The sun is out in Perlethorpe again this morning. This follows on from a nice day yesterday’ which I’m told was the warmest February day on record for the UK with temperatures topping 20C in some places. Let’s hope the good weather holds.

It’s been a good week for dog walking, with decent weather all week. Some days were even quite warm considering it’s still only February.

One dog taking advantage of the nice weather was Rupert, who is seen in the photo above annoying a walk near Vale Angling Club. Unfortunately Rupert’s owners are moving away from the area soon, meaning his morning walks will be coming to an end. This means I have a rare mid-morning slot available. So if your dog needs a walk give me a call on 07837 306824.

Hello to two new dogs who have started walks together this week. Hunter and Tweed are brother and sister. They are still puppies, so don’t quite walk for a full hour yet. But they go a bit further every day and definitely love to be outside.

As with all puppies, they are furry bundles of energy that never seem to stop moving, which is why this is the best picture I could take of them. They’re very intelligent though, so learning stuff like how to walk on a lead is coming quite easy to them.

It’s been very cold this last few days, with temperatures staying firmly below zero all day yesterday. There’s no snow, but there is one of the thickest frosts I’ve ever seen. It didn’t stop Otis wanting his walk though. Most dogs seem to love the cold weather and those I walk are no exception. So it was time to dig out the thermal gloves and wooly hat and off we went.

If you go for a walk through the woods at Langwith to-day  there is little sign of the industry that once went on in the area. It’s green and peaceful now, but it was not always this way, as I found out on Pepper’s walk this week.

First we went through what is now a park and some woodland, but not too many years ago this was the site of one of the area’s numerous collieries, complete with huge railway sidings. There’s absolutely nothing left of any of it, except for the rail track that is now the Robin Hood line and an old footbridge over it.

Carrying on across the bridge, we eventually came to a huge open space. Here, over a century ago now, stood His Majesty’s Factory, a huge and supposedly secret place engaged in making the chemicals for use in WW1 era sea mines. Needless to say this was a dangerous Job and two fatal accidents happened in quick succession.Today the factory is also just a memory. However there is a small stone with a plaque attached, giving the details of those who lost their lives. The plaque also remembers the crew of a WW2 aircraft that crashed on the site.

It’s a shame that at least some of this history couldn’t be preserved. The closure of the colliery and subsequent landscaping of the surrounding area wiped it all away though. And judging by the air gun pellet holes in the plaque, it probably wouldn’t have been appreciated anyway. How sad.

There’s a definite nip in the air this morning. The pond at Vale Angling Club is completely frozen over and there’s a thick frost covering everything.

The weather hasn’t stopped Rupert wanting his walk though. The photo above is the scene today down on the old railway track.

It may have got gold over the last week, but the signs that winter is almost over are definitely there. Rupert found the first clump of snowdrops of 2019.

It was a nice bright morning down at Vale Angling Club this morning but very, very cold. It didn’t stop Rupert wanting his walk though. So I pulled my wooly hat down over my ears and off we went.Despite the cold there were quite a few people (and dogs) enjoying the sunshine. Let’s hope there are lots more nice bright days to come.

Christmas is over for another year, so now it’s time to look forward to the Summer and to try not to dwell on the two months of winter that are yet to come. Someone who is not dwelling on it is Pepper, who has been out this week, enjoying her walks as usual.

The weather was a bit miserable for most of last week. Cold, dark and wet. However while walking Pepper on Friday the sun did briefly appear. I managed to quickly take the photo above before the rain started again.