A perfect afternoon for the Hope Bowdler hills. No great height, and no great distance to walk, but it’s bright and breezy, and the air is clear. To the north-east, when the sun catches it, we can see Jodrell Bank radio telescope – 51 miles away. Almost diametrically opposite we have a good distant view of Pen y Fan, highest point in south Wales – 54 miles to the summit. Needless to say, there are great views of the closer and more familiar hills. It’s a shame we have come home again!

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19 August: Remarkable cloudscapes around Colemore Green, on a pleasant evening. May’s crops (see Fields of Barley) have mostly been harvested; in places, the land harrowed. The many berries in the hedgerow are ripening, and the willowherb has almost finished. Autumn begins to feel close.

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An old favourite, just right for this pleasantly-warm afternoon. The riverside path is enjoyable, despite the thickets of knotweed; on the plus side, a banded demoiselle is posing for me. There are some tiny toadstools in the woods – there will be plenty more in the coming weeks, I suspect.

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Walking down to Coalport the long way, then, after ice creams at the youth hostel café, back up the Dingle – the short way home!

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More hedgerow colour on a bright afternoon. The damsons will soon be ripe (perhaps they are already – but they were out of reach…)

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An amble along Shirlett Lane on a showery afternoon. There are all kinds of interesting things coming up – I think autumn is going to be particularly fruitful this year…

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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…

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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.

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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!

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