Not a day from straying far from the car – the showers are heavy, frequent and unpredictable. Some of these were taken from inside the car. After all, it’s important to keep raindrops off the lens…
Wet!
It’s just the weather for playing with a 10-stop ND filter – even if the wind does buffet the tripod, and raindrops on the lens don’t improve the picture…
Sir Tom
We looked in at Threlkeld Quarry this afternoon – for a ride into the old workings behind Bagnall 0-4-0ST “Sir Tom”. There will be a “Rail Diaries” page in due course; in the meantime, here’s a taster…
Threlkeld Quarry and Mining Museum
The Weir
Sunday: We’re travelling through Herefordshire, and need somewhere for a picnic and fresh air. How about the Weir? It’s a National Trust property, consisting of a riverside garden and walled garden on the steep north bank of the Wye, a few miles upstream from Hereford. The riverside garden is attractive in a wild (dare I say unkempt?) kind of way; the walled garden nearby is more traditional, perhaps, with colourful floral displays and rows of veg. Once again, the butterflies are being fairly relaxed…
A walk to Coalport
We’ve done it many times. It’s a pleasant afternoon, even if it is rather overcast. There’s not quite as much colour in the hedgerows as there was a month or two ago, but the butterflies are more cooperative. The peacock was on the path, wings closed. I reached down to him and he crawled onto my hand, to join us for a few yards (he would have stayed, I suspect, but we thought he’d be better off in the bushes). As usual, there’s tea and cakes to be had at Coalport…
Gatekeeper
I’m not a walking “Book of British Butterflies” – it was just a colourful little something to point the camera at. We’ve been out wandering the local lanes, fields and woods on this warm August afternoon. There were other butterflies about – this one was obliging, staying still, wings open in the sunshine. Identification required a couple of minutes with Mr Google, after downloading the pictures at home.
Gogbatch
Last gasp of the Long Mynd, before it fades into the fields and pastures of the plain to the north, is Gogbatch. It’s a pleasant – and quiet – spot for a picnic, despite having a (very minor) road running its entire (very short) length. It’s a good spot to begin a walk, too, on this comfortably warm August afternoon. There’s just enough breeze to maintain the comfort as we ascend gradually past Jinlye and Jonathan’s Rock to the main plateau. Our return route skirts the golf course, before descending through deep bracken into the Batch Valley. There’s an inviting but evidently little-used path from All Stretton back towards the slopes of the Mynd. The Himalayan balsam is invading, but brambles and more deep bracken nearly force us to retrace our steps (note to self – bring secateurs next time. And a billhook? And a flame-thrower? Perhaps not).
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=345305&Y=296096&A=Y&Z=120
A July evening
Thursday evening: just taking the camera out for a wander, enjoying the low warm light.
Norton Camp
It’s a hill fort, near Craven Arms. Today we’re walking up to Norton Camp from Stokesay Castle, where, on our return, there will be refreshments. It’s warmer than of late, which isn’t saying much. 21C feels warm this summer. Much of this walk is in woodland, but it’s mostly deciduous and quite varied, and contains some interesting things – and occasionally, there are unexpected views. The hill fort isn’t over-exciting (to a lay observer) – the earthworks appear to be substantial but they’re covered in trees and shrubs. We follow the ridge of the hill southwards, to descend by Rotting Lane, crossing the A49 (again, and it’s not easy) and the Onny, to follow tracks close by the railway line back to Stokesay.
View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=344000&Y=280936&A=Y&Z=120
Colourful Coalport
Everything’s in flower, or so it seems, and the butterflies are beginning to cooperate… We’re making the most of a dry and sunny afternoon after a day of rain, with another to come tomorrow, if the forecast is right. The youth hostel at Coalport (beside the china museum) is open for tea and cakes all summer, and the walk’s long enough to feel we’ve earned it (as if we needed an excuse…)
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