Category: Shropshire hills

Grandstand

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Walks1 Comment

The Hope Bowdler hills are not the highest  in Shropshire, but later in the afternoon, at this time of year, they provide one of the most spectacular viewpoints for the border country. Beyond the numerous ridges, picked out in the golden light, our south-western horizon is filled by the broad table of Radnor Forest. We have to feel sorry for all the others – those who weren’t up there. We only saw three people, and one of them, a runner, didn’t really seem to be paying much attention (What is this life if, full of care…). There are one or two showers about; happily, they pass us by. It’s not all good – there’s a biting breeze, and the temperature is dropping quickly as the sun nears the horizon. We’re almost glad to get back to the car.

opentopomap

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=347585&Y=293626&A=Y&Z=120

Oh deer!

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Walks3 Comments

Wenlock to Bannister’s Coppice – out via Homer, back past Farley Hill and along the old railway track. The morning’s fog has cleared to hazy sunshine – it’s an afternoon to be out and about. The air is almost still, and though the woodlands are carpeted with the fallen, the trees are still well-covered with leaves, in widely varying shades of red and gold. There are usually deer about in these woods – today we enjoy no fewer than five sightings. In Bannister’s Coppice there are two, then two more, then a family of five, then a group of perhaps ten, out from the edge of the wood, tempted by the turnips in the field. Later, another two trot away from us on Farley Hill. These fallow deer are shy, often only partly visible for brief moments through the trees (and almost impossible to photograph). The turnip thieves are a real bonus, making this last day of October a little bit special.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=362115&Y=302131&A=Y&Z=120

Stiperstones in October

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

We’re walking the length of the ridge, from Snailbeach to the Rock, on a fine autumn day with the promise of some sunshine. The starting point is significant – one of our objectives is the Bog Centre for tea and cake – if we’d started there, it might have been closed by the time we returned (and that would never do!). So we’re heading out past Lordshill chapel and the Hollies, and two-thirds of the way around this very enjoyable route we come to the Bog, feeling suitably peckish. We return by the paths skirting Perkins Beach and Crowsnest Dingle, back to Snailbeach past that very fine octagonal chimney high up in the woods. And yes, after a dull start, the sun did shine, though it looked like we’d seen the last of it when we arrived back in Snailbeach. We hadn’t, of course – inevitably, it shone brightly while we drove home, floodlighting the autumn trees against a dark sky. Wonderful – but no photos.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/idld.srf?X=336585&Y=299306&A=Y&Z=120&lm=1

Gogbatch and the pond

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

It’s cold on the Mynd this afternoon – the wind’s in the north-east, biting after a few spots of rain. We’re walking from Gogbatch up to the pond on the Portway, a very pleasant and easy ascent. The forecast had suggested brighter conditions, which we begin to enjoy after the first mile or so. The sun’s low in the sky now – the clocks will soon be going back – and it’s dropping noticeably as the afternoon progresses. The light is everything it wasn’t during the summer months – warm in colour and directional, picking out the detail in the landscape like a spotlight. Weather permitting – and today it did – this is a great time to be out on the hills.


View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=344442&Y=296456&A=Y&Z=120

Old ways

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

We’ve parked at Bedlam, beside the old furnaces (I wonder how they got that name…). Our route takes us up the hill towards Madeley, where we’ll walk around three sides of the old (closed in 1920) Meadow pit mound. On and off, we’re following the trackbeds of the pre-railway age tramways of the Madeley Wood Company – as far as the All Nations (a last remnant of times long before “craft beer”, when pubs brewed their own beer). Now we’re walking down the route of the Coalport branch railway, which closed to passengers more than 60 years ago. Descending to the canal, at the foot of the Hay Incline, we cross the river to Jackfield, and for the first time walk the new path through the stabilisation works. Beyond, we’ll walk where Severn valley railway trains once ran – before crossing the Severn again on the modernistic new “Free Bridge” to return to the car.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=368575&Y=303426&A=Y&Z=120

Around the estate: Barrow, Willey and Shirlett

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

They sound like a firm of solicitors, don’t they? Wednesday afternoon: we’re walking around the Willey estate. Sadly, there are few public footpaths through this pleasant patch, and a significant part of the route is on roads – very quiet ones, apart from the B-road from Barrow. There’s a fine crop of blackberries along the field edges, though of course the devil’s in them now. The clouds begin to thicken as we make our way through Willey, and though we weren’t expecting rain, we have to shelter for a while (still plenty of leaves on the trees). It soon clears, and we head on up through the forest to Shirlett, where one or two more extensive views open up.


View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366190&Y=298996&A=Y&Z=120

October on Lyth Hill

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

We could do with being in Shrewsbury around 4pm – how about a short walk beforehand? Lyth Hill could be good… We’ve walked this route before – out along the dog-walkers’ grassland to Spring Coppice, then along rough tracks and quiet lanes to Exfords Green.  After that inevitable bank of cloud on this otherwise-bright afternoon, the sun comes out again as we pass the Scots pines on the end of the hill.  The stags at the venison farm are bellowing – there’s a public footpath through their field, but we’ll perhaps stick to the road on this occasion, and brave the occasional passing car.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=346671&Y=306234&A=Y&Z=120