Another longer-than-usual walk: 3 hours and 26 minutes, via Windmill Hill to Old John in Bradgate Park, back via Swithland Wood. Yet another sunny day: this is supposed to be November!. Pain in the big toe of my right foot from about 1/3 of the way round; I can’t remember whether it was this or the left big toe that was dislocated when I was knocked off my bike in 2010.

Yesterday’s shorter walk took me past a pheasant shoot in the Woodbrook valley between Beacon Hill and Buck Hill. Shooters down in the valley, and men with red and white flags, presumably flushing the birds out, up on the hillside. I saw several dozen birds fly over (there were partridges as well as pheasants), but I only saw one go down. Not very impressive, given that the pheasants were flying in nice straight lines. Still, I suppose the idea isn’t to massacre them, but to leave plenty there to shoot at on another day.