A longer walk, Worcester, Sunday, 28th February, 2016.

3:00pm-ish.

We've walked into town and had a tea and cake (no cake for Vicky, it's Lent), to keep us energised

 and now we've arrived at the Diglis Marina.

Bit chilly today. A touch of winter sunshine wouldn't be amiss. Dream on.

Howard. Out and, furthermore, about.

Another walk, another selfie.

See kids? Olde folks take selfies all the time.

Ergo sum, it cannot be 'cool' to take selfies.

So, stop taking 'em and, together, we can bring the whole Selfie Stick industry 

(and Western Capitalism/Consumerism an' all, with a bit of luck) crashing down around our ears.

Got any bread?

Nope.

Well, bog off then.

(We're fluent in 'mute swan', oh yes).

Another old building being converted into apartments.

Dave. Go and stand by that lamp post.

OK Vic.

Vicky gazing up at a tall chimney.

'round the back by the bins view of The Cathedral.

Cathedral interior.

The great man was a fan of The Mighty Wolves when they were actually Mighty.

He used to cycle from Worcester to The Molineux every other Saturday to watch the great Rev Kenneth Hunt and 'the chaps' cruise to another supreme victory over The Great Combustables or The Old Etonians (or whatever those olde teams used to be called back then).

Proper football.

Every time we see these two trees we debate how olde they must be.

'Very', we'd say.

Back in town and it's time for another cuppa tea and a savoury scone.

I think you can guess who ate the majority of it.

Retracing our steps on the way home and the sun comes out at last.

Quick! Take a photo before it goes back in.

Where's the river gone?

First snowdrops of 'the Spring'.

We got home for 5 o'clock and walked 6.72 miles.

Lovely.

Rest & Recuperation, Worcester, Monday, 15th February.

4:30pm: Emlyn gets a welcome massage whilst practicing his Pilates.

Whether he's happy about it is another matter altogether but, then again, 

is anybody happy doing Pilates?

Dropping: Worcester, 14th February, 2016.

1:30pm: 

Sure enough, the river peaked on Friday and is now dropping as quickly as it came up.

Plenty of mud and silt has been deposited on the footpath.

There's no point walking into town along here tho' because, according to a family walking towards us, the path is still flooded with rain water at the Grandstand.

Ducks resting on the edge of the racecourse.

I walked past here on Thursday evening on the way to Cardio Fit and these ducks were sat on the top rail of the racecourse which, at that time, was just an inch above the water line.

Redwing watches the ducks and us.

Same photo, cropped (a lot) and fiddled about with in Photoshop, to prove that it is definitely a Redwing ('cos we weren't 100% sure at the time).

OK: off into town now for a swift visit to Boots and then summat to eat.

Whilst in Boots I had a funny turn whilst Vicky was at the checkout. I came over all dizzy, the world started spinning and I felt nauseous so had to sit down a bit sharpish on the 'scales' to the side.

A big thanks to the young Manageress who helped us and organised a chair, a ham and cheese sammidge, and a bottle of water. And also to the passing ex-Staff Nurse and Trainee Paramedic who carried out one or two on the spot tests.

It took a while to recover and, needless to say, we got a taxi home.

I really must remember to 'fuel up' before every walk in future.

Peaked? Worcester, Friday, 12th February, 2016.

At last night's Cardio Fit session the experts (i.e. them wot read The Worcester News and wot watch BBC Midlands News) reckoned that the river will peak by lunchtime today. 

That's about an hour from now.

There's certainly more water in Waterworks Road.

There's also more water on the racecourse.

Swan enjoys investigating a flooded corner of the Sports Ground.

Railway bridge from Hylton Road.

View from the flooded South Parade.

The swans of South Quay are back. Yay!

So, if it has just about peaked, it wont be a record flood by any means. 

The 24 hour news channels won't find any trepidation here.

But it certainly came up quickly earlier in the week from what was quite a low level.

Caught our attention anyway.

Still rising, Worcester, Thursday, 11th February, 2016.

No access to The Racecourse/Pitchcroft from Waterworks Road.

The Racecourse is flooded from one path to the other.

Only a fool, or somebody blinded by the bright sunshine, would think that he could walk through this water rather than turning back and taking a detour.

So, should Vicky decide to grill you regarding this incident, remember, you know nothing.

The swans have abandoned South Quay.

What do they know that we don't?

Folk enjoying sitting by the river as the water starts to lap around their ankles.

View over Pitchcroft from The Moors Car Park.

Another fabulous day for walking. Just over 4 miles today.

Up a touch more, Worcester, Wednesday, 10th February, 2016.

The river has come up a bit more since yesterday.

Ah, the 'Panoramic function'. I'd forgotten our camera had that. Makes a change from selfies, eh?

It's the left hand path today, along the allotments side of the racecourse.

Ha! Another panoramic-jobbie.

Looking across the flooded racecourse (complete with swans today) 

to the Grandstand and the river beyond.

Oh bother! As we cultured members of society say when confronted with the impassable.

Hmm, time to turn back and find an alternative route to the other side of the river.

It's another brilliant day for walking. 

Bright, cold, a bit breezy, and with no humidity to speak of.

Feels like I could walk for miles.

Well, just over 4 as it happens.

Gotta pace meself.

Housework this afternoon and then slaving over a hot stove
to have Vicky's dinner on the table for 7.

It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it.

Up again, Worcester, Tuesday, 9th February, 2016.

We've walked up town, via another weekly INR Blood Test for me at the Doc's, and had a lovely meal at Carluccio's, Vicky's bought a new top for work, and now we are heading back home via Pitchcroft  but we don't get very far as the path is flooded at the Racecourse.

River water is coming in from behind the stables and flowing in to the already flooded infield which is still waterlogged with Sunday's rain thanks to the high water table.

Before turning back we take a selfie (as you do).

We'll have to walk home along the 'topside' of the racecourse.

Never mind, it's a beautiful day. 

Cold and sunny and, with no humidity, it's easy to breathe and walk quickly.

The 'going' on the finish straight is damp to, ahem, soggy.

The river is up at the 'Pumphouse end' an' all.

No way into town for walkers along here.

More water here than yesterday. No surprise.

By the time we get home we have walked 5.45 miles.

Vicky went out in the morning as well, so she's done a mile on top of that.

Down and up, Worcester, Monday, 8th February, 2016.

The river's up again.

Nowt remarkable about that, you might think.

What is remarkable is how fast it has come back up.

We walked along here on Saturday and the river was so low it didn't seem worth taking any photos.

All the lower paths were showing.

So, at a rough guess, we'd say the river has risen by ten feet in about 48 hours.

There'll be more coming from Wales and Shropshire an' all.

This is what happens to folk wot have walked briskly into town on a cold day in a stiff breeze, spent almost an hour at the hairdressers, and then done a bit of window shopping whilst killing time waiting for David to turn up: they fall asleep waiting for their mains!

Much later, and after a suitable period of rest and recuperation, Vicky and Emlyn join forces to tidy up the 'office'.

It's an ongoing process.