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!

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There’s been a frost overnight, but this morning the sunshine is bright, the sky is clear blue and there’s no wind to speak of. Let’s walk over to Benthall Edge and back – we can have another look at the power station before they demolish more of it (tomorrow).

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For most of the ‘out’ and much of the ‘back’, this circular walk is on good surfaces, quiet tracks well away from the roads. To link the out and the back, we need to cross the fields at Shirlett. No real problems (the cows are in their winter quarters), though it’s quite soft underfoot. Not a route to try in rainy weather! Apart from a solitary dog-walker at the start, we’ve got this beautiful countryside completely to ourselves on this lovely afternoon.

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Yesterday was very windy and rather grey – not a great day for photography. We had our exercise but the camera didn’t. Today’s grey again, but the wind’s less strong, and there’s shelter at Shirlett. Click click! (mustn’t let it feel neglected…)

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Technically it’s still winter, and the last time we walked this way, just ten days ago, it was bitterly cold – but today it’s spring-like. The air’s cool, but there’s not a breath of wind, and the sunshine is warm – it would be criminal to stay indoors. There are new-born lambs in the fields, and the bees are busy at the feral crocuses in Lodge Lane. A most enjoyable leg-stretch!

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It may be a grey day, but the signs of spring, little more than a week away, are more and more numerous – primroses, buds swelling, the first leaves on the hawthorn. I’d say that these are quiet lanes, especially so on a Sunday morning, but it’s not quiet. There’s no traffic noise, nor any annoying aeroplanes, but (I’m not complaining) sheep and cows are making a commotion, the small birds are singing merrily (there’s a lark overhead), and the canada geese are honking on the pools and the wing.

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Shirlett Lane: close to home, but with views to distant landscapes. The forecast suggested that, if we straddled 11am – 12 noon with our walk, we’d enjoy the best of the weather, and we did! It’s a fresh rain-washed morning with a hint of spring in the breeze (and as I write, 2.45pm, it’s raining).

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A walk down to Jackfield, to follow the old Severn Valley trackbed past Coalport (GW) station, then back up Caughley Road / Pound Lane to Broseley. The forecast said it should stay dry (it did!) with sunny intervals (not quite…), and it’s still mild. As we approach the Inett, there’s a familiar sound that we haven’t heard since last spring – the first new lambs of the year.

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There are snowdrops galore beside the quiet lanes between Linley Brook and Willey. Many of them are deeply entangled in the hedges. Meanwhile, the ice is melting on Lower Pool. Did I mention it’s much warmer? (in relative terms, that is.) After last week’s sub-zero temperatures, it was around 11°C this afternoon. Positively springlike!

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It’s still very cold. We’re following a (roughly) circular route, out through the back lanes and onto the Benthall road, then turning down Lodge lane – a very quiet way which takes us to the other Wenlock road… To avoid too much road walking, we’ll cut across into the field, and re-join the road at the old toll house – from there, there’s a good verge to hop onto if any traffic comes along.

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