The snowdrops are all standing proud, a little cheer in the hedgerows. The sheep are all lying down – what can it mean? Rain, probably – it’s a dry morning but a wet afternoon is forecast…
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/bJ7NwHZ6eFrA4jg46
Winter sunlight… These lanes are quiet! Other than the very occasional passing car, an enthusiastic blue tit and a bittersweet robin, there’s barely a sound. It’s bright, not too cold and the air is still – what more could one ask at this time of year?
View on Google Earth https://maps.app.goo.gl/EJgVJKr3k9g3Rcq2A
January is moving along steadily, but it’s still cold. A calm and bright afternoon is to be welcomed! So – I’m out for a leg stretch, this time from Benthall Hall, to walk along the quiet lane to Wyke, then down to the Vineyards and up into the Benthall Edge woods. There’s a maze of tracks here, but the one I want to follow is still blocked by trees, which fell in the storm just over a year ago. I can get past the first (sit on the trunk and swing the legs over!) but the second would demand serious limbo dancing skill, so I’ll pick my way through the woodland undergrowth instead. Returning to the Hall, the path is less muddy than I expected – or perhaps it’s just that the sun is in my eyes. It’s low by now – but not as low as it was in mid-December.
We ought to check on the locos… The usual question: where can we go, when it’s so muddy off surfaced lanes and paths? How about Bridgnorth? – always an interesting exploration, and we haven’t visited the station for some time. Not that there’s anything happening just now – the next train departs in just over four weeks… The locomotives are in hibernation!
Broseley on Boxing Day – and a cloudless sky! What more could one ask? Weather like this would make anywhere look special (that’s not to say it isn’t already…).
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367257&Y=302196&A=Y&Z=120
Sunny intervals… Just the one! It’s dry too – quite a pleasant afternoon for December. We’re walking around the Willey lanes once again, meeting along the way two gangs of long-tailed tits bustling through the hedgerows (perhaps it was the same flock twice?), Eric and Ernie in their field, and three red kites. Two them circled together over the estate grassland – then we realised there was a third a little further off. December drab? Not at all!
View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120
The signs are all there. Ripe berries in the hedgerow, seasonal colours developing and cooler days. Seems to have happened rather suddenly. It’s going to be dull this afternoon, but the morning should be brighter – we’re out soon after breakfast (and a quick look at the crossword), past Boldings pools and up to the old school, back via Colemore Green. Very pleasant it is too!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371025&Y=296777&A=Y&Z=115
Wednesday 6 August: a walk along the shore. Skateraw lime kiln is just a few yards along the rock slab shore from the Torness nuclear power station, a prominent landmark on the coast of East Lothian. A couple of miles to the north-west is another highly visible landmark, the lighthouse at Barns Ness. Dating from the turn of the 20th century, it was deactivated twenty years ago, and is now in use as holiday accomodation. The shore path is very pleasant, with fine views to sea and plenty of white waves – most enjoyable for an afternoon stroll.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=373167&Y=676267&A=Y&Z=120
First of June by the Met. Office’s reckoning… There’s certainly plenty of summer colour in and around the walled garden at Attingham
The sunshine is rather warm this afternoon. Some shade would be good: there’s not a lot of it along the riverside path, but it’s very pleasant down by the river, though we’re not alone. There are people in inflatable rubber boats making their way downstream, and there are ducks and geese in the water. There’s the odd cyclist (I probably mean “the occasional cyclist”) on the old railway track, where it’s shady and cool in the deep rock cutting. There’s no-one else on the path back up to Colemore Green – this is a quiet corner of the world.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=371620&Y=296675&A=Y&Z=120
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