#bridleway

Yorkshire Dales 2026 (2) (3) (4) by Nicholas Coates

Via Flickr:

At long last, Triple Threat was finally home.

The recovery period was a long one, and it wasn’t over even after she left the hospital. She still had to go to therapy for awhile and practice mindful exercises, working hard at not slipping back into harmful mindsets. Certain things she would have to stay mindful of for much longer to come if she wanted to maintain a healthy relationship with her body.

But there was also a different kind of recovery going on. Back in the safety of her home, TT started singing and dancing again. She even dug up some old scripts from plays she had been in, reading them over and imagining what it would be like to perform onstage again.

A reality that was closer than she once thought.

After awhile she went beyond merely reading lines, she decided to try getting back in costume to see how it felt!

Oh gosh… The egg costume from her time in Shank brought back a lot of memories. They gave it to her because she was fat, but it wasn’t a terrible role by itself. A lot of mixed memories were tied to that costume but she just wanted to see if it still fit. If she still had it in her.

And she did!

Triple Threat almost cried with shame the first time she put it on, but now she nearly cried with joy looking at herself in the mirror. The costume was nice and snug, just as it should have been. At long last she was right where she was supposed to be.

“Mom! Daddy!”

She raced out of her room to where her parents were.

“It fits! It fits! The costume fits!”

“Oh my gosh, T!”

“Congratulations!”

Her parents would never fully know the extent of what she was feeling right now, but they didn’t need to ask anything to see that their daughter had returned to them, her happy and gorgeous self yet a brand new mare at the same time.

“Look at this!”

The young mare did a little dance for them and they both cheered and applauded, just like they were watching a real Bridleway show.

Speaking of…

“I’m ready to get back out there, guys. I’m ready to show them what I’ve got.”

Are you sure?

Was the unspoken question between both of them, knowing what Bridleway had put her through before. TT could see it as clear as day.

“I’m really sure. I’ll be careful. But I’ll also show them I’m not to be messed with anymore, they’ve got another thing coming if they try!”

And with that, Triple Threat was back.

~~~~~~~~~~

Walking the River Wandle Part 2: The River Emerges

For many years, Wandle Park showed very little traces of its namesake, which had been culverted and buried in 1968. However, in 2012, the river was freed, and now it flows between grassy banks, cutting a course through the middle of the park, attracting wildlife and rubbish alike. At the western edge it disappears back underground again, and here the walker must take a slight detour, first crossing the tracks of Wandle Park tram stop, then through residential streets and across Purley Way, one of the first purpose-built bypasses in Britain, and the first to have sodium street lamps (now replaced with more modern lights).

Water is found again in the form of Waddon Ponds, which, somewhat confusingly, is just a single mill pond, once belonging to the monks of Bermondsey Abbey, and later used to power the now-vanished Waddon Mill’s grindstones. Nowadays the pond is mainly occupied by waterfowl, with rats patrolling its banks. At its northern edge, it spills into the culverted Wandle.

Following a public bridleway along the edge of an industrial estate, the river is soon found again, now both wide and fast flowing as it emerges. As the pathway joins residential roads, the Wandle flows beside and even through the gardens.

The walker has now reached Beddington, and must make a few twists and turns through the streets to keep up with the river as it runs around them. Soon though, it is an easy straight path westwards all the way to Beddington Park, passing by the large St Mary’s Church and the Tudor house of Carew Manor, now a school.

Beddington Park was once the deer park of Carew Manor, but is now part of a stretch of largely undeveloped land that ends at Mitcham, two miles to the north. Here, the Wandle is easy to follow as it continues in a westerly direction, gradually widening as it reaches a mill pond at the edge of the park. The river rushes through channels and under small stone bridges here, then under the road, where it must temporarily be lost from sight again…

Yes! Someone else who thinks Gyro might be evil. I know a lot of people are betting on the vulture board, but they seem too obvious. I mean, they’re literally vultures. We know this show really likes to reverse our expectations. Plus, Webby’s board said traitor on it, and I’m pretty sure that’s not just referring to Lena. I feel like the show has some major backstabbing betrayal plot coming soon.