Stephenson – North Tyneside

On 05 Aug 202605 Aug 2026 By geoffspagesIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Sunday 2 August: I’m taking a break on the long journey north, visiting a steam railway and museum just beyond the northern exit from the Tyne Tunnel. It may be the North Tyneside Steam Railway; it may be the Stephenson Steam Railway. It seems to have been both at some stage. This may be a reflection of its history, its track laid on the route of several historic waggonways and the former Blyth and Tyne Railway, and more recently, in 1973, a test track for the Metro, then in development.

Whatever its history, the ride, though short (2 miles each way) is pleasant and surprisingly rural, lined with greenery for much of the way. Journey over, a visit to the museum proves to be very rewarding – a well set-up and well-displayed collection of unexpectedly interesting exhibits. Worth another visit, I reckon…

North Tyneside Steam Railway
Stephenson Steam Railway

... where Peckett 'Ashington No 5' is ready to depart

... to get to the other end of the train

Ouside the museum - redundant Metro train

Killingworth Billy - of 1816 (but does anything of the original remain?)

Cab of Ajax / Clio - last surviving part of a Blyth and Tyne loco

NER 3rd rail electric luggage van no. 3267, built 1904

An hour at Shirlett

On 29 Jul 202629 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

I had a leg stretch earlier today, kicking my heels around the warm streets Shrewsbury while the car was serviced… It’s still warm in the evening, and I need a breath of fresh air too (not that Shrewsbury is particularly polluted). It’s not just warm – it’s quite humid, and there’s not a breath of wind. I’ll create my own breeze if I keep moving.
The clearance of fallen timber from the December ’24 storms is under way at Shirlett; away from the timber piles, the helleborines, now in flower, are struggling on, though it needs a burst of light from the flashgun to reveal the colour in these somewhat dowdy wild orchids. There’s colour in the western sky too, when I return to the car. What a difference an hour makes!

Ash Coppice - and a barely visible Welsh horizon

View OS map on Streetmap http://streetmap.co.uk/map?X=365790&Y=298180&A=Y&Z=120

Butterflies: Round Hill to Nordley Common

On 27 Jul 202627 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Even the route of this short wander is vaguely butterfly-shaped! There are speckled woods on Round Hill. A little further on, the woods are being taken away (more victims of the storm of December 2024?). Continuing along the Smithies and on up to Nordley Common, there are butterflies everywhere. The breeze is making them restless, but there are sufficient posers for a photo or two, especially on a patch of fleabane, which they all seem to enjoy. There are gatekeepers, meadow browns, red admirals – and a couple of those eye-catching common blues (not the easiest to photograph – even if they land, they’re rarely still for long). Just as well, because otherwise there’s very little colour in the landscape. That will come with autumn, just over a month away now.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367690&Y=297465&A=Y&Z=120

Wheat fields and blackberries

On 24 Jul 202624 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Things are ripening fast! The harvest has begun, though the fields of wheat around Willey haven’t been touched yet. Any time now, I suspect – they’re a lovely golden colour. Meanwhile, the blackberries at the foot of Bould Lane were looking good too (they were delicious!).

They don't look so good now - we ate them!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367465&Y=298391&A=Y&Z=120

Back to the Edge

On 24 Jul 202624 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Wednesday evening 22 July: It’s only a few days since we last walked this way. Not many changes to see, though a distant field of wheat (or barley) now appears to be a candlewick bedspread. It’s still quite hazy, it’s cool under the trees, and again there’s no-one else around.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=359025&Y=297936&A=Y&Z=120

Back to Boldings

On 22 Jul 202622 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

A pleasantly warm summer’s evening – good to be out, but nothing energetic… We’re revisiting Boldings pools, this time taking the slightly longer route up the field to the old school, leaving the pools to the last few yards. The harvest has begun – completed, by the look of it, around here. All that remains is dozens of big bales of straw. In the first field, they’re all arrayed in lines; elsewhere randomly scattered, most of them glowing in the evening light.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371025&Y=296777&A=Y&Z=115

Ice cream at Coalport

On 19 Jul 202619 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Down the quiet hidden footpaths, just yards from the Ironbridge Road, to the footbridge by the Boat Inn, and over the Severn to the china museum. “We can sit under a big brolly outside the YHA café and enjoy something from the freezer”.
If the café is open, that is. But it’s not. We can only assume they’re waiting until the china museum, now in the hands of the National Trust, reopens. Soon?
Happily, there’s a chalked sign offering ice creams and the like at the Boat (a pint would have been most enjoyable, but I’d have been fast asleep by teatime!). So, with a couple of Cornettos on a bench in the pub garden, we enjoy a few quiet minutes and prepare for the pull back up through the Dingle, which is also refreshingly cool on this increasingly warm afternoon.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=368460&Y=302151&A=Y&Z=120

Two warm evenings

On 16 Jul 202616 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Tuesday and Wednesday: a walk in the shade on Wenlock Edge, and Boldings Pools – the light grows warmer as the heat fades. On both outings, we’re on our own – no-one else around. The orchids on the Edge have gone without trace; a red kite circles above the pools, a silhouette never quite in camera range.

The Edge:

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=359025&Y=297936&A=Y&Z=120

Boldings:

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371220&Y=296851&A=Y&Z=120

An unusual visitor

On 14 Jul 202616 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Video1 Comment

There’s a fairly large buddleia bush just outside the house – and, before we set out for a walk on Sunday evening, I paused to study the numerous peacocks, red admirals and painted ladies – butterflies like buddleias! But what’s that? At first slight it’s a very small bird, hovering beside the flower heads – but it’s not. It’s a hummingbird hawk-moth: never landing, it hovers briefly at each bloom to suck at the nectar through its long proboscis. Watch it briefly coil up and straighten in the last seconds of the short video clip.
It’s not easy to photograph, rarely still on a breezy day, but it was there once more this afternoon so that I could try again…

Seeking shade

On 08 Jul 202608 Jul 2026 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

It’s still quite warm when I leave the car, just after 7.30pm, but the route up through the woods, from Lower Pool to Shirlett Lane, is on an east-facing hillside – pleasantly cool. By the time I’ve dropped back down Round Hill, the sun is much lower and it’s very pleasant walking. I’m surprised to find, on returning to the start, that it’s just after 9pm. Although it’s still early July, I’ve seen the year’s first blackberry, and the wild damson trees are heavily laden with promise for the autumn…