As promised: photos etc. from Saturday’s trip to Statfold – 10 years after my first visit (how things have changed!) – now at http://geoffspages.co.uk/raildiary/statfold10years.htm
Priors Holt to Black Knoll
The day changed: it was bright and sunny when we left Priors Holt (or “Witchend” to Malcolm Saville “Lone Pine” afficionadoes), but the forecast was right. It was windy too – we’d planned a different route from Black Knoll, but the wind was strong and bitter on the exposed south-eastern flank of the Mynd – much more so than on the ridge path – so we retraced our steps to the forest. A red kite wheeling nearby was never close enough for the camera, and the three deer in the woods, just yards away, were gone in seconds. No photos of them either…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=340535&Y=289336&A=Y&Z=120
Alpha: Statfold
Just back from another good day at the Statfold Barn Railway. Photos etc. will appear in due course on “Geoff’s Rail Diaries” – in the meantime, a taster: Hudswell Clarke 1172 of 1922 “Alpha”, the latest new entrant. I’d say more about this lovely little loco – if I knew any more about it…
Update: it’s from the Ryam sugar mill in India – same place as the little black Davenport, also resident at Statfold… See http://geoffspages.co.uk/raildiary/davenport.htm Thanks to http://www.steamlocomotive.info/ for that.
Croft Castle
Somewhere for a light lunch, on the way home from Leominster… Not a day for the hills – the sunshine is tempting, but the showers are sharp, so we’ll have a look around the house and, weather permitting, garden.
Dudmaston in spring
Rain is threatened – better not stray too far. A wander around Dudmaston might be pleasant? It was! Spring is really getting going here – and not just the flora. The swans on the lake are quite excited about it, and the geese are honking happily. Just out of sight in the Severn valley, the steam trains whistle as they clatter along, a far more relaxing sound than the motorcycles screaming along the A442…
Dudmaston NT
Back to the Munslows
A pleasant five-mile stroll in a quiet part of the Wenlock Edge – and once we’re away from the road, it really is quiet. The birds are singing, but that doesn’t count as noise, and the only other sound, as we approach the highest parts, is the gentle rustling of a very light breeze in the trees. It’s clear too – the Black Mountains stand out to the south-west. At home, the grass needs cutting, but it will have to wait…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=351485&Y=287911&A=Y&Z=120
Double spring
The spring flowers are in bloom, and the tea-room’s open at Benthall Hall. On a fine and sunny afternoon (a touch nippy in the shade perhaps), what more could one ask?
Langley Chapel
We’d driven past once or twice, but never looked more closely. The last regular service was held here in 1871, according to English Heritage, its owners. They also say it was one of the first historic buildings to be taken into the care of the state – in 1914! It’s in the middle of nowhere (i.e roughly half-way between Acton Burnell and Kenley, perhaps 10 miles to the south of Shrewsbury), built for the farm nearby, Langley Hall (itself worth a second glance), when presumably it was of some significance in the area. A remarkable little building – heavy, rather plain and rustic oak pews (and box pews), very simple, very quiet ( a perfect brief Good Friday outing – there’s no-one else here!), and kept clean and tidy despite its long redundancy.
Mary Knoll – 40 years later
We’ve walked many times in the woodlands to the south-west of Ludlow – this walk was probably our first. Today we retraced our steps, visiting Mary Knoll Valley for the first time in 40 years. The valley, with its pleasant but well-hidden little stream, cuts deeply through the land. Near its head, there’s a herd of deer, and beyond Mary Knoll itself, there are woodpeckers hammering away in the trees. Earlier, as we drove towards Ludlow, we’d passed a pair of red kites, wheeling in the warming air. Oddly, this walk seemed shorter than it was in 1976, though the trees have grown, and Ludford weir has been tidied up. How will it all look in 2056? (Will we care?)
Photo note: it was a dull, slightly murky day in 1976, so I used a roll of FP4 (monochrome) film – which I reversal-processed for black-and-white slides. I was rather pleased with the results, though I never tried it again…
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=349675&Y=273336&A=Y&Z=120
Out to lunch
Thursday: another fine day. “Let’s walk down to Ironbridge for lunch”. Sounds a good idea to me – and we can walk it off again on the way back – it’s uphill all the way, and a longer route… Very pleasant (the lunch and the walk) – perfect!
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