Just photos – no particular theme
There are many steps in Bridgnorth – it’s a pretty three-dimensional place. I suspect there are a few cavemen too, if the truth be known. There are certainly remains of cave dwellings, and one or two houses have incorporated caves which are still in use. It’s a good place for a wander on a bright January afternoon, and away from the main roads and shopping streets, it’s pleasantly quiet.
Sound delightful, don’t they? The tiniest of hamlets, below and on respectively (guess which!) low hills a mile or two to the west of Bridgnorth. Last time we were here, it was foggy (see “It’s foggy!“). Today, we can see for miles!
View OS map on Streetmap https://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367630&Y=292071&A=Y&Z=120
The ecclesiastical link is pure coincidence. Langley Chapel seemed a good (and interesting) place to start, and the hamlet of Church Preen (whose church cannot be seen from the through roads) marked the half-way point. It’s a circular walk, entirely on very quiet roads (six miles, five cars, two horses), as last night’s heavy rain will have made the fields and paths really soggy. It’s very pleasant out too – clear air, just a light breeze, sunshine – what more could one want?
We’ve been to Langley Chapel before – for more photos, visit Langley Chapel
View OS map on Streetmap https://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=353900&Y=299181&A=Y&Z=120
We’re trying some paths we haven’t walked before: the bridleway over Nordley Common, a relatively-new permissive path next to the main road, and a little-walked path beside Linley Brook. As might be expected, there’s some mud on the bridleway, nothing we can’t cope with. There’s a bit of a pool on the permissive way – we’ll walk around it. The way beside the brook is something else. It’s a jungle! Just the barest trace of a path, which in places is perilously close to the brook, wet and extremely slippery… Tricky. One of us slipped (away from the brook, fortunately) and sat in the mud, and is still grumbling… Will it be worth trying in summer, when it might be drier underfoot? Or will the jungle be even less penetrable? (Will we bother to find out?)
View OS map on Streetmap https://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=368150&Y=297381&A=Y&Z=120
There’s a lot of it about… Everywhere you look, there’s the black and white of half-timbered buildings. It’s quiet here today – many of the shops are closed, and there are few people about (not complaining – they’d stand in the wrong place. Most bystanders have no sense of composition…)
Happy New Year everyone! Our new year was made happy by a visit to the Chasewater Railway, where they were running a “Mince Pie Special” service, plus demonstration freight trains – just for fun! To see more of the fun, visit “Chasewater: an early start” on Geoff’s Rail Diaries.
Monday 30th December: like Christmas Day, the sky is blue. Unlike Christmas Day, there’s a stiff breeze – and patches of mist blowing around, not enough to be a nuisance, but adding to the enjoyment of this wonderful day on the hills. Remarkably, above the mist, the views are (at times) extensive – there are the Black Mountains – and that’s Pen y Fan, the highest point of the Brecon Beacons, some 55 miles distant. It’s unusually busy up here – we must have seen more than 20 other people. Mostly, they confine their activites to the small area between the summit and the old railway incline – elsewhere, Brown Clee is ours.
View OS map on Streetmap https://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=358945&Y=286006&A=Y&Z=120
Nearly six years ago, we stood beside the road, high above the Severn near Leighton, to look at the floods – and in doing so, recorded the scene downstream, taking in the then still active power station at Ironbridge. This afternoon, as the sun neared the horizon, I stood in the same spot and pointed the camera as before.
See “Deeper and Higher” for more on the February 2014 floods, and “Bang!” for the recent demise of the cooling towers.
A linear walk from home, out to Willey and Shirlett (from where, if the phone’s working, I’ll arrange a lift). There’s a hint of colour in the south-western sky, otherwise the landscape is dull and grey – except in the woods, where there’s colour under the trees. These are quiet places – exceptionally so today, just the sound here and there of running water, accompanied by occasional birdsong. Just what’s needed!
It’s really quiet this afternoon – no sounds of distant traffic, no little aeroplanes disturbing the peace. Where can they all be? We’re glad to be out of doors, enjoying the unbroken sunshine and the still air until the sun disappears behind the hills. Merry Christmas everyone!
geoffspages.blog 