A Little Spot of Nature

A LITTLE SPOT OF NATURE

As some of you may or may not know, as of September I now live in a certain infamous and rather crazy but wonderful city called Manchester. Now don't get me wrong, I really do adore this city and I love, love, love being in the middle of this ever changing and vibrant urban environment. I love the vast array of shops, I love the constant hum and buzz of the city, I love marvelling at the absolutely stunning architecture that greets you on every corner and boulevard you go down, I love the grime here as much as I love the luxurious, and I also love how amazingly speedy and frequent the buses are. But I grew up in Derby, Derbyshire (home of the Bakewell tart and also the current number one football team in the championship league, I'll have ya know, wink wink), right on the edge of the city suburbs and bordering the vast Derbyshire countryside. When we went for late night walks, the city was a distant glittering speck on the horizon, and the road on the edge of my suburb was lined with the lush greens and yellows of the farmer's fields, arching trees and bramble bushes. We could see the stars sprinkled across the sky at night, and sometimes the roads would be silent and oh so peaceful, and it was really rather beautiful. The real, proper countryside was on our doorstep; a mere ten minute drive and you were embedded within it, so we used to always go get lost in the countryside for an hour or two on a Sunday, and boy do I miss that now.

When I went home for the week recently I was absolutely desperate to go to the countryside. I missed it more than I ever thought I would, which is strange because it's something that you never think you'd miss, but the fact is you do. Because it's beautiful, because it's peaceful, because it's serene and vast and a place where you can put everything else that's absorbing your life to one side and just be happy. On Sundays here in Manchester I miss being able to do that so much. I have no idea where the nearest country park is, or where the general countryside is, but at home it was right on my doorstep. So as a tribute to mine and yours' inner David Attenborough, and for all of you that don't have the countryside nearby, or have forgotten just how stunning it can be, here is some truly beautiful photography of the it, with trees and leaves and lakes and flowers and corn fields and all.

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"THE HUMAN SPIRIT NEEDS PLACES WHERE NATURE HAS NOT BEEN REARRANGED BY THE HAND OF MAN"