The days will be getting longer for the next six months! There’s not much light at 2pm, but enough for a record of a cool and breezy December day. I wondered if I’d be able to complete this circuit – the paths up Round Hill and back down Ned’s Lane are just that. Two weeks after storm Darragh, they’re still strewn with leaves and debris, and there’s no hurry to remove the larger casualties. However, some good soul has been along with a saw and cleared just enough to enable walkers to pass the fallen. No chance for the horses though!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367650&Y=297905&A=Y&Z=120

Coalbrookdale, from Bedlam – up Wesley Road and Hodge Bower, then down Church Road to the Coke Hearth (where the crocheters have been busy with the bus stop). Then back down the Dale, via Paradise, and along the Wharfage, past the Iron Bridge and back to Bedlam. It’s that time of year again – the Christmas card delivery walk. Several pounds cheaper than the post – and much more enjoyable!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367232&Y=304215&A=Y&Z=120

It’s pleasant to be out and about on a December afternoon like this – no rain, not at all cold (but no sunshine either…). These quiet ways around Cound are great for a not-too-energetic wander.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=355695&Y=304040&A=Y&Z=120

A December dozen (photos, not miles!). If we set out before lunch we should have the best of the sunshine… We were going to walk along Stanley Lane and the old railway track, but to complete the loop we’d need to use the paths through Chestnut Coppice. The sign on the gate says they’re closed due to fallen trees.  So – start from the same spot, but head in the other direction. It’s muddy underfoot in places away from the road, but it’s very pleasant out of doors this morning. Today is quite unlike last Saturday!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371002&Y=296897&A=Y&Z=120

It’s the walk past Hurst Farm pools, then out beyond Hannigan’s Farm to the edge of the woods. Beyond, at this time of year, is mud. We’ll save it for dryer weather and retrace our steps – again. We walked this way a day or two after our slightly unseasonal snowfall in November (see Stripy landscapes). Today there’s no sign of snow or frost – it’s a calm, cold but dry mid-December day. It may well be grey – no sunshine, subdued colours – but it’s good to be out.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=366865&Y=296250&A=Y&Z=115

I wonder what’s causing it? Perhaps someone will discover the cause of our climate becoming increasingly intemperate (and then we can do something about it…).

Today it’s the calm after the storm, as we walk the lanes we trod just three days ago – but what a difference! Darragh, it was, who brought down hundreds of trees in the woods around Shirlett and Willey. Mostly conifers, in woodland that had recently been thinned, some snapped off at mid-height, but some deciduous too, including one much-admired roadside oak. Out in the fields, lone trees fared much better – we could see just one dead tree felled. It will be some time before the mess is cleared and the gaps begin to be filled.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120

There’s a storm coming… We’re not likely to be out and about again until Sunday or Monday. A short morning walk could be good – the sun’s shining when we leave home, but only minutes later the cloud is spilling across from the west.

View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120

Making the most of a dry and reasonably bright afternoon

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367115&Y=301172&A=Y&Z=120

Rowe Lane: not what we’d intended! Starting from Tigger’s Ickle Shop (port and lemon marmalade, cakes…), we’d intended to walk the circuit through Holdgate, but (we were half-expecting it) there’s a stretch of road that tends to flood. Sometimes it’s passable, but today we decided we didn’t want wet feet. So we retrace our steps to the start and continue for about half a mile the other way along the lane, turning back where it descends to the ford (and then becomes very muddy). Fortunately, there’s some truth in the saying that things look different in the other direction…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=355025&Y=289695&A=Y&Z=120