The iron bridge, that is, at Ironbridge. The river’s high – the flood barriers were up, though it wasn’t quite up to the Wharfage. Perhaps the level had dropped a little. A leg stretch and a breath of fresh air were needed, making the most of what was left of the afternoon after a reasonably prompt Christmas lunch.
We’ve been here before – it’s a good place for an afternoon wander at this time of year, and generally good underfoot, apart from the lane below the hill on the way out. Hardly surprising after all the rain – we could see, away in the distance, the floods beside the Severn over near Melverley. There was a bit more cloud than the forecast had promised – even a brief unexpected shower. The rainbow was a bonus, I suppose.
The world didn’t end today (there are those who said it would) – and the nights are getting lighter again. That’s two good things in one day. To celebrate (!)), here’s a short wander around Bridgnorth, making limited use of the light…
No words needed…
It was certainly too cold to hang around… The almost-clear blue sky – just the odd little puff of white – soon disappeared, to be replaced by more cloud than expected (or forecast), but with some good breaks of sunshine here and there. It was even colder when the sun went in. This was not so much a very short walk (which it was), more a quick trip to the summit – not the highest point around here, at 1506′, but a great viewpoint.
We’ve done this walk a couple of times before – today, with plenty of sunshine and little streaks of cirrus, we did it anti-clockwise. It’s a bit squelchy underfoot between the lanes, and the path here is non-existent (though it is a right of way). But it’s very pleasant, quiet country, and the lane back towards Hurst Farm and its pools, high above the valley of the Mor brook to the south, has some extensive views towards Shropshire’s highest point on Brown Clee. There’s no time to dawdle at this end of the year though – the sun set as we dropped down past the pools and back to the car.
Making the most of a bright sunny afternoon (while trying to avoid the worst of the mud…).
An hour or so towards the end of the afternoon, when the sky had cleared (and the temperature had dropped).
After yesterday’s torrents, today would be bright and sunny – until mid-afternoon. More rain was forecast, coming from the south-west. We’d better head north-east to make the most of it – somewhere that perhaps wouldn’t be too bad underfoot. So it proved, despite the path down to the valley being a stream. Most of the water had behaved reasonably well, even the large puddles here and there could be circumnavigated easily. None of that deep sloppy mud we’d struggled with around Croft Ambrey…
We’d been up here a few weeks ago, so we planned a circuit mostly to the south of our earlier route, though there is some overlap. Again, we walked anti-clockwise – down beside the brook – this time on the opposite bank – then back up to the plateau, returning to the car mostly along the trackbed of the “Tackeroo railway”, the military railway built to serve the camps up here during the first world war. The sun had behaved quite well too, disappearing finally behind the advancing clouds as we set off home, the first spots of rain falling not many minutes later.
Tackeroo – The Military Railway on Chasewater Stuff’s Railway & Canal Blog
geoffspages.blog 