Much rain has fallen! With luck there will be no raindrops this morning, but there are plenty of snowdrops beside the Willey lanes. There’s a little watery (appropriately!) sunshine at first: with little or no breeze, it feels like spring could be around the corner (if only!). There are plenty of hints of the oncoming season in the hedgerows.
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/bJ7NwHZ6eFrA4jg46
There’s a really annoying bug in WordPress, which they (WordPress) seem unable or unwilling to fix! I have tried!
If I forget to insert a ‘Read More tag’ (which happened with my previous post), the email that subscribers receive shows large and very blurred versions of my photos (instead of thumbnails) in some, but not all email clients. Most subscribers will know to click the page title, but some will wonder why I’m posting such appalling photos!
If anyone knows a good way around this, please let me know! If you’ve had the same problem with your own blog, please tell WordPress!
It’s the 4th today – the first three days weren’t great… The forecast said it should stay dry, and the sun could appear around 4pm. We were pleasantly surprised a couple of hours later
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/L59mxGG9KrzkchoJ9
Looks like being a grey, drizzly day tomorrow, so this is probably the last January post for 2026. Not that today is particularly great – a little drizzle as we set out, but within minutes the sky’s clearing (as forecast), and the proverbial sunny intervals provide a little light in the quiet lanes around Willey.
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/bJ7NwHZ6eFrA4jg46
I’d intended to drive down through Harley and beyond – but the Kenley road was flooded (a not uncommon occurence – I should have guessed). So, back to Wenlock, for a walk on the Edge – where I found some yellow brain fungus (aka witches’ butter). Not something I’ve ever seen before. Then (after persevering through sticky mud), what’s that in front? A fox, and he hasn’t seen me (he looked in my direction once or twice, but the sun was bright, low and directly behind me). As I watched, he pounced on some small creature – lunchtime for fox! If I’d been able to follow my plan, my walk might have been much less exciting…
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/HVpGDYJ3MTCp4LwNA
There was a lot of rain during the night, rattling at the windows, and the wind was whistling. This afternoon, there’s a good (is that the right word?) chance of a shower, but it’s bright – and there are patches of blue sky. Let’s go for it! I’ll stay on surfaced ways – there’s no shortage of water running down them, but the fields are sodden. Well worth avoiding!
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/XMrbQLGfnUTXmfPN7
…moss and lichen too. We’re walking downstream from Bedlam, on the old Severn Valley trackbed to Coalport, then back past the china works and over the Jackfield footbridge. It’s a grey day, there’s rain on the way, but it should stay dry for an afternoon leg stretch. The interest is in the detail – jelly ear fungus on elder, some well-hidden elf cups, lovely lichen (needs a really close look), gorgeous green moss and all kind of other vegetation. And though there’s plenty of interest, it’s too cold to stand around for long. Keep moving to keep warm!
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/owhMfW1Wor5Ut7Mn7
The snowdrops are all standing proud, a little cheer in the hedgerows. The sheep are all lying down – what can it mean? Rain, probably – it’s a dry morning but a wet afternoon is forecast…
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/bJ7NwHZ6eFrA4jg46
Winter sunlight… These lanes are quiet! Other than the very occasional passing car, an enthusiastic blue tit and a bittersweet robin, there’s barely a sound. It’s bright, not too cold and the air is still – what more could one ask at this time of year?
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJgVJKr3k9g3Rcq2A
January is moving along steadily, but it’s still cold. A calm and bright afternoon is to be welcomed! So – I’m out for a leg stretch, this time from Benthall Hall, to walk along the quiet lane to Wyke, then down to the Vineyards and up into the Benthall Edge woods. There’s a maze of tracks here, but the one I want to follow is still blocked by trees, which fell in the storm just over a year ago. I can get past the first (sit on the trunk and swing the legs over!) but the second would demand serious limbo dancing skill, so I’ll pick my way through the woodland undergrowth instead. Returning to the Hall, the path is less muddy than I expected – or perhaps it’s just that the sun is in my eyes. It’s low by now – but not as low as it was in mid-December.
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