A very welcome warmer day! Just three days ago, it was 3C at Church Preen. Today, just a mile or two to the south, it was 13C – positively balmy! It was certainly very pleasant for this walk in the quiet countryside to the north-east of Cardington. Gloves and hat in pocket!

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3C – a cold afternoon (and that’s celsius, of course. 3F would have been seriously icy!). At least there’s no wind. Walking keeps us warm, though gloved fingers are suffering slightly by the time we’re back to the car. There’s a thin cover of snow on the Wenlock Edge, and patches here and there on the high ground around Church Preen – but there’s none down by the school.

A red kite takes off from a nearby tree, and drifts slowly away from us. Photo? No chance. In the hedge near Parkstyle – is that a wren? No, too colourful. We think it’s a goldcrest, though it still seems too colourful. Could it be a firecrest? Photo? Again, no chance! Too far away for a clear view, and he’s hopping around in the bare hedge, never still for a second. The dunnock is the mud was much easier but far less colourful (and too far away for a really good photo)…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=354860&Y=298485&A=Y&Z=120

 

Yesterday’s forecast suggested wall-to-wall sun for today. This morning’s forecast: cloudy from 10am… At least it would stay dry. It’s cold, but there’s no wind – the track beyond Hurst Farm pools to the ridge will provide us with an enjoyable walk. The views are hazy: the real interest is in the foreground…

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Spring’s not far away – there are signs everywhere around the Willey lanes. First celandine, first hawthorn leaves, first primrose. Not long now!

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It’s been rather wet recently (truly February Fill Dyke!). This morning, however, it’s sunny (and frosty); clouds will move in from the west this afternoon, so we’ll get out while the sunshine is bright – and home again in time for lunch. Shirlett Lane should be perfect!

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It’s the 4th today – the first three days weren’t great… The forecast said it should stay dry, and the sun could appear around 4pm. We were pleasantly surprised a couple of hours later

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Looks like being a grey, drizzly day tomorrow, so this is probably the last January post for 2026. Not that today is particularly great – a little drizzle as we set out, but within minutes the sky’s clearing (as forecast), and the proverbial sunny intervals provide a little light in the quiet lanes around Willey.

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I’d intended to drive down through Harley and beyond – but the Kenley road was flooded (a not uncommon occurence – I should have guessed). So, back to Wenlock, for a walk on the Edge – where I found some yellow brain fungus (aka witches’ butter). Not something I’ve ever seen before. Then (after persevering through sticky mud), what’s that in front? A fox, and he hasn’t seen me (he looked in my direction once or twice, but the sun was bright, low and directly behind me). As I watched, he pounced on some small creature – lunchtime for fox! If I’d been able to follow my plan, my walk might have been much less exciting…

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…moss and lichen too. We’re walking downstream from Bedlam, on the old Severn Valley trackbed to Coalport, then back past the china works and over the Jackfield footbridge. It’s a grey day, there’s rain on the way, but it should stay dry for an afternoon leg stretch. The interest is in the detail – jelly ear fungus on elder, some well-hidden elf cups, lovely lichen (needs a really close look), gorgeous green moss and all kind of other vegetation. And though there’s plenty of interest, it’s too cold to stand around for long. Keep moving to keep warm!

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Drip, splosh, trickle, roar… The last is an exaggeration: Linley Brook doesn’t roar, but it’s certainly rushing along, and all those other sounds accompany us around these familiar lanes. It’s raining gently (wasn’t supposed to!), and water is running down the road surface, filling the potholes to the brim… At least the snow has all melted (apart from the snowplough dirty heaps beside the road) and that’s the origin of most of the water. At last, just yards from the start, comes that sunny interval we were promised. (No, we didn’t get noticeably wet, and yes, it was good to be out)

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