They’re out in force! Must be the fine weather – perfect nut-gathering conditions? Continue reading “Squirrel day”
Football Season?
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.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367465&Y=298391&A=Y&Z=120
Gone but not forgotten
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.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354070&Y=288736&A=Y&Z=120
To Red Lane
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…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=368925&Y=300753&A=Y&Z=115
Maybe not tomorrow…
Jam! On Sunday afternoon we picked 3kg of crab apples, then a little later 2kg of wild damsons. I would have picked more, but the bag-holder was starting to complain… This afternoon, on a short leg-stretch around the Willey lanes, I couldn’t resist another small bagful. (If I don’t pick them, they’ll eventually drop and rot – such a waste!)
The damsons are now in the freezer, but their time will come. Meanwhile, there’s crab apple jelly on the near horizon…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367465&Y=298391&A=Y&Z=120
Bugs and berries
Church Preen – it’s a steady pull from the parking space near the school to the top of the hill, but we’re not here primarily for exercise. Today we’ve come armed with bags for foraging, but we’re disappointed. The blackberries are tasteless and not worth the effort of picking, there are no damsons (within reach, that is) and the wild greengages are not ripe yet. So – we’ll just enjoy the walk. After those hot days in August, 18C and intermittent sunshine is perfect.
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Summer’s end: autumn begins
An evening wander along Shirlett Lane, on the last day of summer, and a stroll around Wyke and Benthall on a cool afternoon on the first day of autumn. (I’m going by the Met. Office’s definitions, not astronomy. The former always seem closer to what’s actually happening out there…)
Shirlett: view OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=365790&Y=298180&A=Y&Z=120
Benthall: View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=365630&Y=302615&A=Y&Z=120
Autumn in August
After the long, hot and dry summer, the last few days have felt decidedly autumnal – much cooler and rather wet. It’s certainly autumnal around Willey – fallen leaves beside the lane, hops galore, sloes, dozens (understatement!) of damsons, crab apples and blackberries (no photos of the latter – we were too busy sampling them). Jam-making may be imminent!
View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120
Severnside snapshots
Down Stanley Lane from Chestnut Coppice parking space, then across to the bank of the Severn. Upstream beside (but not always in sight of) the river, and back up through the aforementioned coppice. A very pleasant stroll on a fine afternoon!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=372025&Y=296540&A=Y&Z=120
The Danny
15 August: a day out in Cheshire – the Boat Lift and a cruise on the Weaver navigation.
Part 2: Daniel Adamson. Slow travel through Cheshire! Having had a light lunch at the boat lift visitor centre, we boarded the coach for the journey to Sutton Weaver, near Frodsham to board ‘The Danny’. Such trips are sold as a package, starting from Anderton (with plenty of car parking) on a road coach. The 10 mile cruise takes around 4 hours, so a one-way journey is ideal for most participants. Once all are aboard, the swing bridge is swung and we’re off, at a sedate pace, gliding through attractive countryside. Two locks along the way provide extra interest, and there’s another swing bridge where the A49 crosses our route near Acton Bridge. We also cross under the west coast main railway line at Dutton viaduct. Will a train pass? Yes!
There’s plenty of natural interest too – numerous herons (or was it the same one several times?) take to the air as we approach almost silently (unless the Danny needs to sound his hooter at canoeists or other waterway users). Cormorants fly by, ducks and moorhens scuttle about beside the banks. Progress is slow and steady, but the time flies by, and soon we’re back at Anderton, berthing below the boat lift.
I’ve said little about the vessel itself. Built in 1903 as steam tug Ralph Brocklebank for the Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Co, it was purchased in 1922 by the Manchester Ship Canal Company, refurbished in 1936 as a directors’ saloon and renamed Daniel Adamson after a key proponent of the ship canal. Its wonderful art deco interiors date from that time. Much more detail is available on the website https://www.thedanny.co.uk/
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=358020&Y=375621&A=Y&Z=126
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