The lesson I learned at my local dump? There are beautiful times up ahead | Emma Beddington

What was once a toxic wasteland now explodes with flora and fauna. A walk there always gives me renewed faith in imagination, determination and humanityIs it possible to be over walking? All this wholesome outdoor socialising may be healthier, but last week - while slithering over black-ice patches in the dark with a friend, soggy paper cups of mulled wine sloshing, unable even to clutch each other to stay upright - I realised I felt slightly jaded.There is, however, one York walk that never palls: my daily trip to the dump. Not the actual dump, but the disused one, just behind it. Walk through the industrial estate, past Lidl, a builders' merchant and the recycling centre, duck down a scrubby path by the council vehicle depot and you enter an unexpected wonderland: St Nick's nature reserve. Continue reading...