Sunshine and showers! An afternoon in the vicinity of Cardington, walking up to Willstone, where the red kites provided quite a display for us, then along the lane to Chatwall. Five minutes on the chocolate seat – and then it rained. We didn’t get very wet, and we’re reasonably waterproof…

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…and Ironbridge. Making the most of the sun’s warm rays – the morning going to be the best part of the day, I think (so does the Met. Office). Last week’s snow is a muddily rushing through the Severn Gorge – are we in for another flood?

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It’s a regular route for us – until we come to the ford. The mid-week snowfall has been melting rapidly since yesterday, and there’s no way we can reach the footbridge over Bullhill Brook. “Let’s try the path through the fields, and hope it’s not too muddy”. It isn’t, and it proves to be a very enjoyable way through pleasant farmland. Ascending through the woods, a couple of deer quietly trot away from us (no chance of a photograph). Now we’re on the quiet road from Kenley, with views to Wenlock Edge, heading back to the start.

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It’s hazy too, but at least there’s no wind. More like January than early March – just a few primroses at the foot of Round Hill to remind us that it’s spring…

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A fine, bright but cold afternoon – it’s good to be out on the quieter side of Much Wenlock. There are one or two others about, all of them dog-walkers (possibly wondering where ours is?), but they’re well-behaved and seem to know where they’re going. The dogs are OK too.

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It’s starting to appear on the blackthorn, the startlingly white blossom that in autumn will bring those bitter almost-black fruits, the basis for many a bottle of sloe gin. Like yesterday, it’s cold, but there’s enough sunshine to make us comfortably warm, especially when sheltered from that north-easterly breeze.

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The Met Office says spring begins next Wednesday, and we’ve had a few spring-like days recently. Not quite there yet… Photos? At first, it’s too cold to hang around. We’re halfway round before the sun (we can really feel its warmth) and the camera come out. What a difference!

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Thursday 23 Feb: We could park at the sawmill car park, walk around Dudmaston and through the asparagus farm to Comer Wood – get a light lunch at the shepherd’s hut. Yes, we could, if it hadn’t been half-term week (perhaps there’s something to be said for instant coffee: “instant”…). After five minutes in a stationary queue, we decided to cut our losses (we’ll have a late lunch at home). Escaping from the woods at their northernmost tip, we follow the quiet road to Mose and the farm track beyond, back to the start.

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Yet another day that feels like early spring. The pussy willow beside the Severn thinks so too, adding a little splash of yellow to the scene

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According to the Shropshire Star, we’ve had no ‘meaningful’ rainfall for a whole month. We’re not complaining – there are many places around here that become almost inaccessible during a ‘fill dyke’ February – but I have that feeling that we’re going to pay for it later… Yes, once again it’s a fine and sunny afternoon, and we’re out wandering from Benthall Hall, down to Workhouse Coppice, along Benthall Edge and back via Wyke and Posenhall. Spring is just over a week away – it’s in the air today.

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