We start from Hartlebury Common, walking south along its length to cross the Worcester road and continuing to Lincombe Lock, highest on the Severn. The river’s high, but not quite up to the path (which is nevertheless very muddy). We’re following different modes of transport through time – from the river, we walk beside Stourport Basin and along the canal towpath. We leave the canal where the former Severn Valley line from Bewdley to Hartlebury crosses, walking along its trackbed until Wilden Top Road crosses high above the cutting through the sandstone ridge, the northern continuation of the common. The road takes us the short distance back to the car park on the common.

VIC 99, berthed in the river, is a survivor of the fleet of over 100 small steamboats built during the war, based on the Clyde “puffer”. It spent its working life in the Forth, but since 1968 has lived on the Severn. VIC = “Victualling Inshore Craft”

A bright afternoon – lots of blue sky, mild, a light breeze… It nearly blew us away as we were putting our boots on, and at first it didn’t feel quite so mild, but once we were warmed up, it was a very pleasant afternoon on the high moorland. A fleet of spaceships scudded around in the northern sky (too substantial, surely, to be clouds?). The light gradually softened and warmed as the sun (and wind) dropped – it was setting as we arrived back at the car. Perfect timing!

It was Dawley Parva on the old 1″ maps, but today it’s more prosaic. The area between Coalbrookdale and Dawley is a tangle of old ways, many of which were originally the routes of pre-railway age wagonways. The last of these in the vicinity closed as recently (if that’s not the wrong word) as 1932, and their trackbeds, where they remain, make good footpaths, well-engineered with gentle gradients. The pools at Little Dawley were associated with the canal which once ran to the head of Coalbrookdale – today they are attractive and unsuspected features of the local landscape, which must have looked very different during the industrial revolution. The uppermost pools – “The Dandy” and Castle Pool were canal feeders – and yes, there was a Dawley Castle. It was a casualty of the civil war, and any ruins that might have remained were buried in the slag of the ironworks (long gone) which later occupied the site.

Our route back to Coalbrookdale takes us along dark hidden lanes in the Lightmoor area – Holywell Lane leads to Stoney Hill, where the landscape is changing rapidly under new housing development. Crossing the by-pass, we then descend through the damp woodland of Vane Coppice – the sun dropping behind the hills as we approach the coke hearth and the car.

A Salvation Army rock group perhaps? No, just a rock – an interesting clumpy outcrop on the northern edge of the Hope Bowdler hills near Church Stretton, which provides an airy viewpoint and a good objective for a short walk. With clear blue skies, bright sunshine and light winds, it was too good to stay at home.

A good day for exploring the dingle and the woodland beside the pools. There might be some interesting fungi under the trees. The path beside the Big Pool is closed, but the public footpath through the asparagus farm leads us across the road to Comer Wood. There’s a thin film of ice on Seggy pool, barely visible – but doing odd things to the reflections.

Brown Clee, that is, Shropshire’s highest. It wasn’t just a clear afternoon – there was plenty of blue sky around too – apart from over the hill. Occasionally a shaft of sunlight would break through like a spotlight, but most of the time we had to be content with the views of the sunlit distance. The Brecon Beacons are just visible – 55 miles to the south-west.

This route – just 3 miles in total – starts from the phone box. The box itself is redundant – not only do we all have mobiles now, but it’s been superseded by a modern al fresco alternative. Happily, the old red box lives on as the “Little Red Book Stop”. The sign on the door says

There’s a handy log beside the box…