Highlanders and a goldcrest

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, WalksLeave a comment

They come in brown and black – the hielan coos, that is. The sheep are all black too. The goldcrest was an unexpected treat (sorry, no photos – he was never still for more than a second, but a pleasure to watch – and then a van came down the lane and frightened him away). A very pleasant wander around Much Wenlock, on an end-of-January afternoon that felt springlike (we’ll pay for it in February, I’m sure)

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To Birch Wood

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Shropshire hills, Walks2 Comments

Same start as yesterday, but heading towards the river. Towards the eastern end of the route, the path follows the edge of Birch Wood, which hides a steep drop down into the valley of Dean Brook (we won’t go there…). The path forms a T-junction with a bridleway from Linley to the Severn – I’ll turn right and head past Linley’s old church and across the field to Bould Lane, taking me back to the start.

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Attingham – after Britannia

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26 January: after recording Britannia’s eastbound progress near Allscott, we needed lunch and a short leg stretch. Attingham: the Cornish pasties were excellent; the cakes nearly finished us off. A short walk around the park would be good – the first snowdrops are up, and the birds are feeding in the woods. Shame there’s hardly any light…

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Britannia

On By geoffspagesIn Photography, Railways...1 Comment

She may rule the waves, but she doesn’t rule the weather! The Met office thought it would be sunny at 1pm – and through the afternoon. No chance – but at least the fog cleared. Still hazy though. Here’s 70000 Britannia getting along nicely at Preston Boats, just a mile or so to the east of Shrewsbury, on the first of this week’s driver training runs.

(“The East Anglian”? Not today!)

Wyke and Benthall in January

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The fine cold spell continues: this afternoon we’re walking from Benthall Hall, along the lanes to Wyke, thence to Benthall Edge via the Vineyards, completing the circuit on muddy field paths. The air temperature may have been around 5-6C, but in the warm sunshine (which the new lambs at Wyke appeared to be enjoying) it felt like early spring.

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Icy!

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A cold day on Brown Clee… Apart from a brief look to the west near the Five Springs, we’re staying on the eastern side of the hill. There, we’ll be largely out of the icy wind. Boyne Water is frozen over, there are some interesting displays of ice sculpture where streams run down the hillside, and the tracks are quite slippery in places. The wintry sky begins to clear late in the afternoon, moments before the sun sets – too late!

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Snow on the Chase

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“We haven’t always parked here – once, we parked in Brocton and walked up that old railway line – was it called Tickety-boo?” Close! The Tackeroo was the WW1 military railway across the Chase – we’ll cross its trackbed a couple of times today, but for once we won’t be walking along it for any significant distance.

There’s been a fall of snow up here: there’s little trace of it on the heather or the trees, but the paths remain mostly well-covered. The sun comes out on schedule (well done, Met. Office) and it’s a glorious January day on Cannock Chase, cold but pleasant in bright sunshine which really brings out the colours. I should add that the snack lunch at the visitor centre is worth the walk too…

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