Eat early and get out for a leg stretch! The lanes around Willey are ideal – very quiet, exceptionally so on this still afternoon. Despite our intentions, the light is fading rapidly by the time we’re back to the car. Merry Christmas everyone!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120
A short walk on a fine Christmas Eve afternoon – down Stanley Lane, along the riverbank footpath and back up through Chestnut Coppice
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371930&Y=296650&A=Y&Z=120
A necessarily short walk on the afternoon of the shortest day, a walk whose quality – the light, the views – more than compensates for quantity. Sweet? Yes – Stollen, shortbread, Lebkuchen – perfect for a pre-Christmas cake stop on the Hope Bowdler ridge. We’ve paid for it though – the light has gone! Just one last glimpse of the sun before it disappears altogether…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=347750&Y=293585&A=Y&Z=120
Tomorrow is the solstice – not that it makes much difference a day or so either way. I’m walking by 1.30; by the time I’m back at the car, a little over two hours later, the sun is setting (behind the triangular road sign in the last photo!). To the south-west of Shirlett Lane lie the Clee hills, impressive against the December sky as I view them on the outward journey. Heading back, the sun is much lower in the sky, and the colours are now dramatic. There wouldn’t have been time for a longer walk though…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366240&Y=297950&A=Y&Z=120
Days like today, that is. It’s the third in a row with clear blue sky, sunshine and frost. The sky isn’t completely clear – there are some wispy clouds drifting about, and there’s a change coming from the south-west. The next few days will be warmer, wetter and windier, so I’d better try to make the most of it this afternoon, in the upland fields around Barrow
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=365410&Y=300100&A=Y&Z=120
… around Clive and Grinshill. Once again, the sunshine is very pleasant, but there’s a hard frost in the shade. A very interesting walk through woodlands and around old quarry workings, which present themselves as impossibly clean-cut rock faces in amongst the trees. Back at the start, an unusually inquisitive robin insists on checking inside the car for any spare crumbs. It nearly came home with us!
The route shown below depicts our somewhat erratic wanderings – it’s not a recommendation…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=352450&Y=323735&A=Y&Z=120
The clouds have gone and the sun is shining from a clear blue sky. It’s still really cold though… Wenlock Edge, above Aston Munslow, should be good for a walk with the camera.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=350995&Y=287750&A=Y&Z=120
A visit to the museum of the Bishop’s Castle Railway Society.
The Bishop’s Castle Railway was a failure. The line that opened (unofficially) in 1865 and (officially) in 1866 was only half of the originally planned through route. By the end of 1866 it was in the hands of the receivers, who tried unsuccessfully to sell it while continuing to run services. Remarkably, they did so until 1935, by which time it was utterly decrepit. Within two years the line had been lifted and its rolling stock had all gone for scrap metal.
Today, much of the trackbed remains, as do a couple of the stations, but at Bishop’s Castle all that exists is the weighbridge building. Only a few years ago it was derelict and in danger of being lost forever, but it has been lovingly restored and is now the 
home of the BCRS museum, a collection of small exhibits and – star attraction – one of the nameplates of the BCR’s locomotive Carlisle. The building also serves as a café (home-made cakes!), while in the yard is the body of a former BR banana van, full of very reasonably priced second-hand railway books.
It’s cold, grey and dull, though yesterday’s light snowfall provides an extra dimension to the local scenes. In Coalbrookdale the Coke Hearth Crocheters have decorated the bus shelter for Christmas, and by the time I reach Ironbridge there’s a warm glow of light in the shops.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367500&Y=304055&A=Y&Z=120
It seems we need to visit an art and craft fair in Jackfield village hall. It’s a fine dry afternoon (but still very cold) – we’ll walk, and we’ll go the long way, down Pound Lane and along the old railway track to the Coalport bridge. There, we’ll cross the river and wander along past the old china works, before recrossing and heading for Jackfield. We leave the village hall several pounds (£) lighter, but we can’t carry everything we like the look of. I expect we’ll need to return tomorrow…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=369515&Y=301570&A=Y&Z=120
geoffspages.blog 