Brilliant Band of Busy Bees Breathlessly Bounding to the Bakery by the Beach to fill their Backpacks, Before Beer and a Bath

Another beautiful Saturday, as we bounded off on our 5k runs; just like parkrun, but without the requirement for a barcode.

Katherine led the field, spotting some cheerful bunting near a bench in Breaston. Benches were also popular in Wales; Gwyn spotted one by a bistro and another blue one by some buoys. They come in handy for big bums to sit on, though nobody took the opportunity to photograph one of those, despite a suggestion to that effect having been made! Helen also spotted a bench, along with a British Rail carriage, a bus stop and some bins.

By coincidence, Katherine managed a bus stop and bin in the same shot, along with a bridge, a Belisha beacon and a bollard. We had a further bus stop from Peter, another (with a bus shelter) from Gwyn, and two bus stops in the same picture from Tracey.

On the theme of transport, Peter spotted a black BMW (which may have refuelled at the BP petrol station), Gwyn saw some boats, and Tracey saw signs reminding her that her local bush-lined route is also a public bridleway and is shared with bicycles (hope it’s not a boring repeat of last week that her blue bra was on show again).

Tracey’s burst ball was only fit for the bin, though it would be a long way to take it to the Borough of Redbridge to use the one that Peter spotted, or to Gwyn’s bin, which was close to the beach and a bridge. Not far from there, he saw a sign for Bryn Ffynnon Road and Helen found a whole variety of business and amenities signs relating to where she lives in Brailsford; Brailsford Medical Centre, Brailsford and Ednaston Institute, Brailsford Ironcraft , Burrows Gardens, Brailsford Methodist Church Brailsford Garage, Brailsford Stores and Post Office, Buttermilk Cafe, The Beauty Barn Beauty Salon , Brailsford Golf Club and Blueberry Tearooms.

And on the subject of food, both Gwyn and Peter found bakeries, Peter’s was Belguique. He was also carrying a backpack of food for donation to the food bank. Why not give him a big cheer for that?

We had lots of images of the beauty of nature; blossom, buttercups, a brook and a black bird from Katherine, bluebells, blossom and berries from Helen, bramble and buddleia from Tracey and another brook from Gwyn. Tracey thought she saw a bull, but when she looked from another angle, it was actually a cow. She did see some bunnies, small brown dots in the background of her picture of barbed wire. Helen also spotted barbed wire on her route, and a very delicate butterfly not too far from some colourful bunting.

Some other finds included a barber shop from Peter, giving us a cue for our final quartet of pictures; a basketball net from Gwyn, and a bell (in the gatepost of Elvaston Castle) from Tracey. Then, after all our hard work, we could do with a bottle or glass of beer like the one Peter treated himself to as a reward after a busy day and a nice relaxing bath (though perhaps not the one that Gwyn found on his run).

Brilliant work everyone – bye for now, see you next week!