Sunday evening: The visitors have all gone – and so have the household authorities (temporarily). It’s quiet here, and it seems even quieter up at Shirlett. There’s a faint hum of distant traffic on the Bridgnorth to Wenlock road, but other than that, it’s just birdsong*. In the woods, the helleborines are looking good and will be flowering soon. Back in the open, I spot a deer – then it spots me and springs away, back into the woods. Looks like a roe – they’re more common a little further south, in Mortimer Forest, but usually we see fallow deer here (and the occasional muntjac)
* Merlin says it could hear a blackbird, a blackcap, a robin, a linnet and a treecreeper:

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The family are visiting – but they’ve gone away for a couple of days (did someone mention Legoland?), leaving us to a little r&r. What could be better than a stroll around the Willey lanes?

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That’s orchids, orchids and a slow worm… The pyramid orchids were expected, the bee orchid was hoped-for (a friend said she’d found one) and the slow worm was completely unexpected. A very pleasant and interesting afternoon on the Wenlock Edge…

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A clear blue sky with white fluffy clouds, a steady breeze, pleasantly warm air – a perfect afternoon for a wander. Some favourite places – Round Hill, Ned’s Lane, the lane through the Smithies, and across Nordley Common. I’ve got it all to myself too (apart from lots of sheep, that is, and a poser squirrel)

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The wild rose is in flower! We’ve driven a long way in the last couple of days – now we need a leg stretch close to home. Willey (inevitably)! The world is colourful at this time of year.

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Usually, at this time of year, we can be sure of seeing some early purple orchids on the Wenlock Edge, but this afternoon, along the ridge path from Presthope towards Wenlock, there were none. Not a trace of them! Are they late this year, or is it us? There will be others later – pyramids and common spotted (dozens of the latter coming up in the grass in our back garden). We’ll be back! There’s plenty of other interest along the way, close at hand and in the more distant landscape, on this watercolour day.

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There’s no shortage of woodland around here, not all of it noticeably managed. Away from the paths, it’s pretty-well impenetrable jungle. Stay on the paths, and it’s still a different world from the houses, roads and traffic just a few yards away. We’re heading for the river, and we’ll walk down to Coalport, crossing over to the youth hostel…
…whose cafe is closed today! Oh no! It’s a good thing that we brought some chocolate.
The return, uphill all the way, is via “The Dingle”, a most attractive rocky-sided wooded gorge. Exit from the woodland at the top of the hill and look around – buttercup meadows, and little to suggest the other world we’ve left behind amongst the trees.

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Oilseed rape – looks like the sun’s shining, even when it isn’t. It’s shining this evening – can’t help it, there’s not a cloud in the sky, but with a stiff breeze from the east, it’s not warm. Keep moving!

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No great height (375m, 1,235ft), but a great viewpoint. For now, that is – the trees are doing their best to obscure the views… From the summit the mass of Radnor Forest predominates in a wonderful panorama of borderland lands. On the approach, over Climbing Jack Common, the Shropshire heights are at their best. Descending again, the Black Mountains fill the horizon, but it’s the spiky little peak of Skirrid Fawr that catches the eye.
Descending through the forest, there are few long views. We’ll concentrate on things close at hand, starting with a small herd of roe deer trotting through the trees. Mostly gone by the time the camera was raised and zoomed, the last two paused conveniently (and very briefly) for a grab shot.
It had seemed busy near the Black Pool car park, but as ever, the numbers thinned rapidly as we drew further away from the start. Other than the deer and a lone cyclist, we had the woodland return to ourselves

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Inevitably… It’s been a week or two since we were last along here – what a change. It may look idyllic (it does!) but looks are deceptive. This mornings peace is shattered by the unbelievable racket of a clay pigeon shoot. Are the “sportsmen” unspeakable? They’re certainly in pursuit of the uneatable…

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