Another day of strong sunshine – it will be good to walk under the trees. “Let’s go back to Ned’s Lane”. We weren’t aware it was Ned’s Lane when we first followed this short route, but when I described it to a local friend, she said “That’s Ned’s Lane!”. It’s not an official name – “He was my grandfather,” (or was it great-grandfather?) “he lived there once, in a little house half-way up. We’ve always called it Ned’s Lane”. There’s no sign of any building there now, and perhaps the forest hadn’t been planted when Ned was in residence, but what a place it must have been!

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Following in our own footsteps: we walked this way in November 2018 (see “By Coundmoor Brook“). It was an autumnal world on that day, with the sun nearing the horizon as we returned to the car. On this warm May (bank holiday – we passed four other people out walking!) afternoon, we’re in a very different world, where the wooded valley provides some welcome shade.

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It’s an old favourite – from Aston Munslow, up onto the Wenlock Edge, down the lane to Munslow and back across the fields. It’s a widely-varying scene as we walk, through sheep pastures and arable fields, quiet rough tracks, the wooded Edge – and a bit of bedrock on the little sunken lane taking us down to Munslow. The day improved – rather grey and flat at the start, clear skies and warm sunshine at the finish. Quiet too – just three other people in five miles. Perfect!

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Three days ago, we chose a route which would provide some shade – today, we’ll retrace our steps – in reverse – for a different perspective and some shelter from the strong westerly winds… Once again, it’s an enjoyable little outing.

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Not a walk in the park! It’s an easy wander around (outside?) the perimeter of this estate, apart from a short stretch along a main road, and other than the numerous drivers on that 1/3 mile, we saw no-one else. No shortage of squirrels in the woods, though, and almost continuous birdsong… Most enjoyable!

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A very short (2.3 miles) and pleasantly shady walk – it’s warm and sunny! – up the leafy track past Round Hill to the Shirlett plateau, and down again through the forested hillside. Is that rustling a blackbird? No, it’s a small deer, perhaps 2-3 metres away, fairly well hidden – so no photos – in undergrowth beyond the fence. It’s sensed our presence, and is gone – no hurry, but it’s soon out of sight. We return to the car along the quiet road through the Smithies. Everyone else (perhaps half-a-dozen) is riding a bicycle. Have we missed something?

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…from Much Wenlock, through leafy lanes and orchards to this hamlet at the end of a very minor road. As well as the road, which we would need to use to continue our wanderings, three public footpaths meet at Atterley (the one we’re on and two others) – but there seems to be no obvious connection between the paths and the road, and the rights of way on the OS map don’t correspond with the signing around the settlement. A kind and helpful young lady pointed us in the right direction – “you’re not the first I’ve had to help”, or words to that effect…
Heading back, a long straight lane takes us to towards Callaughton, then we head across the fields (with the oilseed rape towering above us) and down another leafy lane to return to Wenlock. An interesting and most enjoyable walk!

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We’re walking past Hurst Farm pools, then across the field to Shore Pool, where there are bluebells in the woods. The estate road takes us up past the house at Aldenham Park, and soon after, we’ve closed the circle and are heading back past the pools towards the car. We were here just two months ago – what a change! The bare fields are now green – and yellow; the trees are in leaf, and it’s good to be somewhere different. It almost feels like being on holiday, just four miles from home…

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