Comic Cuts - 20 July 2018

High vis cardigan and comfortable shoes. What to wear at your local asphalt plant.

With Mel off for the week, I've also taken the opportunity to have a bit of a break and enjoy the sunshine. We've had a couple of exploratory walks around town to areas we've not been before, walking further along the tow path of the river Colne out towards Arlesford, and on Thursday morning on what was meant to be a nice woodland walk that a couple of people had recommended.

Our first step was to get into woodlands, but our first attempt via one route was thwarted by a path so overgrown it was impassable. So we headed further down the road to another route we'd discovered on Wednesday that took us up past the allotments and thence into wild scrubland full of thistles and brambles. Where there were footpaths, they were cracked and treacherous; we did walk through one shady woodland path that led up to a lake. Beautiful-looking lake with ducks splashing about. It might have been the perfect place for a picnic... if only it hadn't been completely fenced off, with a polite notice informing that it was for the protection of the otters.

Following the fenceline took us into an area we could hear trucks and we eventually found our way out of the fields and onto a muddy lane with fountains of water pouring across the road. We'd wandered close to the asphalt plant and trucks were splashing through the water fountains to travel between the plant and the main road.

At that point we began spotting notices warning of high voltage cables, and then one about quick sand and another about the drowning dangers of deep water. Oh, and the sign about recommended safety wear for the site.

 So we headed for the road, and spent a dodgy mile or so wandering along its side as cars raced towards us.

Thankfully, that didn't last for too long and we managed to get onto a road that led us back into Wivenhoe and we wandered back home rather wearier than we'd anticipated. I think Friday's walk might be a woodland walk we've done before where we know where we're going!

Still, we stumbled across a couple of nice glades that we wouldn't have otherwise known about and the exercise definitely did us good. You could tell by how knackered we've felt all afternoon.

I'm still working on the introduction for the book, so I'll try to get my act together and put together a contents list for next week.

With the above in mind, I though today's random scans ought to be on the subject of... DANGER!