Yesterday was another bad day for the world and a good day for the virus. Number of deaths and known cases in UK still rising. So to switch off I decided to do a longish jog to explore the length of the Loose Stream or River as we like to call it. In the morning however, I did a bit more spring cleaning.
My local exercise run I did as a scenic jog, This allowed me to explore the stream from where it enters the Medway at Tovil via a pipe. A sad ending to a really lovely river.
So my run took me from there upstream to head towards Langley. So after the pipe exiting the Medway the track of the stream is underground at Tovil. It is is next seen near where Allnutts Paper Mill once stood. Not the most beautiful part of the stream but nevertheless it flows quite fast here.
Under the houses from here and it then appears just before Crisbrook Pond and Mill.
Next is the old Hayle Mill. When I was in the KFB I worked for a while there doing fire precautions. I’ll never forget watching them making hand made paper. Despite local opposition when the mill closed the conversion to private accommodation has been achieved most tastefully.
Having run from home to Tovil and now along the off road tracks I was enjoying the jog just stopping to take the occasional photo. After Hayle Mill it was onto Ivy Mill Road at Bockingford Mill.
I was now into the really picturesque part of the Loose Valley and after 5 or so miles of running I wasn’t far from my home. Next was Little Ivy Mill.
By the time I reached Loose Village I was still feeling OK just a bit of cramp in right foot. No temptation to turn left to home which was only half a mile away.
Across Brook Field and then I ran half way up old Loose Hill took a path right then crossed the A229 and followed the tracks back down through the Scout land crossing the stream between the two ponds.
On through the woods towards The Quarries where once again the stream disappears underground and emerges soon after the bottom of Cliff Rd. It then crosses Brishing Lane and here the stream flows weaker and opens into what is called Stream Shaw. This is another pond which looks like flooded woodland, quite surreal. It has a backdrop of the vast area of polytunnels on the Chart Sutton side of the bank.
Half a mile on and I was on the six mile mark and my foot cramp was forcing a few stops but I was able to carry on. The access to a footpath then comes to an abrupt halt as the last part of the stream leading towards Langley Loch is on private land protected by a barbed wire fence. So my trip along the valley started and ended in less than picturesque fashion. But in between it was beautiful.
I then headed North up onto Brishing Rd which is at the back of the Parkwood Estate. From there it was a slow plod home away from the valley on roads I am most familiar with. It was disappointing that I could not continue to Langley and the source of the stream but checking an OS map it is possible to pick up a public footpath from Brishing Rd bridge to the Loch, which I am looking forward to explore in the near future.
Very near home I received a phone call from Mum’s carer to say there was concern over Mum’s inflamed leg. Back to reality after the beauty of my valley run. In total I ran just under 9 miles so legs ached a bit that evening!
Sue and I went to see Mum as soon as I had showered. Leg look red, spoke to a doctor by phone. We picked up antibiotics next morning but by then the redness was reducing rapidly and was not causing a problem. We have withheld the antibiotic.