This time last week: Portree, Skye – 500 miles to the north. Today: Willey, just a mile or two down the road. Quite a contrast: both attractive in their own ways, and after the long drive home, and several very busy days since, we need a leg stretch. The Willey lanes are ideal, and very enjoyable on this fine and bright October afternoon.
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Sunday 11 October: between damp, grey and windy days, it’s a calm and sunny morning in Portree, and I’ve an hour so to myself. Later that day, a few miles north of Uig, the light is going. Sunset on Skye…
A slightly damp dry afternoon… Less than 5% chance of rain, the Met Office said. That’s not necessarily zero – the air wasn’t wet enough to describe as drizzle, but it wasn’t completely dry (see the mini rainbow…). Not a problem- quite seasonal. No need to hurry on this otherwise pleasant outing.
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That’s Highgate Common and some lesser-spotted spotty fungi… This lovely little sandy-soiled patch of wooded heathland is just a stone’s throw from the western edge of the West Midlands conurbation, and it’s very pleasant on this still sunny afternoon. It feels busy at the main car park (there’s an ice-cream van!), but few venture far. We follow well-trodden ways within the perimeter of the heath, to its southern, eastern and northern corners, and see more squirrels than people. And then there are the toadstools. A fine little family of fly agarics (aka “flying Erics” – family joke) stands feet from the path. We don’t find these splendid scarlet fungi on every outing… – and elsewhere there are other interesting specimens. Apart from an occasional glimpse of the world beyond its borders, Highgate Common is a nicely self-contained domain, in a world of its own.
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A walk in the park with the camera… The walled garden is colourful; the woods are still mostly green. There’s a nuthatch feeding on seeds placed on the flat top of a large log of wood – and what’s that? It’s a tiny vole, dodging in for a share of the goodies!
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Day after tomorrow… Nevertheless, and despite the lack of sunshine, it’s warm in the woods on Benthall Edge. We’re into the season of interesting fungi, and there are plenty of them, from a splendid solitary parasol to huge colonies of little mushrooms. Once again, the squirrels are busy too, and the autumn colours are increasingly noticeable.
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They’re out in force! Must be the fine weather – perfect nut-gathering conditions? Many are just a rustle in the hedgerow and a glimpse of a furry tail, others we see scuttling along ahead of us, or looping across our path and up into their 3-D world. Only one pauses and poses, at a safe distance, and one’s probably enough. We’ve walked down Stanley Lane, then north for a couple of miles along the old SVR railway trackbed, before cutting up a side valley to Colemore Green and back to the car. There are one or two others out enjoying the September sunshine, but it’s not exactly crowded.
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They’re big enough, but we certainly wouldn’t wish to kick a giant puffball. We found three this afternoon, as we wandered around Willey. The one seen below was the biggest, the others were smaller and partially hidden. It’s a fine breezy afternoon – very pleasant conditions for a walk around these very quiet lanes.
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Tigger’s Ickle Shop is no more.
Where shall we go? “How about Tigger’s Ickle Shop?” We’ve enjoyed several good walks from this quiet spot in Corvedale. We’ve also had jars of chutney, some very good local garden produce – and wonderful sweet and sticky cakes and flapjacks, all from the aforementioned wayside shop. It was a solid wooden cabinet filled with the various home made/grown goodies, with an honesty cashbox. We felt a real sense of loss this afternoon.
Nevertheless, our walk was enjoyable. The view to Brown Clee and Wenlock Edge are good; there’s hardly any traffic on the little-used lanes, and no-one else on foot on this strangely-still and humid afternoon. This is a very quiet corner of the county. Shame about the cakes.
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Caughley Road and Red Lane
There and back again!
No, it doesn’t scan. Sorry. I’m not a poet…
Between the fields and Red Lane, there’s a short track flanked by two greatly overgrown hedges, forming a green tunnel – and in the winter months it can be impassable, with deep, sticky mud. Today, after a very dry summer and despite recent rain, there isn’t a problem. Weatherwise, it’s not a day for landscapes, but there’s interest close at hand. That oak bracket fungus is quite splendid. It’s said to be inedible – given its appearance, it’s very had to imagine how that was discovered. We certainly won’t be trying – much better to leave it for others to enjoy – visually…
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