Wandering on the west bank of the river on the last day of summer: out past Boldings Pools and up the lane from Astley Abbotts, through the fields from the old school and down through the Colemore Green woods to the riverbank. Yet another grey day (not very warm either) – we’ll concentrate mainly on the foreground interest.

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A little way into this walk, there’s a field of wheat, edged with pale flax. Around the field’s perimeter are trees -the forest of Shirlett High Park, the wooded Barrow Dingle. Although the field and its crop are obviously there through human involvement in the land, there’s no-one else in sight, nor is anything else of human origin visible – no buildings, no pylons, no machinery. No roads run alongside. The only sounds are those of the birds, and the breeze (in the trees…). Deep fields!

Back to a kind of reality at Barrow, and just along the almost-impenetrable lane a little further on, the blackberries are ripe and ready for picking. Maybe not jam tomorrow, but soon, certainly…

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Bonnie blooming heather on Brown Clee: a walk to Clee Burf, the southern summit of the hill, via The Toot (yes, really!). It’s a fine bright afternoon – the clouds are beautiful white cauliflowers. Sadly, the sun always seems to be behind them when we’re amongst the heather. This is a bank holiday weekend, so it’s crowded – three other walkers, and a couple of young women on horses. And the sheep, of course. Hundreds of them.

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It’s just an old iron spout, from which a stream of cold clear water flows, but it has its own lane (Spout Lane, of course, what else?) – quite a local landmark. It’s pleasant out in the sunshine today, and the cool air in the woods along Benthall Edge is most enjoyable too.

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Some of the things we find in the hedgerows and woodlands are a little bit out of the ordinary – wild hops, belted Galloway cattle and stinkhorns, perhaps – but not entirely unexpected in these parts. Another grey day, exploring the lanes, tracks and paths around Willey, Linley Brook, Round Hill and Ned’s Lane.

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We were here in April (see Causeway Wood); there’s been a summer (of sorts) since then. The path which completes the circuit around the wood (perhaps three-quarters on forest roads) has turned into a jungle of bracken, brambles (ouch!) and tall grasses – it’s hard work! Causeway Wood is mostly plantation, but on the southern part of the ridge there’s what appears to be ancient woodland, with some fine specimens of huge girth but no great height. Very pleasant country!

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Walking from the car park at Bedlam, and mostly bypassing the bedlam (I exaggerate) that is Tontine Hill in Ironbridge. The north side of the gorge catches the sunshine on this better-than-forecast afternoon, and appropriately, at the furthest point from the start we’re passing briefly though Sunnyside, high above the top end of Coalbrookdale. There’s a peacock on a shed roof!

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It’s a hamlet – just the rather-splendid Plaish Hall and three or four other houses, but it makes for a pleasant wander along quiet lanes, on an increasingly sunny afternoon. The blackberries are ripening, though there aren’t enough to slow us down yet…

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