It’s so quiet! We’re taking a walk down the lane for some fresh air, a change of scene and a leg-stretch. Usually there’s a background hum of traffic on the main road, away across the river – not to mention those noisy little aeroplanes. A few days ago the farmers were at work in the fields, but that’s finished. All we can hear is the birds, and the lambs in the fields…
…until, nearing home, a giant helicopter hovers over the power lines, checking for faults. What a racket!
I was thinking of doing some gardening. Surveying the scene, I heard a rustle. There he was, bold as brass! He had a snooze while I fetched the camera… I thought he was going to crawl over my feet, then he sniffed the air, changed his mind, and left to visit next-door’s garden. Hope they appreciate his presence.
A short (4 miles) walk around local ways, enjoying some warm sunshine. There’s hardly anyone else about, especially once we’re onto the still-muddy paths and tracks through field and woodland. The world will have changed by the time those bursting horse chestnut buds bear conkers in the autumn.
Or was it yesterday? Whichever, we’re at the start of the lighter and warmer half of the year, and next weekend, the clocks go forward (at last!). The plants in hedgerow, forest and field are certainly springing into life and flower, with total disregard for any dodgy viruses the human race may be affected by. The wind (from the east) is chilly, and the sunshine less bright than forecast, but it’s good to be out on Wenlock Edge.
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Not much sunshine today – but that won’t really matter under the trees on Benthall Edge. The season is gathering pace – lambs bound and spring flowers abound.
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A walk from the centre of Much Wenlock, down into the quiet countryside and curiously-named hamlets below the Edge. There are wild deer roaming the fields near Belswardine, and outside Harley church, there’s a comfortable wooden bench, warmed by the sunshine – a perfect place for lunch! The part-time ford at Wigwig is in water today, and the field above Homer is a bit slippery, but we’re soon past the worst as we enter the woods for the remaining stroll back to Wenlock. It’s been a perfect early spring day.
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We’re walking along very quiet roads (one car per mile?) in the country below the Wenlock Edge. The ground is drying, but there’s been some heavy rain overnight, and the fields look very soggy in places. The afternoon is gradually improving – by the end, the sun is picking out details here and there in the landscape. Walking along Kenley ridge would be a scenic highlight, if we could see through the hedges (the camera can do it – poked through a gap…). An enjoyable little outing!
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…via Hurst Farm pools. Friday 13 March: it’s a fresh, bright afternoon, with the possibility of a light shower or two – we’ll try to avoid them. The stretch alongside the main road isn’t pleasant, though there’s a broad grassy verge to walk along, and it makes for a reasonable circular route (the alternative is the diagonal across the fields, over sticky clay). The drive at Aldenham Park is a public footpath, which aims dead straight from the gate to the house – until the last moment, when it swings away to the left, to bring us back to the lane past Hurst Farm and the fishing pools
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…with just the odd shower. It soon passed, and then the sky was mostly blue. Spring is happening – white violets, celandines and the odd dandelion in the hedgerows, and the hawthorn rapidly greening. The air’s cold, and there’s a stiff breeze, but it’s good to be out.
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Hardly! It’s a walk around Ludlow, on an afternoon when the weather could do anything. We were lucky (intermittently) with some bright sunshine and dark skies, but were unlucky with the rain, during the last ten minutes of our exploration.
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