It’s sunnier, brighter and warmer than it has been for a few days. Still a few showers around, by the look of the clouds, but none where we are.

3 May 2009: Ancient and modern… There’s a new footbridge between Highley and Alveley, replacing a structure which originally served the mines. A couple of miles upstream, at Hampton Loade, a much older means of crossing was still available in 2009, but sadly it’s no longer usable. It was the last ferry of its kind on the Severn, a simple boat attached by pulley to an overhead cable, driven across by the force of river current. Truly green transport!

Heavy cloud – not great for photos, but at least it’s staying dry. The wild garlic in the lane is like drifts of snow, and the unfurling fronds of bracken resemble prehistoric creatures. Are they having a chat?

2 May 1970: It was a geography field trip from school – a week in Little Stretton. Most of those attending would be travelling in the school minibus and teachers’ cars, but three of us would need to get there by rail. I was one of the three, volunteered, in effect, by our teacher, who shared my interests in our railways. The weekend also marked the end of the “North and West” route via Shrewsbury and Hereford, for trains from the north-west of England to and from Cardiff and the West Country. I travelled on a “North and West” express from Manchester Piccadilly, as far as Shrewsbury.

During the week we visited many places which would become very familiar a few years later, when I moved to the area for work. We walked on the Stiperstones ridge, visited Snailbeach, explored the Wenlock Edge, and took a trip to Telford, which had been designated thus just two years earlier. We also had an afternoon to ourselves – I visited Bridgnorth, where the Severn Valley Railway was preparing for its reopening later that month. Little did I suspect that this fascinating area would become home just a few years later.

Nothing profound – simply, I’m carrying a different camera with a long zoom lens (trying to vary the photos…). We’re walking along Pound Lane to the weighbridge, then down towards Dean Farm, as far as the Bridgnorth road and back again. It’s dry and bright, though the sun is elusive, and as always it’s good to be out.

We could get wet! It’s dry now – let’s risk it! As we walk, we can see one or two showers coming down in the distance, and they pass us by. Shortly after the last photo (below) we were very slightly dampened (only on the outside) by a short. light shower – and then we were home.