A Ramble from Loddon to Hales

Looking back over my shoulder I could see the tower of Loddon church sinking into the trees as I wended my way along the paths and lanes and on into the countryside. 

With a lick of sun on my back and a delicious fresh leafy green tang in the air, on I walked, losing myself in the rhythm of my movement...

However, when I saw a large herd of beautiful cows grazing, I had to stop and stare. To this city boy they appeared other worldly. For a moment, I thought of my mum...

"He had lovely long eye-lashes - like a cows" she once revealed to her young sons. Big mistake! Still to this day we rib her about 'Cows Eyes' who gave her a ride (and that isn't a euphemism!) on the back of his scooter and jumped a light, blinking all the time with lashes like a cat-o-nine tails. 

The cow looked at me with a bit of a hard look in its eye - but I wasn't cowed. However, I was surprised to note that they were wearing hearing aids. I looked at the cow; the cow looked back at me. There was a bit of an edge to this situation, so - to lighten things up a little - I told the cow an improvised joke...

Q: "What do cows have for breakfast?"
A: "Moo-sli!"

I tried another quip...
"I'm just going for a moo-ch. What about you?"

The cow just looked back at me, impassively. She didn't appear to be amoosed at all. No sense of humour! I decided to move on...

After an hour and a half or so, Hales church came into view. My pace quickened as I looked forward to re-visiting this fantastic Norman country church, with it's round tower, thatched roof and original apse (the semi-circular shaped east end). 

Even if Norfolk's livestock do lack a sense of humour, the county's churches certainly are something to behold.

For further information about Norfolk's amazing churches, visit Simon Knott's excellent site...

The Norfolk Churches Site

~ by Munro Tweeder-Harris Esq. ~