It’s there, just beyond the murk – trying hard but never quite shining. There’s barely a breeze, and it’s not especially cold – just right for a march around these quiet lanes.
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Christmas morning – there’s been quite a frost. It’s not every day you can trip over the mud on the roads. The frost has added interest to the puddles and the dead leaves. It’s not a bleak midwinter though – the sunshine is warming and welcome.
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…after a dull morning and a rainy lunchtime. It’s raining lightly when we leave home, but we have confidence in the weather forecast. Starting out from the car, there’s still a fine drizzle; within ten minutes, the sky’s clearing and we’re enjoying some winter sunshine. Almost back at the start, a magpie flies down and lands on an unconcerned sheep’s back – and then begins pecking at its head, no doubt relieving it of some unwelcome inhabitants… Eventually, it flies away. The sheep wanders off, oblivious.
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Not ours! The only way we can enjoy the little bit of Shropshire within this circuit is by peering from the fences, through the trees, or over the parapet of the bridge which crosses the estate road. Nevertheless, ‘around the estate’ is a pleasantly varied walk, and it feels very different on this cold, almost wintry afternoon – last time it was a pleasantly warm September day.
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There could be some blustery showers later in the day, so we’ll have a stroll in the morning. The world seems quieter before lunch… It stays dry, until the first spots of rain fall just as we get back to the car. Ten minutes later it’s pouring!
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It’s a still, cold, grey afternoon – the only significant colours are those of the season, in leaves, berries and fungi.
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It’s a grey afternoon, but there’s plenty of interest around and beside the quiet lanes near Willey and Linley Brook. The fungi are really getting geared up for the season!
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There’s everything we need for a pint around here! It’s spotting with rain as we leave the car, but we’ll risk it. We stay dry, but it’s a determinedly grey evening – no light until just before eight o’clock, when we’re in the car for the ten minute drive home.
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19 June: After a couple of rainy days, it looks as though the evening should stay dry. The paths we’ve trodden in recent weeks will be very muddy – we’ll have a wander along the quiet lanes around Willey and The Smithies.
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We’ve walked this route several times, with a difference. It’s been a good standby in winter and/or very wet weather, a pleasant stroll around quiet lanes. Today’s difference is the inclusion of the track up behind Round Hill, and back down Ned’s Lane to get to Willey (a route that can be seriously muddy in poor weather). It’s a Sunday, and there are one or two other people about, on Round Hill and near Willey Lower Pool – after that, we’ve got the place to ourselves.
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