From a Coach Window

There is much to be said for traveling by coach. For a start, we were high up and could see over the hedges along the motor way for miles, which in a car is not always possible.

English motorways go through some beautiful countryside. (So OK, so do Welsh, Scottish and Irish motor ways.) I just happened to be in England.

As the scenes rushed by, I was reminded of Robert Louis Stevenson's poem, that I loved as a child. From A Railway Carriage.

It described looking out of a train window at all the passing things that whizzed by, and the last line ....... "Each a glimpse and gone forever."

The light caused everything to look quite striking, even though it was raining. Many of the fields were bright yellow with crops of rape seed flowers, which were in sharp contrast to the many greens of fields, shrubs, trees and hedgerows that we passed. The fields stretched out into the distance where the far hills were obliterated by mist in a blue grey haze.

Church towers snuggled behind tree tops.

Fields of brown earth invaded by hundreds of large black crows grubbing for food.

Occasionally a sparrow hawk was seen hovering silently and effortlessly as it stalked it's prey.

Every now and then small factories appeared like a scar on the landscape.

Tiny huddles of campers in tents and caravans.

Sometimes, we went over a river, gorged by the rain and saw a boat or two moored by the banks, men fishing.

We went through pig farms that seemed to stretch for miles on either side of the motor-way. Rows and rows of round topped huts, as far as the eye could see, reminding me of refugee camps for some reason.

There were black and white cows, but further up north, only brown ones.

Fields of lambs that were half the size of their mothers, not gamboling like the little ones do but grazing quietly and orderly.

Not everything was beautiful as we sped along. Huge pylons and ugly cables spanned the farmland and stretched for miles.

Ugly cream gasometers that couldn't be hidden.

Power stations with large, fat chimneys, seen for miles and looking quite sinister against the sky.

Road kills, mostly birds lying against the central barrier ...... a squashed pheasant and two crows, one lying on it's back with it's legs stuck in the air.

We came to some traffic jams where the roads were being repaired and cones everywhere. Other vehicles started to overtake us, motorbikes and fast cars. Some with sleeping babies and one with a child lying across the back seat, not even strapped in.

One car that went past, had a large breasted lady sitting in the passenger seat with an unusually large box on her lap. The box had large writing on the lid. "TAKE CARE- LIVE RABBITS!" 

Now, who do I know with rabbits?