To Willey – out via Darley (rhymes with rarely) and the Honeypot; back down the sunken lane behind Deancorner. Just short of five miles, and no-one else about (apart from a lost taxi driver). In the sky over the fields near Darley, swanee whistles are playing:

On the moor I saw a plover
And a curlew call her lover
“Pee-wit!” “Pee-wit!”
Spring shall surely come again

No curlews, but four or five lapwings wheeling and fluting. Wonderful – not a sound we hear often now. Made our day! (listen here Lapwing Bird Facts | RSPB)

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367695&Y=300145&A=Y&Z=120

Yesterday was wet and windy; today it’s bright and breezy. We’ll need to time it carefully to avoid the showers though. It’s a familiar route, past Round Hill and Willey Lower Pool, down Bould Lane and back through Linley Brook, but the weather makes each outing different. When the sun shines, there are photoflood moments – got to be quick though, they’re gone in seconds.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367620&Y=297945&A=Y&Z=120

Down the lane past Swinney Farm, then the old railway track to Coalport Bridge. Cross the river and make our way to the china works and the youth hostel, where maybe before too long we’ll once again enjoy tea and cake. Back over the memorial footbridge and up the dingle (which isn’t too muddy…) – a most enjoyable outing!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=369485&Y=301370&A=Y&Z=120

That’s what I said yesterday, and today’s forecast was “overcast”. It was wrong. The bright sunshine made it feel warmer too. We’re enjoying a short walk around the very quiet lanes from Willey. Where’s everyone else on this lovely afternoon? We usually see at least one other person out walking, sometimes as many as three or four on a Sunday afternoon…

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

Another cold, grey, still day. We’re walking past Hurst Farm pools, down the farm lane, across the fields past Shore Pool (which is a very muddy colour) and back up the drive past the house at Aldenham Park. Some sunshine would be good…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366905&Y=295650&A=Y&Z=120

It’s another cold, grey but still day – the landscapes are flat, but there’s colour beside the path. We’re walking up past Round Hill, down Ned’s Lane to Willey, then back to the start along Bould Lane and through Linley Brook. It may be grey but it’s good to be out.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=367105&Y=297810&A=Y&Z=120

A walk along Shirlett Lane on a cold, hazy but sunny afternoon. It’s quiet up here today.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365660&Y=298545&A=Y&Z=120

… a day (or three) makes. On Friday, in glorious sunshine, we walked along Benthall Edge and looked down on the power station (see ‘Back from the Edge’. The following day, the former boiler house blew up – as a planned part of the ongoing demolition, of course. I don’t think we’d have been allowed up there at the time, and yesterday, I suspect, the paths would have been busy. Today, like the boiler house, the sunshine is but a memory. It’s cold, grey and misty.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365670&Y=302945&A=Y&Z=120

Passing through Posenhall… One last day of blue skies, before (if the forecast is to be believed) a rather grey spell. It’s another beautiful afternoon – it would be a crime to stay indoors on a day like this.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=365265&Y=301021&A=Y&Z=120

Conditions have been a little drier recently. Let’s try Ned’s Lane – it might be passable… Yes, just about. There’s some deep sticky mud, not helped by the horses that come this way, heavy hooves digging deep into soft ground. We’re soon past the worst bits, and it’s easy going now. A walk with a loop at the far end is much more satisfying than ‘turn and head back’. And what a beautiful afternoon it’s been!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366240&Y=297950&A=Y&Z=120