Luxuriant vegetation cloaks the bankside of the chalk stream called the River Cerne that flows from the north along the valley between Charlton Down and Charminster Down. To the west the ground is pasture, and to the east it is cereal crops, mostly barley this year. Dark dragonflies dart and the birds sing. The tall white flowers of water dropwort and high flowering grasses almost hide the shallow water from view. The blue sky and branches of trees are reflected in intricate patterns on the water surface where it is visible.
Jessica's Nature Blog 
I love your water pics. Woulf like to try it too but water around here is rare. Just the small creeks running in deep trenches through the fields. And some fish ponds jeaously guarded by the fishing club.
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Beautiful photos and writing.
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This creek reminds me of the one near my house when I was a child, and we played there every day, and I especially remember all the boats we made from wood scraps for our “river”.
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Thank you, Claudia. That was the kind of thing that we did when I was a child too. I remember boys making a dam in a local stream near where I lived in Kent – but not this one. Nowadays, I think that sort of play (dam-building) is probably not an option for the majority of children – either because it would be a disturbance to the ecosystem if the stream was pristine, or the converse in some areas as a source of contamination and disease.
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Thank you, Ola. I love photographing water and it has been difficult to get to suitable places since the lockdown, I was very pleased to be able to reach this small local river the other day.
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Thank you, Michelle.
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Yes, no one ever paid attention to what we were doing at the creek, unless we mentioned seeing a snake, and only question then was to make sure we knew what kind it was and did we stay away from it as we had been told?
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Children used to have a greater freedom when we were children but times have changed.
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When I think of all the things we did as kids, no one does them now. Even something as simple as riding your bike out in the country, where you live, you’re thirsty, you stop at someone’s house and ask for a drink of water (for kids, the garden hose was the standard refreshment, plus nice for spraying on yourself to cool down!), and then go on your way, no one thinking a thing about any of it…those days are certainly gone.
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Such different times and ways back then. We were all more trusting although I do not know whether we were safer. We would often disappear for hours without our parents having any idea where we were. They only seemed to notice our absence if we were late for meals.
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