the heady heights of suffolk

Saturday morning with a pale blue watery sky and a low bright sun. Whilst friends and colleagues are getting up and shopping - or taking in the internet delivery - we were donning waterproofs and gaiters. Parking in a muddy patch in the middle of nowhere, we set off for what was, essentially, a long walk to a pub that had managed to run out of cask beer.

It was good to get my walking boots back on and get out for a walk around unfamiliar fields. The weather has been pretty mild around these parts, we've barely had to put the heating on too high. As for lighting the log burner, well no chance yet. And I haven't had to scrape ice off the car yet, either. There's been a hell of a lot of rain though.

Still, Saturday morning was very bright with a low sun constantly peeping over the top edge of my glasses so I spent a lot of time looking down. Mostly I was watching the mud build up on my boots. Still, when I did get a chance to look around, it really was all unfamiliar. We wandered around and through villages on the north-west side of Ipswich. We even briefly went into the outskirts of Ipswich, an area I'd not even heard of before. The Old Norwich Road area seemed to be a complete community separate from the rest of the town.

Gradually we worked our way towards what was, literally, the high point of the walk. The Trig Point.  Like everything else that seems a little arcane or unusual, Trigpoints (as they seem to be spelt) have their own fans. The picture here was taken on Saturday at the Trigpoint that marks a typically East Anglian high point above sea level. An astonishing 54 metres above, to be exact. That's my shadow, I was asked by the guy leaning against it for a quick snap to send to his brother who lives up North where they have slightly higher points, I believe. I thought as a few of us are greying well, having it as a sepia photo seemed appropriate.

By the time we got to the pub we were aiming for it was getting quite late into the afternoon. As mentioned, they had two casks of Adnams and one of Doom Bar behind the bar but, alas, they were mainly empty. The bit left in the Cornish one didn't taste too good so we took them back. Now you can see why the Trigpoint was the high point in more ways than one!

It's a new year and by now many who rashly made New Year Resolutions will have probably fallen by the wayside. I made no such things - I can't see the point of fooling yourself. I did agree with Mrs Dave that we need to get out walking even more than last year though. Evidently, it's one of the best forms of exercise that you can do. The other healthy thing to do is to give up drinking for a while. It seems that giving up for January is the in-thing at the moment. Personally, I have decided to give up for about two months.

In a conversation on Friday evening (in the pub, where else?) a friend convinced me that if I don't drink for two or three days per week - Mondays to Wednesday, let's say - then technically by the end of the year, I'll have not had a drink for about a good few months or more. Obviously holidays may be a little difficult to keep up but during the working weeks, that should give me some health benefits.

Cheers!