A long country walk

"Let's go for a long country walk."  Those words will always set my son and daughter off into hysterical laughter as they remember the Sunday afternoons and holidays of their childhood. "What shall we do today?" I would ask with every appearance of innocent enquiry; interesting, expensive and outrageous suggestions would pour forth and then someone would say, "I know, let's go for ..." and everyone would join in with "....... a Long Country Walk!" This later became simply the LCW and can be applied to anything that appears to be a form of Hobson's Choice.

I am delighted to report that the grandchildren are now old enough to suffer or enjoy the family tradition. We joined my daughter, her husband and Millie and Benjamin for a holiday in Cornwall and I am delighted to say that they had chosen a  cottage deep in the countryside with no beaches, traffic, entertainments or crowds for miles around. See how much fun can be found on a LCW! This is the Nature Trail at St Clether.

Grumpy is the first to spot The Stone of Confusion

Millie mounts the stone and forgets her name and which way to go

 No-one may pass through a gate unless they can answer Millie's challenge. At this one we had to name five flowers that we had seen on the trail

Other walkers might think this is an old gate post but we know that it is really a quarrelsome witch, turned to stone by the rest of the coven who got tired of her grumbling

Mummy finds the Preacher's Stone and subjects us all to a lengthy sermon

We linger at the lake to watch the dozens of damsel flies and frolicking frogs. Grumpy adds excitement by surreptitiously throwing pebbles into the water and convincing the children there is a huge monster in the deep!

Two year-old legs get tired so Ben hitches a ride on Daddy's back. This is a good place for birdwatching and to see the river that lies ahead.

A great place for playing Pooh sticks but.... oh dear...

..... Millie throws her cup instead of her stick ....

.... and forever more this shall be known as The Bridge Where Daddy Risked Everything To Rescue Millie's Cup

Time to head for home and Millie takes the lead, having found the Stone of Clarification to counter the effects of the Stone of Confusion

But, no matter how hard you plead, he can't come with us!