Short walks with photos and a Google map.
It didn’t seem to be especially clear (the Met Office had said “excellent” visibility), but we could make out Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons – and, faintly, the mountains to its west – that’s about 60 miles. It’s good up here when the air is cool and clear. There are interesting things close at hand too – fungi in profusion!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=358350&Y=284861&A=Y&Z=120
Thursday 13 September: a cool fresh day on Shropshire’s wild western fringe – this weather is great for a walk in these quiet (apart from the gunfire) hills. From The Bog, we’ll head for Mucklewick Hill (whose summit may be lower than our starting point), then down to Nind and up past the shooting range, where it sounds like they’re playing with their rocket-propelled grenades today. After a late lunch below The Rock (imaginative names in these parts), we’ll follow the ridge northwards, past the Devil’s Chair (he’s not sitting today, fortunately), before dropping back to the start, for tea and cakes at the Bog Centre (was the walking just an excuse?).
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=335650&Y=297831&A=Y&Z=120
Weds. 5 September: The London and North Western Railway used “Blackberry Black” paint on its locomotives – black with just a hint of colour. It’s probably that hint of colour in the fruits that makes them attractive to eat – a hint of something tasty, perhaps, and at present they’re ripe and juicy in great profusion in local hedgerows. They all had to be sampled, and as a result, we probably took a little longer walking around this enjoyable route on the quieter side of Much Wenlock. It’s not just blackberries that are fruiting – there are all kinds of fruits and berries ripening nicely, though we didn’t try nibbling the sloes or the crab apples, and certainly wouldn’t touch the toadstools. There were just a few sugar-sweet damsons within reach too…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=361355&Y=299046&A=Y&Z=120
An altogether different feel to today’s short outing – a walk along the Wenlock Edge, on a day when autumn feels as though it’s just around the corner. The air has a refreshing coolness, the leaves are on the cusp of changing colour, and there’s all manner of fruits and berries in the undergrowth. The blackberries are better than we expected during those hot days in June and July, causing some delay to our progress…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=359390&Y=298366&A=Y&Z=120
Sunday 19 August: At last, some decent weather. The clouds have cleared, no rain is forecast, the wind’s dropped. We’ve had a reminder in the past few days that Skye is full in August. There are huge numbers of visitors, who struggle with the single-track roads in the north of the island – especially those in hire cars, and as for all those monster camper vans… There are some very popular destinations up here, but if we avoid them, we should be OK. So we’re walking from Port Gobhlaig, along the very quiet coastal path to Rubha na h-Aiseig, and our companions will be the sheep and the seabirds. If the tip of this grassy promontory was a few yards further north, it would be the northernmost tip of Skye – and probably more popular. But wait – what’s this? As we walk back towards the start, there are two other people! How dare they? (Why are their voices so loud?)
Tomorrow we’re heading for home. Reminder to self: avoid high summer in future.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=143999&Y=875904&A=Y&Z=120
Saturday 18 August: we’ve been on gardening duties all morning. This afternoon, we need to go down to Uig to pick up supplies – we could have a leg stretch too. It’s a grey afternoon, but the rain seems less likely. The waterfall on the river Rha is a good start, then we’ll follow the shore path to the river Conon – and walk up the road as far as the Fairy Glen. The once-quiet side road is now busy with visitors, who struggle to park when they reach their destination. On foot, we can simply enjoy the scenery.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=140105&Y=863575&A=Y&Z=120
We’re at Attingham, where there will be some colour, and some cooler shady places where we can wander. It’s more colourful than we expected! The deer have found some shade under the trees in the park, and we’ll find some cool at the end of our walk – we’ve earned ice-creams, though we haven’t walked far today.
It’s a regular: walk down to Coalport, for tea and cake. But it’s too warm for tea and cake – we’ll have ice creams instead. We’ll vary our return route too – Corbett’s Dingle (locally known simply as “the dingle”) can be impossibly muddy, but today it’s dry, and pleasantly cool and shady on this warm afternoon.
It’s too warm for energetic activities, but we need some fresh air and a leg stretch. Woodland might be cool, but the tops could be breezy. How about the Long Mynd? We can park at the northern end of the plateau, near Robin Hood’s Butts, and walk to Pole Bank and back. It’s not a long walk, but it’s sufficient, and yes, there’s a pleasant breeze for much of the way. Hang on to that hat!
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=342575&Y=295371&A=Y&Z=120
My fingers got the better of me! We walked from Moreton, on the north Wirral shore, to Seacombe, to a bus stop just beyond the ferry terminal. We were making for Hamilton Square station, and to continue walking could have meant a missed connection…
Yesterday’s outing by rail had been planned a week or so in advance. In the event, it would be too warm for any longer journeys, and there could be (there were!) pleasant sea breezes away from the train. Before the walk, a ride to the end of the line at West Kirby (it was emphatically Wet Kirby, last time I was there) meant we could take refreshments (a pleasant little cafe in the railway station building), before riding back as far as Moreton. From the shore, there are hazy views to Wales and to Liverpool, and wind turbines out at sea. Around the corner at New Brighton (it’s busy here!), we’re following the west bank of the Mersey, with interesting views of the docks. Below, on the sands, are oystercatchers and four curlews.
We might have made it to Hamilton Square on time, but the bus proved a wise choice. The bridge across the docks was closed for maintenance/road works – if we’d had to follow the alternative route on foot, we’d have been home much later. We’d walked a little under 8 miles anyway – quite enough for this warm afternoon.
View OS Map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=329465&Y=394095&A=Y&Z=120
