Sunday 3 August: I’m on my way north. I need a break in the long drive, and the Tanfield Railway seems ideally placed, but I can’t stay long. Should have left home much earlier! Spend an hour with me at Tanfield on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Category: Photography
Just photos – no particular theme
All’s quiet on the Edge
Stretton Westwood and Bourton Westwood: we’ve been here before. The last time was in early spring – there were no leaves on the trees, the hedges were bare and there was no-one else about. Today, the trees are in full leaf, the hedges are laden with blackberries and sloes – and there’s no-one else about. A great afternoon for for a wander in this quiet part of Wenlock Edge – pleasantly warm with a light cooling breeze. Can’t ask for much more at this time of year.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=360205&Y=297680&A=Y&Z=120
By Linley Brook to Nordley Common
A welcome leg stretch on a nondescript late July day… A bit of sunshine, then some cloud, neither warm nor cold, a light breeze – and a lack of colour in the landscape (have I just contradicted myself?). Haven’t walked this way for a while – the path beside the brook can be rather wet, but though there’s always a sticky spot where a spring runs across the path, it’s otherwise dry (and well-suited to limbo dancers). It’s quiet in the fields past the Albynes – and along Stocking Lane and across Nordley Common, where the breeze is just perfect!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367935&Y=297520&A=Y&Z=120
Not autumn yet…
No – another full month to go. But there are plenty of signs of autumn in the hedgerows around Colemore Green – the bracken looks well past its best, and it will be worth returning to pick blackberries (looks like being a bumper crop). The sloes, wild plums and damsons are coming along nicely too, and some of the leaves are beginning to brown.
Yorkshire cities – by rail
Last Thursday we were out for the day on a Northern Rail day rover ticket (£10 + vouchers). We visited Sheffield and York with our cameras, but didn’t have time at Leeds and didn’t leave the train at Bradford (yes, there are other Yorkshire cities; not all are now rail-served). For more on this interesting day out, visit ‘Sheffield and York‘ on Geoff’s Rail Diaries
Flaxmill Maltings
Built in 1797 as a flax mill, from 1897 to 1987 it was a maltings. Disused for several years after that, it’s now in a fine state of preservation. Appropriately so – it’s the world’s first iron-framed multi-storey building – predecessor of the modern skyscraper. On the ground floor is an impressive exhibition making good use of hands-on multimedia displays, and outside, the attractive old buildings are well worth a few photos (taken on the phone. I haven’t lost my memory – simply forgot to put it back in the camera…)
EH: Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings
Where’s the colour gone?
Not so long ago the hedgerows were a blaze of colour. The season has moved on, and the dry weather hasn’t helped – but there is colour, here and there. There would have been a little more if the small blue butterflies hadn’t been camera shy…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120
Short and shady
Cooler again today, but still worth staying in the shade. We’ll walk from Bedlam and cross to the shady side of the river, then down to the Jackfield footbridge to cross over to Coalport – to the youth hostel at the china museum for ice creams. I’m not sure we’ve really earned them, but they’re very welcome.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=368785&Y=302795&A=Y&Z=120
Cool and shady Comer
The last two days have been really hot (by UK standards) – today, just a few degrees cooler, we can perhaps manage a short wander. It’ll need to be somewhere shady – it’s still very warm. Comer woods should be ideal.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=374775&Y=289600&A=Y&Z=115
At last – the valleys!
It’s more than two months since we enjoyed this day out in South Wales. Today it’s too warm for outdoor activities, so I’m in the comfortable shade catching up on some loose ends, one such being this trip. So, here it is – visit “Three Valleys” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries, an illustrated account of our journeyings from Cardiff up the former mining valleys. The mines have all gone, but the railways are thriving – electrification, smart hi-tech new trains, new stations…
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