Walton Common Wanderings

High above the valley

With views across to Wales
Underneath a clear blue sky
Criss-crossed by vapour trails
A vantage point to keep secure
The home of Bronze Age Man
From where they could watch out for foes
And o'er far country scan
Their tribe now long since vanished
But yet about this place
The soft outlines of earthworks
Still show their makers' trace

Electric fencing underground
There cattle to deter
Without this buried barrier

They'd graze just everywhere.
Harsh cries of hidden pheasants
Clear calls from high in air
As buzzards drift in lazy arcs
And here the updrafts share
Birds flitting through the branches
Of trees fresh-clothed in green
Their passage marked by limpid song
But singers rarely seen
Wild flowers pink and yellow
Bright petals white and blue
Dot the open grassland
And punctuate the view.