Being British, I am very experienced in dealing with many types of rain.
Shropshire was, on this occasion, suffering from a particularly wet variety. The sort which requires windscreen wipers on full whack, and makes you wish you hadn't put your walking boots and waterproofs in the boot of the car because that means getting soaked in the few seconds it takes to retrieve them.
The day's target was the trig point on the Long Mynd, and I'd originally planned a circular walk from Carding Mill Valley (about 8k). But given the delightful conditions I changed my mind and drove most of... continue reading »
As a small detour on my way to Shrewsbury for Jem's 30th party, I decided to walk up the Wrekin and bag my first trig point of the year. I knew my timings would mean sunset from the top, but I was lucky enough to get some good golden hour light too (not really what you expect in January, but I'm definitely not complaining!)
I mean, just look at this. Completely unedited. Thanks very much to the random people and dog for standing in just about the right place.
The other 'thing' to the right of the trig point and people is... continue reading »
I found myself in Shropshire last weekend, so decided I might as well make the most of the scenery and go for a little walk.
I arrived at Carding Mill valley at around 1pm - not quite enough time for a longer walk up to the top of the Long Mynd, and it was rather windy anyway so that can wait.
Instead I followed a couple of the signposted walks in the valley - to the reservoirs, and to Lightspout waterfall:
An excuse to crack out the ND filters! They definitely leave a slight red colour cast, which is a bit annoying but... continue reading »
One of several stops on my way home from yet another #cakefest on Sunday. Going for lunch in Shrewsbury proved to be a silly idea (random army march/parade = traffic + road closures, argh), but I drove past 2 of my previous houses so that's quite cool.
As I was up in Shropshire last weekend visiting friends and meeting their babies (and consuming large amounts of cake, pizza and crisps), I figured I may as well stick my walking boots in the car and do something productive on the Sunday.
I decided on a short walk along Stiperstones. Starting from The Bog visitor centre car park, walking to meet the Shropshire Way and following that along the ridge past the trig point, then another big obvious path back again. Just over 5 miles in total.
It rained. Also it was quite windy, but that's to be expected walking along... continue reading »
It's been raining. Lots. This means lots of water in the rivers, and then lots of water on bits of land next to the rivers.
Yup, floods. I'm well practised at floods - Monmouth is very good at them, and I've seen some quite impressive examples.
Ludlow, on the other hand... The big river here is the Teme, but there's also the Corve which is usually small and weedy. However, yesterday evening it decided to stop being small and weedy and rose very very quickly - from being within its banks to completely flooding the main road in about an hour and... continue reading »
I went walkies yesterday 10 miles of mostly flat up in North Shropshire (Prees/Whixall ish). Nice day out actually - and I'm quite glad it was yesterday and not today, silly weather!
Would anyone be surprised to hear that I went out in shorts? I guess not, hehe. This slightly backfired as there were stinging nettles and things, but I survived with just a few scratches and a couple of bites of some variety. Need to invest in a pair of those trousers that zips off into shorts I think. New hobby yay (or more correctly, rediscovered old hobby)
ooh, a whole two inches! It always amuses me to see quite how badly this country copes with a tiny bit of snow - traffic chaos, schools closed, nothing else on the news for days because it's all so very exciting... I expect that anyone in any of the many countries that get regular snow (and know how to cope with it) are pointing and laughing at us right now.
I say that, but I am currently sat at home rather than being at work, because the roads are horrible and I'd rather not risk crashing my car. It's annoying, because... continue reading »
10 miles of mostly flat up in North Shropshire (Prees/Whixall ish). Nice day out actually - and I'm quite glad it was yesterday and not today, silly weather!
