Yesterday evening, as instructed at about twenty past five, we gazed into the western sky – and there it was, Santa’s sleigh, a brightly-lit object hurtling past the crescent moon and the stars. We tried the binoculars, to little effect – it just became a larger brightly-lit object. My son, on a seasonal visit, insisted that it was the International Space Station…

For the last daylight hour of Christmas Day, we took a stroll along the lanes for a much-needed leg stretch and breath of fresh air. It certainly was fresh, but once again the sky was mostly clear for a glowing sunset. Merry Christmas everyone!

We parked where the railway once ran, the site of Iron Bridge and Broseley station, crossed the bridge and climbed the steps up to the church, then followed the narrow roads beyond to the hilltop. Hodge Bower leads to Church Road and the descent into Coalbrookdale. At Dale End, demolition and excavation have revealed the remains of what appears to be an old water mill, and there’s a very short stretch of old wagonway track, a reminder of Shropshire’s pre-railway age network of primitive lines.