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.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371645&Y=296666&A=Y&Z=120