Heading south from Bath on the Kennet and Avon Canal, you pass down the narrowing wooded valley of the Avon towards Bradford on Avon; and crossing the Dundas Aqueduct at Monkton Combe you enter the dark and overhanging trees of Conkwell Woods, or Scary Creepy Conkwell Woods as I like to call them.
On a winter's night, returning late to your boat in the freezing mist, your torch beam will light up the eyes of creatures in the woods looking back at you. They will almost always be deer and foxes, and they're almost certainly thinking "Will you turn OFF that ruddy torch? You've RUINED my night vision!"
Folk who like that sort of thing find even more spookiness than that around here, by talking about Sally in the Woods as a ghost wandering the hills, and going on paranormal hunting expeditions dressed in pith helmets with goggles on and so on. There are ancient things here in the woods, but the Sally in question was apparently a skirmish during the Civil War. But never mind. Not far away is Dead Maids. Owooooo!
On a sunny spring day the woods are carpeted with wild garlic, and lush with the new leaves of the ash and beech. And still you always you feel that something is watching you. And you'll be right.
So that's my new picture.
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