Monday: Barrow to Wyke. An overcast afternoon – the air’s cold, but there’s just the lightest of breezes away from the most open ground. The warmth is in the colours in the hedgerow.
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Back on the Wenlock Edge again, starting from the same point as a week ago, for a different route – up the Blakeway Hollow lane, then back along the edge to Smokey Hole and beyond. We’ll skirt Much Wenlock on our way back to the start. The hedgerows are full of all kinds of fruit, from very tempting blackberries and bitter sloes to the poisonous (red) black bryony.
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A short wander near Wenlock, out to the old farm at Perkley and back beside the former railway line. The harvest is mostly finished, the toadstools are popping up and the blackberries are juicy…
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The contrast could hardly be greater – this morning I was driving through busy Birmingham; this afternoon we were wandering on Wenlock Edge. Everything seems to be in flower now, and the early purple orchids should be in bloom.
…from Much Wenlock to Broseley, after a ride on the no.18 bus. The spring lambs are out and about, but there’s not much gambolling going on – it’s too cold, despite the warm (but intermittent) sunshine. It’s not very quiet either, especially between Wenlock and Benthall Hall. We passed more people than in our last half-dozen walks – mostly teenage schoolchildren on some kind of organised outing – and a dog near Wyke was noisily expressing its displeasure at being kept in a cage. I think I would too.
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The western escarpment is much the better known at the northern end of the Wenlock Edge, with some very pleasant walks from the popular NT car park at Much Wenlock. This route, to the eastern ridge, is less well-known and much quieter. We walk beside the old railway line and through fields, along interesting little wooded pathways. Between the heavy clouds (we’ve managed to dodge the showers) the sky is blue – the landscape is a patchwork of light and shade today.
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That’s the Wenlock Edge, of course. It’s a dry, bright and still afternoon, with just a “very small chance of a shower”. There are one or two possible candidates, but nothing near enough to worry us. Once again, there are all kinds of autumnal things in the hedgerows, and it’s always fun to find fungi…
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Walking near Wenlock, the onset of autumn is evident – blackberries, elderberries, toadstools galore. The air is cooler, and there’s rain in the wind – much more than the forecast implied. We sheltered from the first shower, and should have sheltered from the second, but we weren’t far from the car…
We walked this route last September – today we’re doing it clockwise.
It’s grey and damp today – but Friday and Saturday afternoons were positively springlike. There are few signs of spring, but the air is warmer, the breeze less biting. Friday’s wander was around Coalbrookdale, up and down through the woodlands. Yesterday was Wenlock’s turn, heading through the town, up past the windmill and along the edge.
It’s dry and bright, a good afternoon for exploring. It would have been sunnier too, if we’d not been tied up earlier in the day. There are three stretches of road walking en route – the first, the Wenlock to Broseley road, is fairly busy, but there’s ample verge to hop onto when needs must, and it’s downhill… The other roads are very quiet, and quieter still, respectively. And away from the lanes, there’s just the birds, twittering and rustling in the undergrowth. It may be half-term, but there’s no-one else about.
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