We woke on Sunday to a garden full of snow!  Now looking back we haven't had snow like this for quite a few years.



The initial response was to go back to bed (which indeed I did, with a hot cup of coffee and my laptop to do a bit of writing and photo organising etc.)

But then we ventured out because dogs need walking whatever the weather (though I did wonder if Brandy would refuse to come. As far as I knew this was her first snow and she might have thought better of the idea.)







Brandy a little hesitant for a fraction of second but then she decided snow offered all sort of opportunities for hi jinks.



We met doggy friends out.






This is a little river that runs right through the middle of Milton Keynes. It links a number of lakes. I have seen Kingfisher but never been able to photograph one.  There are plenty of ducks, heron and small white heron and rumour has it there are otters.

Below is Bradwell Abbey - this was a medieval abbey that was never one of the great abbeys of England. It actually shut before the reformation when the crown seized much church land. More recently it was a farm and this was the farmhouse. The end you see in the photo below really is an old part of the abbey. The little chapel (out of shot of this photo) was used as the tool shed for years. Now its a listed monument because of the rare wall paintings on the wall. Not that I have ever seen them. They chapel is kept locked.



And here is the other side of the farmhouse.

The scaffolding on the end is a permanent fixture. I think the place needs a lot of work to make it useable again. It is a long time since it was a house. More recently it was used as offices though i suspect not very good ones.


Then onto the concrete cows. Oh I do love the concrete cows.  These in Bancroft are not the originals. Instead they are replicas, but this does not mean they have lost any charm. After all, they are concrete too!



Some ingenious takes on the traditional snowman.

 Then back through Bradwell Village. This is one of the original villages of MK. Bradwell was listed in the Domesday book and actually predates the neighbouring Abbey,which was founded in the 1100s.


There are some victorian cottages in the village as well as some older stone cottages.


Very picturesque.


Once, Bradwell even had a castle. Nothing grand, really. Just a mott and bailey, but nevertheless a castle.  Consequently, there is not a lot to see now. Just a lump in the ground really.


But Bradwell has a lovely church.


And this tree was in the churchyard. I think it is a sort of plum. Whatever, the birds were having a feast. And it was like a tree bedecked with golden jewels.




Through the churchyard and you see these little houses, that are right against a wood. So much so that the one at the end feels as though it is in the wood.

Over the railway line. Even the trains were affected by the snow.



And home again. (thats not my house, by the way. Just a view up the road.)

And then I shovelled snow!