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!

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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.

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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!).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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: 

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Boldings: 

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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…

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Monday evening: once again, it’s somewhat cooler, there’s a pleasant light breeze, and the sun’s behind the clouds. I’ll head for Hurst Farm and Aldenham – the path across the field should be walkable, as should the edge of Shore Pool. “Walkable” is debatable, I suppose – the farmer has cleared a the path through the beans, but they’re tall and the path is weed-strewn (tickly!). At least there’s no mud anywhere. And like Sunday evening, it’s quiet – no-one else around. An enjoyable outing!

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