Croft Ambrey and Bircher Common

On 29 May 201620 Mar 2022 By geoffspagesIn Herefordshire, NT and EH, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

We arrived at the Croft Castle car park at midday, to find it almost full, but once we were beyond the immediate surroundings of the house, we saw few other people. One or two were making their way up to Croft Ambrey, but we had the woodlands almost to ourselves when we chose a more roundabout route to the hill fort. Bircher Common is quiet too – just us and a few sheep. It’s very pleasant on a day like this – warm sunshine and a cooling breeze – on these Herefordshire hills.

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Coalport cakewalk

On 23 May 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Uncategorized, WalksLeave a comment

What better reason could there be? The youth hostel at Coalport, beside the china works, is a quiet and sheltered spot for refreshment (with the added entertainment of watching visitors trying to park their cars – yes, we’ll sit outside), perhaps a little over half-way on this enjoyable (and easy…) walk. And once again, after some showery weather, it’s a very pleasant day for it. There’s colour everywhere – the oilseed rape may be past its best, but there’s plenty more yellow in the hedgerows and verges – and purple, and blue, and white to set it off. There’s a cool breeze when we start out, but it’s quite still in the deeper parts of the lane, and the air is heavy with the scent of the May blossom.

Beside the Severn: Shrewsbury

On 22 May 201622 May 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, WalksLeave a comment

We’re walking beside the Severn, down to the weir then upstream to the Frankwell footbridge. We’ll make a detour into the Quarry, Percy Thrower’s creation where the rhododendrons and azaleas are at their best. There’s rain about, so we take a route through the modern shopping centres to avoid a shower, which has passed as we return to the older parts of the town centre.

Late spring and early purple

On 16 May 201616 May 2016 By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

The contrast could hardly be greater – this morning I was driving through busy Birmingham; this afternoon we were wandering on Wenlock Edge. Everything seems to be in flower now, and the early purple orchids should be in bloom.

The Chase in May

On 12 May 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, WalksLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe that Tuesday, yesterday and today could have been consecutive days. After a day and a half of almost continuous rain, the skies are clear and blue, the sunshine warm and the breeze very pleasant – we need to be out somewhere… We’ll go for Cannock Chase – there are one or two wet places, but it’s mostly well-drained, with shingle and sand underfoot. It’s a great place to be on such a day, with plenty of bright green new growth everywhere. The bacon rolls at the visitor centre, conveniently half-way round our circular route, are pretty good too.

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The Mynd and XXX

On 05 May 201624 Aug 2023 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Another ideal afternoon for wandering on Shropshire’s hills. We’ve parked at Bridges (very handy for the Horseshoe Inn, which seems to be called the Bridges now), and we’re heading north-east beside Darnford Brook, to reach the skyline at Betchcott Hill. The last short ascent is by the aptly-named “Golden Valley”, lined with glowing gorse. This is a walk of four parts: part two now begins as we turn through 90 degrees and head south-east along the ridge of the grassy hill, following the ancient Port Way. Part three starts when we reach the heather-clad Long Mynd – another 90 degree turn, still on the Port Way, taking us to the Shooting Box. Now it’s downhill (almost) all the way, with heather giving way to grassland near the derelict ruin that bears the unlikely name of “Priory Cottage”, according to the map. From Coates Farm, a quiet road takes us back down to Bridges, and a most welcome pint of Three Tuns – a perfect pint in a perfect spot on a perfect afternoon – XXX

More on XXX here https://www.threetunsbrewery.co.uk/pages/our-beers

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Walking back…

On 23 Apr 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

…from Much Wenlock to Broseley, after a ride on the no.18 bus. The spring lambs are out and about, but there’s not much gambolling going on – it’s too cold, despite the warm (but intermittent) sunshine. It’s not very quiet either, especially between Wenlock and Benthall Hall. We passed more people than in our last half-dozen walks – mostly teenage schoolchildren on some kind of organised outing – and a dog near Wyke was noisily expressing its displeasure at being kept in a cage. I think I would too.

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Wall to wall

On 20 Apr 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

That’s what the forecast said about the sunshine – we had to go… Stiperstones in April – warm sunshine, cool air and a pleasant breeze, perfect conditions for a walk on this rocky ridge. We started at the Bog car park – so that we could end at the Bog Centre (tea and cakes again). If we walked to Snailbeach, along the hill-edge paths, we could come back up through the Hollies and follow the ridge. The now-obligatory red kite wheeled over the far hillside, and a little later, a rarer bird, so to speak: a red grouse stalked carefully along just yards from the path. We’ll sometimes hear them up here, gurgling comically and telling us to go back, but this one remained silent. Minutes earlier, we’d noted how quiet it was. He must have heard us…

The Bog Visitor Centre

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Tea at the hall

On 19 Apr 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

An unexpectedly bright and sunny afternoon – we’ll walk to Benthall Hall for a cup of tea, and perhaps a cake – and check out the bluebell wood. The latter need another couple of weeks, perhaps, but the tea and cake are perfect – just what’s needed for the walk home again.

Benthall Hall NT

Forest paths

On 17 Apr 2016 By geoffspagesIn Photography, Walks1 Comment

We’re in the Wyre Forest this afternoon. It’s very pleasant wandering through this woodland, often fairly open, with deciduous areas and grassy clearings. It’s not always pleasant underfoot – several of the streams resemble paths (or maybe vice versa), and there’s an unexpected ford where culverts are blocked (the new boots perform admirably). There’s plenty of water in the Dowles Brook too, though it’s rather muddy. The heron is watching intently – he’ll need patience as well if he hopes to see anything edible.