Another much needed break in the weather, so we headed for a late evening Moors walk. We had the place to ourselves and wow did we enjoy it.

I’ve been venturing here for decades and wonderfully, it never seems to change. Along the path there is a creaky old gate which is a nightmare to open but also which is just low enough to step over. For years I would simply jump it but recently I started taking a short detour and opting for a gap in the fence.

After all these years I still can’t figure out how to open that gate….

And WHY did I stop jumping over the gate…..

I can still easily clear the height but for some reason I stopped. I kinda assumed it was simply about the fear of PAIN. For years I played contact sport, the bumps, the hitting the ground didn’t seem to matter. But at some stage it started to really hurt and I suddenly really knew it. I became way more careful and cautious playing sport. So if I mess up that gate jump, it’s a very hard ground, it will hurt…

But now I’m wondering….

Is it the fear of PAIN or is it the fear of BEING WATCHED MESSING UP. What happens if someone sees me fall, make a fool of myself. The EMBARRASSMENT. I’ve started to notice that I will turn opportunities down simply because I might be noticed messing up in public.

A few months back I was out trail running on a popular path and I jumped a fence, or tried to. I slipped and basically crashed into the fence, landing like a bag of spuds on the other side. A few bruises but no pain… But I was seen falling by several walkers. I bet they laughed. Is that the reason that I’ve stopped jumping that Moors Gate. It’s crazy it wouldn’t normally have bothered me, in fact I would have loved the idea of people getting a giggle, so where did this social embarrassment come from.

Well this time I jumped the Gate but guess who looked around first to check that no passing walkers were looking.

31 thoughts on “Misty Moors”

  2. My guess is you, but surely it is better to have a witness to help you up, rather than lay there with a broken ankle? I still hope you have someone you tell where you are going, before you set out and when you get home. When my son drove back from Scotland, he used this tracker thing that we could all check his progress. I just sent messages each time I stopped, so family knew where I was. I also guess the car rental might have had a tracker, maybe? I guess if needed I could jump a gate. It was during the badger cull protest that I last jumped a metal farm gate, but only due to shots being fired by poachers in my direction and my adrenaline kicking in. I was like The Bolt and leapt over like a gazelle with a lion on it’s tail.

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  8. Not so sure their first thought was to laugh at you and if it was they are rotters. Given I am a klutz I long ago gave over being embarrassed as I am likely to trip over air, grab hold of a dolly and have it shoot off with me screeching on the back of it. Buster Keaton I am not.

    Gorgeous pictures.

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  9. Once, while hiking in the Cotswolds alone, I couldn’t find the exit gate from a field and the fencing had barbed wire on top and my bus was coming soon, so I climbed a tree and shimmied along a branch until I had cleared the fence and then dropped down. I landed safely, but my first thought was, “I hope no one is videoing this gray-haired woman climbing a tree.”

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  10. Yay on jumping the gate! Beautiful scenery! Great photos. I would have looked around first as well, before jumping. LOL! But I also tell myself when in public situations that I will never see those people again so what does it matter.

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  14. These images have such a magic to them…and as for jumping, I hear you. I tripped while out for a walk a couple of weeks ago, and my knee and wrist still complain to me now and then. I can walk fine, I can type fine, but I find myself reticent to try running because I’m afraid of pain or worsening whatever I did to myself. Perhaps it’s time to try running, and devil may care who sees. xxxxxx

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