January is moving along steadily, but it’s still cold. A calm and bright afternoon is to be welcomed! So – I’m out for a leg stretch, this time from Benthall Hall, to walk along the quiet lane to Wyke, then down to the Vineyards and up into the Benthall Edge woods. There’s a maze of tracks here, but the one I want to follow is still blocked by trees, which fell in the storm just over a year ago. I can get past the first (sit on the trunk and swing the legs over!) but the second would demand serious limbo dancing skill, so I’ll pick my way through the woodland undergrowth instead. Returning to the Hall, the path is less muddy than I expected – or perhaps it’s just that the sun is in my eyes. It’s low by now – but not as low as it was in mid-December.
Bridgnorth: a January afternoon
We ought to check on the locos… The usual question: where can we go, when it’s so muddy off surfaced lanes and paths? How about Bridgnorth? – always an interesting exploration, and we haven’t visited the station for some time. Not that there’s anything happening just now – the next train departs in just over four weeks… The locomotives are in hibernation!
The sound of water
Drip, splosh, trickle, roar… The last is an exaggeration: Linley Brook doesn’t roar, but it’s certainly rushing along, and all those other sounds accompany us around these familiar lanes. It’s raining gently (wasn’t supposed to!), and water is running down the road surface, filling the potholes to the brim… At least the snow has all melted (apart from the snowplough dirty heaps beside the road) and that’s the origin of most of the water. At last, just yards from the start, comes that sunny interval we were promised. (No, we didn’t get noticeably wet, and yes, it was good to be out)

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After Goretti
On Thursday night, storm Goretti brought us heavy snow – a good 6 inches. The snowfall turned to rain – Friday was a damp, miserable grey and white day. This morning, under a clear sky, the wet snow – still plenty of it – is now hard frozen. It’s not going to be easy underfoot, but I can’t remain indoors all day… The car can stay put again – I’ll walk from home (more-or-less the route we followed eight days ago).
Shorter than intended
Wednesday 7 Jan: Shortly after I got home again, I heard from a good friend. He’d fallen just before Christmas and broken his hip* – and there I was, thinking I’d given up a bit too readily. I’d parked at the bottom and walked up the quiet lane towards Shirlett, intending to go at least as far as the viewpoint across the vale to the Clee hills. The lane was becoming increasingly icy – seriously slippery in places, and not easily avoided. I could have gone flying, and then realised that a passing car could do the same (there are very few up here, but it would only take one). I turned back, feeling less than intrepid. An hour or so later, I realised I’d been sensible (for once, some might say)…
*unlike me, he wasn’t doing anything foolish or unnecessary…
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Crisp and even
Not deep though… No drifting either – just a thin white layer on the roads and pavements, and other smooth surfaces. On the fields, where there’s a crop emerging, the snow is barely visible, but it’s there. There’s a sizeable flock of lapwings, perhaps 20-30, a very pleasing sight (and sound) in the field on the old opencast site, and over Willey there are several buzzards and three red kites. Beneath a clear blue sky (there are a few distant clouds) and in still air, it’s good to be out with the camera, walking from home via Darley (and the Honeypot!), Willey and Deancorner. The car hasn’t moved for days!
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11.30am: Coalbrookdale
Today’s forecast thought it would be cloudy from about 11am – but like yesterday, it wasn’t quite accurate. The sun shone from a clear blue sky all day! In fairness to the Met Office, their cloud map suggested we would be close to the edge of a large area of cloud, and happily today we were the right side of the edge. It was good to be out in the morning anyway, and I suspect Ironbridge, on our route back to the start, would have been much busier this afternoon – well worth avoiding!
… and that’s it for 2025. Happy New Year everyone! “Let’s hope it’s a good one…”
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Bedlam to Coalport
A cold afternoon at the end of the year. The forecast thought (wrongly) that the sun might appear; it’s quite wooded along the south side of the valley – would this walk be a waste of good sunshine? No, we made the right decision. Another grey afternoon, though there’s some colour here and there – cheeky robins, interesting tiles at Craven Dunnill’s, some fascinating fungi and lichen… Sunshine? Tomorrow perhaps…
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Grey last day at Horsehay
Telford Steam Railway: 5619’s last appearance before withdrawal for its 10-yearly overhaul. I’ll go and take a look, though the weather isn’t promising. Everything’s grey today, on what will probably be my last rail-related outing this year… Visit ‘Last Day‘ on Geoff’s Rail Diaries for (grey) photos and a little more about the event.



