St Stephen's on the hill

 We are walking up the valley but will not turn west to Bonillos but will turn south, amid the newly restore and disintegrating houses and the solar panels which seem emblematic of Castilla. Since I first went up this track a tarmac road has been laid - which you can sport on the variation between Streetview 2009 and 2023.

Among the things I wasn't expecting was shepherds. Driving round the area you would see occasional old men sitting by large flocks of sheep. On this path we encountered the dogs guarding them. Several were huge and amiable. One was just huge. I’m going to call it a wolf hound but this is probably a job description, not a breed. It made it clear the only reason we weren’t a bloody pulp is that, on the balance of it, it couldn’t be bothered.

We are going up to the church. St Stephen's sits in general and splendid isolation. You can climb up the to the bells for a better view. In the village is the everyday Iglesia Pequeña de Brimeda. Beyond that we get to the cementy. I has a single, 4 star review.

We are heading over the valley and into the back of Astorga. The reason for the sheep dogs became clearer when we did this. Dogs are sometimes abandoned by their owners and group had formed into a pack. Not wanting to end up as a headline we advanced both cautiously and safely.