Sunny Salop

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Thursday 6 February: A clear blue sky! What a difference a day makes. Yesterday (Fri 7th) was cold, grey and windy, and that’s the forecast for the next week. Oh dear!.
The county was, for a few years, called “Salop” (I think it reverted to Shropshire after a visit by a party of French schoolchildren, who couldn’t help giggling). The town was Salop too, to railwaymen – a useful shorthand. A van destined for a Shrewsbury siding would usually be chalked-up for “Salop”.  Anyway, Thursday was a great day for a wander around our county town (whatever it’s called) with the camera – but don’t be deceived by the sunshine – it was cold in the shade…

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What sunny intervals?

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That’s what was forecast from 1pm. All we saw was a watery sun, providing little illumination and no warmth! We needed to be home by around 3pm, and sure enough, just a few minutes later, the sun was shining brightly from a blue sky. Reddish brown predominates today, with a splash of welcome yellow and a little new greenery too.

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Blooming birds

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Attingham: the snowdrops are in bloom, so we’ll walk through their woodland, but we’ve seen plenty over the last few days. Across the river, some good soul has been laying out bird seed on old logs and stumps, and if we’re patient (make ourselves look like trees!) we might be treated to a colourful display…

Attingham Park NT

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Snowdrops at Plaish

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On Wednesday’s walk, we passed a wayside plant stall, offering pots of snowdrops for sale. “We’ll bring the car round and buy some after our walk” (we could hardly carry them for the next four miles). We remembered the idea just a couple of minutes before returning to the start – then drove home having completely forgotten again. There were plenty on offer – “We’ll go that way in a day or two”.

Today (three days later) we bought the last two pots!
Continuing on our way, we found ourselves on the Cardington road, for a walk up to Plaish. Oddly enough, there were lots of snowdrops along the way…

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A Random walk

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We’re on a distinctly chilly Clee Hill today, walking from Cleehill village to Magpie Hill – out via Whatsill, back past the curiously-named settlement at Random. We would have continued past the Three-forked Pole and over Hoar Edge – but we’d have been fully exposed to that bitter wind, and the sun was becoming rather watery. We’ll take the direct route. Cold notwithstanding, it’s a very pleasant outing on this lonely high ground.

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Cold on top

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A walk along the Long Mynd ridge, from Robin Hood’s Butts to Pole Bank and back. It felt cold at first under a stubborn bank of cloud, but once that cleared the sunshine was very pleasant. Not the quietest of places on a fine Saturday, even in late January, but most enjoyable, with great views in all directions. Near the top of Mott’s Road, a sizable flock of birds circles before landing nearby. Are they golden plovers? Later, as we near our starting point, we hear grouse exchanging chuckles. “Go back, go back, go back”. Yes, we will, soon, but we’ll listen to you for a minute or two first. The icing on today’s icy cake!

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Falling water

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The sight and the sound! No, it’s not raining – it’s the water running off the Long Mynd, down into the Carding Mill valley. There hasn’t been a lot of rain recently – but there’s enough water soaked into the upland mosses to maintain a steady flow. We were going to Church Stretton anyway (Entertaining Elephants), and the weather (bright, some sunshine) was better than the forecast (dull, overcast). Would have been a shame to waste it! Up to the waterfall and back is just right for a short walk* – with the sight and sound of falling water every step of the way.
The local robins are neither shy nor modest – in fact they’re real posers! I’m not complaining…
* about 2.5 miles – and 670ft of ascent

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