Just photos – no particular theme
24-29 July: We arrived home yesterday evening after five nights in Douglas on the Isle of Man. There primarily for the railways and tramways, we intended to enjoy the island’s other attractions too, particularly some we missed on our last visit four years ago. It will take a little while to work through the hundreds of photos; in the meantime here’s a sample of some of the things we saw and did.
The wheat and barley, the damsons, the lords and ladies – and the wild raspberries. There were only three or four, and they’d been eaten before I could get a photo…
View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120
Up the lane to Harnage – and then it’s almost all paths and tracks in this interesting little area threaded by the surprisingly deep valley of Coundmoor Brook. The season’s first blackberries are ripening, there are fine apples near the ford and some good-sized puffballs beside the lane – reminders that, though it’s still July, autumn is little over a month away.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=356010&Y=304105&A=Y&Z=120
Perfect choice – not a drop of rain, until we were half-way home in the car (it’s only about 10 miles away). Plenty of colour in the gardens, and in the various flying things – the camera caught a couple of damselflies, but the truly splendid dragonflies in the dingle just wouldn’t co-operate.
Vie OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=374425&Y=288752&A=Y&Z=115
Monday: just right for the walk up to Church Preen, along quiet lanes with great views. It’s a bit too breezy for the butterflies, though eventually a gatekeeper agrees to pose for us. Returning to the start, we’re looking out for a particular bush in the hedgerow, that had a good crop of wild gages a couple of years ago – ah yes, there it is. We’ll be back when they’re ripe!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354910&Y=298575&A=Y&Z=120
Saturday evening: it’s windy around Willey, but it should stay dry for an hour or so. The sun shines only briefly, and up Bould Lane the hedgerow vegetation is blowing around. A little later, now in the lee of the Shirlett woodlands, it’s calmer. Down by Lower Pool, first a wren and then a goldfinch make their presence known (along with the inevitable canada goose and woodpigeon (click the ‘play’ button below), and there are grey wagtails hopping about by the water’s edge
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120
Saturday afternoon: a few minutes at this former lead mining centre in south-west Shropshire, one-time terminus of the Snailbeach District Railways. It’s a day of sharp, heavy showers – catching the sunshine in between is not easy…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=337320&Y=302135&A=Y&Z=120
Another wander amongst the trees, on Haughmond Hill near Shrewsbury. There’s plenty of deciduous cover (chance of a shower…) as well as the inevitable conifers, and some great views over the Severn to the south Shropshire hills.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354395&Y=314075&A=Y&Z=120
Comer Woods – good tracks for walking when the field paths will be muddy (it’s been rather wet recently). At least it’s (mostly) dry today. The little froglets seem to like this weather – they’re hopping about all over the place, tiny little things barely half an inch across. We’ve really got to watch where we’re putting our feet!
Overhead, a blackcap (sometimes known as the ‘northern nightingale) and a chiffchaff politely take turns to entertain us (play sound file below).
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=374780&Y=289595&A=Y&Z=120
…can differ greatly from one visit to another. We’re enjoying a warm and bright morning’s wander around the Willey lanes – it could (it did!) rain later. Yesterday’s thundery rain has washed more mud off the fields – or is it a lunar landscape?
An unintended multiple exposure provides some mild entertainment back at home when I look at the photos (see below)
View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120
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