Just photos – no particular theme
“Unseasonably” so, according to the Met. Office. There’s certainly no shortage of fresh air on today’s short walk, but much of the potential subject matter for the camera is blowing about madly, so just three pictures today. Yes, the wild rose is coming out in profusion.
Not a walk in the park! It’s an easy wander around (outside?) the perimeter of this estate, apart from a short stretch along a main road, and other than the numerous drivers on that 1/3 mile, we saw no-one else. No shortage of squirrels in the woods, though, and almost continuous birdsong… Most enjoyable!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=362890&Y=303355&A=Y&Z=120
That’s 2006 and 2007… Thirteen years ago, on this day, we visited the red kite feeding station at Gigrin Farm near Rhayader in mid-Wales – what a spectacle! (It would have been better, photographically, if the sun had shone…) These are native kites, the offspring of a very small number of survivors from the original population. Today, we regularly see birds from the Welsh population in Shropshire.
On 20 May 2006, we were very nearly in mid-Wales. We’d planned a walk over Hergest Ridge, from the Herefordshire border town of Kington. It would have led us to lunch just across the border. The forecast suggested there might be one or two showers. We were rained off! A heavy, fine, penetrating rain which, among other things, would have soon soaked into our cameras. The significance of this day is that one of the photos appeared on the very first page of this blog, just over a week later (see “The new blog“) Yes, we’ve been going 14 years.
A very short (2.3 miles) and pleasantly shady walk – it’s warm and sunny! – up the leafy track past Round Hill to the Shirlett plateau, and down again through the forested hillside. Is that rustling a blackbird? No, it’s a small deer, perhaps 2-3 metres away, fairly well hidden – so no photos – in undergrowth beyond the fence. It’s sensed our presence, and is gone – no hurry, but it’s soon out of sight. We return to the car along the quiet road through the Smithies. Everyone else (perhaps half-a-dozen) is riding a bicycle. Have we missed something?
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367107&Y=297480&A=Y&Z=115
Down by the riverside… It certainly felt like summer – the plentiful shady stretches were very welcome on this pleasant wander down to the river Severn, a couple of miles north of Bridgnorth. Out of the valley, along the quiet road and past the landscaped fishing pools, the light breeze was just what we needed.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=370940&Y=297505&A=Y&Z=120
18 May 2013: I’d forgotten about this little outing – an invite into Bewdley South signalbox, for a chat with the signalman. What a great place to be, watching the trains arriving and departing.
A pleasant amble from Barrow to Wyke and back, through leafy lanes, along quiet roads and past dazzling yellow fields. The sky is grey, but it feels as though the sun is shining when the oilseed rape is in flower. And there’s no-one else here – what more could one ask?
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365225&Y=301215&A=Y&Z=120
…except the date – 17 May:
2003: Evening light on the western slopes of Brown Clee
2011: Squatter’s cockerel, Blists Hill
2014: Forest near The Bog
2017: Rainy day – visit to the Docklands Light Railway
2018: On the Edge, near Much Wenlock
It’s rather cloudy when we set off – perhaps I can concentrate on the colour and interest in the hedgerows. Having settled that (decisions, decisions!) the weather improves. Not complaining…
16 May 2010: we’re visiting the Dingle, a garden centre near Welshpool. It’s notable for its astonishing hillside garden constructed around a pool, well tucked away in the Welsh countryside. The colour is amazing!
It’s also very colourful near home – that evening, we’re out amongst the bright yellow fields of oilseed rape. It’s hardly a traditional English landscape, but it’s certainly spectacular. There’s a deer out enjoying the evening air, posing for a moment or two before bounding away out of sight.
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