Base Camp

THIS MAJESTIC OLD OAK offers quiet shade to the north-eastern margins of Grafham Lake. With Connie and Alfie at my side, I walk beneath it and admire it almost every day. What a wonderful climbing tree!

Sadly, I know I’ll never climb it.

The temptation is still there of course and once upon-a-time I wouldn’t have hesitated! Nowadays though, being older (and just a little bit wider) I feel obliged to resist. Such a spectacle would be bound to attract a gathering of well-meaning dog walkers, all trying to talk an old-boy out of doing something very silly!

I’m satisfied (from the safety of ‘Base Camp’) that the nerve remains intact and if I really had to, I could.

Perhaps one day – when no-one else is looking…