Monday, 7 October 2013

#CountryKids Mini Ramble on The Helm

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall
We had another Mini Ramble with our local Ramblers on Sunday. This time we were joined by another family with 3 children to go up the Helm which is behind Oxenholme. There turned out to be plenty to do to make a 3 mile walk take 2.5 hours! First up we met the local hill ponies being taken for a ride:

horse

Then we picked blackberries:

blackberries

Spotted fungi:

fungi

Played hide and seek in the bracken:

bracken

And eventually reached the trig point on the top:

top of the helm

My daughter enjoyed helping to lead the walk:

the helm

Everyone tried to spot their house from the top:

kendal

Having younger children around to mother made my daughter's day. I think their parents enjoyed the break too:


It was lovely and peaceful along the top:

the helm

We stood and watched a skein of pink footed geese flying over head:

geese

Before passing through a gate to go down the far side:

the helm

Plenty more fungi to spot on this side:


fungi

We had raided the car for empty plastic bottles so we could pond dip:

pond dipping

pond dipping

Nothing really found be we spotted this caterpillar nearby:


The quiet lane on the back of the hill was an autumnal delight as we hunted for acorns:

acorn oak

We only saw 3 cars whilst walking down here so it was very relaxing:

autumn lane

There were some tempting paths off the side:


It was a real test of our nature knowledge. We weren't sure which tree this was:


And the variety of fungi went nameless:


My son knew that these were acorns from an oak tree though:

acorn oak leaves

For novelty there is an old unused phone box outside a farm. Perfect for locking kids in:

red telephone box

We spotted the ponies heading back from their ride:


Further up the trees changed and my son was excited by this find "Mummy there is something in this""

nuts

My children managed to find a climable tree too:

tree climbing

It was a mini adventure on the path back across the side of The Helm:

woodland path

There was a chance to guess the paw prints, my daughter was hopeful with badger but the adults reckoned this was dog:

animal tracks

Children's imaginations are great my son was calling out "Mummy a fairy house" when he saw this fly agaric:

fly agaric

All in all a perfect autumn walk with kids who came home with pockets stuffed with acorns! Roll on the next one in November..