Blackmoorfoot Reservoir — Left Trainer, Blue, Against a Wall

I know Blackmoorfoot well. I go up there fairly regularly — it's a twenty-minute drive from home, and the path around the reservoir is flat enough that you can think properly while you walk. I wasn't expecting to find anything today. Sometimes that's when it happens.

About halfway round, on the south side where the path runs close to the wall, I saw it. Left trainer. Blue — the sort of faded blue that suggests it were brighter once. Canvas upper, white rubber sole, the sole gone yellowish. Laces in but loose, not tied. Sitting upright against the base of the dry stone wall as if someone had placed it there carefully. Size eight or nine. I crouched down and looked at it for a while before I took any photographs.

There were mud on the toe but not the heel, which I thought was interesting. I've seen that before — it suggests the shoe arrived sole-down, not thrown. I don't draw conclusions from that. I just note it.

The wall itself were in good condition. Moss on the lower stones. You could see right down the valley — the fields were that dark green you get in early April when everything's coming back but hasn't quite committed yet. A heron flew over the reservoir while I was setting up. Landed on the far bank. Stood there the whole time I was present. Not relevant but I noted it.

I sat on the wall a few yards back — I don't like to sit too close — and had my sandwiches. Corned beef. Our Linda had done them thick, which I appreciated. Flask of tea. Sat for about twenty-five minutes. It were very still. No wind at all, which is unusual up there. The reservoir were like a mirror. I took nine photographs. Seven came out. Pleased with most of them.

On the way back to the car I looked at the shoe from the path and you could barely see it. It were tucked right against the wall, in the grass. You'd walk past it ten times and never know. I only spotted it because I were looking at the wall — there's a section where the coping stones have shifted and I wanted to see if they'd moved since last time. They had, slightly.

A quiet one. I liked it.

Corned beef. Flask. The reservoir were like a mirror.