An eventful doggy walk.

My friends, Barry and Linda and I meet up every week to walk our dogs and have lunch out somewhere.  On Thursday we decided to go to Respryn and walk in the grounds of Lanhydrock where the shade of the trees would be a reprieve from the hot sun; my dog Zac, and their Red Setter, Rua, were not comfortable when it was hot weather. Goldie, their other dog couldn't care less about the heat!

I got there a little early in order to take some photos; this is Respryn Bridge which dates from the 13th century.

The bridge spans the River Fowey (pronounced Foy) which at this time of year is running very low - note the exposed  river bed on the right. 

When I turned to photograph the opposite side of the bridge, I was surprised to see a heron, totally engrossed in looking into the water for his next meal. Apologies for the fuzzy photo; I zoomed in on him but didn't focus properly in my haste, expecting him to fly off at any minute.

 Slightly better, but at least you can see the heron quite clearly.

 I wonder if he'd read this sign!

 Another surprising thing to find, on the handrail of a footbridge, was this dragonfly which had just emerged from its nymph stage and I was able to snatch a photograph while it waited for its wings to dry off, enabling it to fly away.

There were lots of rhododendrons in flower; this one was at the entrance to the car park.

We began our walk along Station Drive, the ornamental carriageway created by the Robartes family, linking the nearby railway station to Lanhydrock House. 

 But soon we turned off the carriageway to enter the woods that border the River Fowey; there are Kingfishers and Otters in there, but with 3 dogs in attendance, we really didn't expect to see them!

But then, as we headed back towards the car park, it happened - as Zac was ambling across a plank bridge which spanned a deep ditch, Rua came running up from behind, leaped across the bridge accidentally knocking Zac sideways and down into the ditch. I think we all screamed!  Zac is an old dog and he has arthritis and weakness in his hindquarters; we all rushed to look down into the ditch to see him sitting, looking quite dazed at the bottom of the ditch. 

My friend Barry, the only one of us without knee problems, climbed down into the ditch and helped Zac to his feet.  After making sure he wasn't injured, he managed to lift him high enough for myself and Linda to pull him up out of the ditch.

Zac found comfort in the coolness of the river . . .

On the final stretch to the car park, he was slow and a bit wobbly but managed to get back without any further mishap.

 I'm very pleased to say that after his dinner and a good night's sound sleep, he suffered no ill effects from the incident. 

Phew!!! 

I didn't walk him on Friday, but today (Saturday) we went up on Bodmin Moor and enjoyed an hour's ramble up there, before coming home for dinner and lots more sleep!