Taking advantage of some bright sunshine, on the high ground at the northern end of the Wenlock Edge
It was 45 years ago today…
…that I travelled on a railtour from Leeds, to run from Carlisle to Edinburgh on the last day of the Waverley Route via Hawick and Galashiels. The illustrated story of that trip is on the Rail Diaries pages – “Last Day of the Waverley Route“. Today, the northern part of the line, from Waverley to Tweedbank, is being reconstructed, with opening scheduled for summer 2015. In the late 1960s, no-one thought we’d need railways in the 21st century…
Borders Railway Project website
Coalbrookdale and Cardingmill
Two short New Year explorations – a wander through the upper reaches of Ironbridge to Coalbrookdale on a sunny afternoon, and a short exploration (on a gloomy day) of the Cardingmill Valley. The primary purpose, in both cases, was a change of scene and a breath of fresh air. Any half-decent pictures are (or would be) a bonus.
Year’s end
Local wandering on a sunny afternoon, 2013’s last: clear skies after (and before…) rain – up through the woods to the lane where the sunset might be good. It wasn’t…
Munslows clockwise
We’ve done this one before – see The Munslows – anticlockwise last time. Today we walked up the surfaced lane from Aston Munslow towards Little London, to return down the much-rougher track towards Munslow, and ended with the path across the fields. The immediate (gentle) ascent would warm us up nicely (it did), and there might be an attractive sunset sky ahead on the last leg. There wasn’t – a gradually-approaching weather front replaced the blue skies with grey.
Attingham Afternoon
It was a popular destination on this fine bright Boxing Day, though there’s plenty of space for crowds to disperse – there seemed to have been far more cars than people. We were just in time for the deer feeding, before a short wander through the park and back beside the flooded Tern. Perhaps a cup of tea before setting off for home? Perhaps not – the others had already had the same idea.
Between the showers…
…the sun shone brightly. Titterstone Clee – a great place to be on an afternoon like this. We can enjoy the extensive views without straying far from the car – although we’ve found a gap between the heavy showers, there are still some hefty rain clouds around. Don’t be misled by the photos – the temperature’s around freezing and there’s a stiff breeze. We won’t be staying long.
Shortest day…
…and the first day of winter, officially. Better have a local leg-stretch, before it gets dark.
Calm before…
It’s going to be wet and windy tomorrow – and Christmas is looming… Today – quiet; fresh air and bright sunshine – out with the camera near Wenlock and Ironbridge
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December on the Mynd
A bright afternoon – lots of blue sky, mild, a light breeze… It nearly blew us away as we were putting our boots on, and at first it didn’t feel quite so mild, but once we were warmed up, it was a very pleasant afternoon on the high moorland. A fleet of spaceships scudded around in the northern sky (too substantial, surely, to be clouds?). The light gradually softened and warmed as the sun (and wind) dropped – it was setting as we arrived back at the car. Perfect timing!
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