It’s hazy too, but at least there’s no wind. More like January than early March – just a few primroses at the foot of Round Hill to remind us that it’s spring…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=366240&Y=297950&A=Y&Z=120

A fine, bright but cold afternoon – it’s good to be out on the quieter side of Much Wenlock. There are one or two others about, all of them dog-walkers (possibly wondering where ours is?), but they’re well-behaved and seem to know where they’re going. The dogs are OK too.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=361430&Y=298891&A=Y&Z=120

It’s starting to appear on the blackthorn, the startlingly white blossom that in autumn will bring those bitter almost-black fruits, the basis for many a bottle of sloe gin. Like yesterday, it’s cold, but there’s enough sunshine to make us comfortably warm, especially when sheltered from that north-easterly breeze.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=360680&Y=302200&A=Y&Z=120

The Met Office says spring begins next Wednesday, and we’ve had a few spring-like days recently. Not quite there yet… Photos? At first, it’s too cold to hang around. We’re halfway round before the sun (we can really feel its warmth) and the camera come out. What a difference!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=367515&Y=298310&A=Y&Z=120

Thursday 23 Feb: We could park at the sawmill car park, walk around Dudmaston and through the asparagus farm to Comer Wood – get a light lunch at the shepherd’s hut. Yes, we could, if it hadn’t been half-term week (perhaps there’s something to be said for instant coffee: “instant”…). After five minutes in a stationary queue, we decided to cut our losses (we’ll have a late lunch at home). Escaping from the woods at their northernmost tip, we follow the quiet road to Mose and the farm track beyond, back to the start.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=374755&Y=289120&A=Y&Z=120

Yet another day that feels like early spring. The pussy willow beside the Severn thinks so too, adding a little splash of yellow to the scene

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=372065&Y=296465&A=Y&Z=120

According to the Shropshire Star, we’ve had no ‘meaningful’ rainfall for a whole month. We’re not complaining – there are many places around here that become almost inaccessible during a ‘fill dyke’ February – but I have that feeling that we’re going to pay for it later… Yes, once again it’s a fine and sunny afternoon, and we’re out wandering from Benthall Hall, down to Workhouse Coppice, along Benthall Edge and back via Wyke and Posenhall. Spring is just over a week away – it’s in the air today.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=365895&Y=302620&A=Y&Z=120

We haven’t been out this way for a little while – down the old waggonway from Wenlock to Seven Springs, then into Bannister’s Coppice and back up through Homer to Wenlock. It’s very quiet in this wooded country below the Wenlock Edge, and very pleasant in the intermittent sunshine. Perhaps we’ll see some deer? Perhaps not! – though there are plenty of fresh footprints. The alpacas at Sheinwood mill will have to do instead.

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=362215&Y=302100&A=Y&Z=120

No sunshine, and maybe a few spots of rain later. It’s a mild, grey, breezy afternoon, and it’s pleasant out along the lane, down to the old railway track and back up the dingle. Some of the things we find are worth a closer look…

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=369330&Y=301400&A=Y&Z=120

It’s (moderately) famous in these parts – the snowdrop walk at Cound (it’s always a very pleasant walk; the snowdrops are a bonus). We’ve promised ourselves we’ll do it for years, but it’s always been too wet, or it’s a weekend and it will be very busy, or we’ve only remembered when the short season is over. Today it was neither wet nor busy – we were walking (slowly, and stopping for photographs) for about two hours, and didn’t see anyone else. We had the snowdrops all to ourselves – and what a lot of them there are. Quite uncountable, there must be millions! The gentle valley of the Coundmoor Brook seems to be full of them! Famous? Understandably!

View OS map on Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map?X=355765&Y=304205&A=Y&Z=120