Category: Walks

Short walks with photos and a Google map.

Canalside at Newport

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, WalksLeave a comment

That’s Newport, Shropshire, not one of the several others around the UK… Newport was the first place of any size served by the canal which ran from Norbury Junction, on the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction canal in Staffordshire, to Shrewsbury, with connections into the tub boat canals in east Shropshire. It was abandoned in 1944; some stretches are still in water, but much has disappeared completely. The Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust, which aims to restore the canal, has been active for the last 25 years. A stretch of roughly 2km (about a mile and a third) is in water through Newport. Though not yet navigable (several locks have been walled up and filled in) a good canalside path provides for a very pleasant walk (popular, too, on this Sunday afternoon)

Wikipedia: Shrewsbury Canal

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=374530&Y=319530&A=Y&Z=120

Symmetry

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Hadn’t realised until I looked at the map! There’s a certain symmetry about an out-and-back route in any case. Not that it has anything to do with the feel of the walk – a real “blow the cobwebs away” struggle against storm Amy, while the few clouds fly past, taking me from light to shade and back in seconds. No great height here, but there are sweeping views to the south – and it really catches the wind. I’m not hanging around!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=366750&Y=296360&A=Y&Z=120

Apple pressing day

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

A perfect day for it! For a number of years it’s been an annual event at the village hall. There’s no shortage of good fruit around here – this year the crops have been exceptional. It grieves me to see piles of rotting apples where no-one has bothered to pick them, but there are no such piles around Willey (and windfalls are not allowed access to the press). They’ve all been picked and are being chopped by the scratter and squeezed in the press. We’ve parked about a mile and a half away and walked here (the lanes are very narrow and parking could be tricky) so we’ve earned a drink and a piece of (delicious!) home-made cake, bought some local (Willey) honey and had a large bottle filled with golden juice. Something to enjoy over the next day or two…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367300&Y=297960&A=Y&Z=120

Toadstools in the woods

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

It’s possible I’m describing mushrooms (edible) as toadstools (not!) – but even if they were edible, I wouldn’t want to risk it (Russian roulette!) and, more to the point, would rather leave them growing there for everyone to see and enjoy. It’s a grey afternoon at Attingham, but pleasant nevertheless. Sunshine would have been good but would be wasted in the woods.

Attingham Park NT

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354940&Y=310040&A=Y&Z=120

Fungi, hops and berries

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Could brew a few pints with the hops around Willey! Pick a hop flower and rub it between your fingers to release that delicious scent. The fungi are beginning to emerge after the recent rain – two beautiful giant puffballs amongst others, and the various fruits and berries are still around in colourful profusion (I think the blackberries are past their best – the devil’s in them from next Wednesday!)

View OS map in Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367470&Y=298250&A=Y&Z=120

Cave-dwellers

On By geoffspagesIn NT and EH, Photography, WalksLeave a comment

Kinver Edge and the rock houses. We’re at the southern end of that thin extension of Staffordshire sandwiched between Shropshire and the county of West Midlands – Kinver, with its wonderful rock houses and wooded sandstone ridge. The houses are in the care of the National trust (see link below), and well worth an exploration. The Edge, also NT, is a popular place for a leg-stretch – deservedly so, with its well-waymarked maze of sandy tracks, and particularly attractive on this sunny afternoon.

Kinver Edge & the Rock Houses NT

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=383220&Y=282885&A=Y&Z=120

Up to Plaish

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Walks1 Comment

It’s a hilltop hamlet with a hall. After yesterday’s heavy rain, we’re staying on the (very quiet) surfaced lanes for this walk in Apedale, from the crossroads at Day House, towards Longville then up (it’s no great height, but a gentle pull for the last half-mile) to Plaish. A glance at the hall, a chocolate stop at the field gate – then back down to the start, beside the gurgling little brook, hidden amongst the trees.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=353520&Y=295320&A=Y&Z=120

A Haughmond wander

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

Another fine afternoon (it can’t last!) – Haughmond Hill could be pleasant. It’s barely worth calling a hill, at 153m above sea level, but the view from the southern edge of the woodland is extensive, a sweeping panorama of significantly higher ground – the Wrekin, the Clee hills, the Stretton hills, the Stiperstones, and away to the west and over the border, the Berwyns. Away from the edge, in the forest, there’s a more limited view, but there’s lots of foreground interest – interesting fungi galore, and a fine crop of tiny sweet wild damsons…

Forestry England: Haughmond Hill

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=354525&Y=313810&A=Y&Z=120