's without us, "not" when he disappears up to the allotment without us for hours digging (something about the havoc we create when allowed off the lead to rootle in peoples' compost heaps for mice , rats and hibernating hedgehogs, or trample all over their plots). Allegedly.

Good though when Dad manages to get off work at a sensible hour and there's hours of bright daylight for us to have a sensible walk across the Abbey Fields. The fields are within 5 minutes of our front door and the bone of much contention in the town. Bought off the local farmer(s) at least 13 years ago, by a developper - he has earmarked them for the usual thousand or so dwellings, but the locals have so far fought him off.

So the fields are abandonned arable land, gradually reverting to bramble and birch thickets, but kept nice and walkable by the passing of plenty of "herberts" on dirt bikes. Many locals seem to moan about the bikers, and I guess they can be noisy and just the odd one (usually the younger ones) can be a bit irresponsible with their speed and noise. But we've found the vast majority to be OK, polite and respectful of the fact that other people use the fields for dog walking. So, they get a huge playground to mess about in, we get an ever changing pattern of tracks where the passing of bikes has flattened or kept down the vegetation.

This fight between locals and developpers has dragged on now so long it's given Meg and Haggis superb walking territory, 5 minutes from the house, for all their long lives, and Dad, for one, is hoping it carries on that way fo my whole life and beyond. Saves using the car to get to the "countryside", anyway!

So we say fair play you (responsible) bikers. Long may your knobbly tyres keep our paths walk-able

Deefs