Friday – Ludlow – A cold night with a sharp frost. The morning is bright with a blazing sun but the temperature has yet to climb to zero. Down the path towards the River Teme. The river is tumbling noisily over the long weir. Down the steps cut into the layers of limestone. Above the weir the river seems still just the slightest ripple. A Great Tit chatters in a small tree. The call of a Nuthatch is heard across the water. A Great Spotted Woodpecker chips from the woods above. Half a dozen Mallard are on the river quacking quietly.
Up towards the town under the walls of the castle. Rooks caw overhead. Through the market and along Church Street. Some of the buildings here are 15th century. There are deeds of the Rose and Crown dating from 1102. A wander around the shops. More and more empty properties are a clear sign of the times. Down Mill Street. A mediaeval Great Hall became a school and still remains part of Ludlow College. Three houses opposite date from around 1740. Into Lower Mill Street where there are the remains of the Mill Gate. Down to the river and then back up to Silk Mill Lane. Through The Broad Gate. Over Ludford Bridge and back up to Whitcliffe.
Saturday – Home – Two days of cold have frozen everywhere. The temperature in the greenhouse dropped to -5.5ºC overnight. The chickens’ water container goes under the hot tap to melt the ice. Water is boiled and poured into the wild birds water baths. Frost sparkles on the Golden Rod and Teasel heads.
Leominster – The frost does not melt at all. By evening the trees across the other side of the car park are still white with frost hoar. In the evening there is a parade around town and tractors, diggers, a fire engine, articulated lorry tractors and other vehicles all dressed with Christmas lights. Some have Santas on the front and one has a grotto on the back with Santa inside.
Sunday – Home – A light covering of snow appeared overnight but it is now thawing. It is less cold and very misty. As the day lightens slightly it starts to rain. A Robin follows me around the garden waiting for the feeder to be filled. It remains very grey and miserable.
Monday – Leominster – It is milder and after a night of rain everywhere is saturated. A train pulled by a Class 67 diesel pulls into the station. Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has risen a bit and the water is a thick looking and red-brown. Upstream a Moorhen crosses from one side to the other. Blue Tits chatter in the trees. Back over the railway. Another long train, this one in GWR livery, pulled by a diesel locomotive speeds through the station. Two Mute Swans fly over heading north.
Along the Worcester Road and into the industrial estate. Work continues at the sewage treatment plant. Further on a large car park has been created. At the relatively new compound there are all sorts of vehicles that, I assume, are for pumping concrete. A squeaking Pied Wagtail runs along the roof of Dale's large steel manufactory. A Red Kite flies around overhead near Broadward Hall.
Down to Broadward Bridge. The water level in the River Arrow is high but there is little flooding, just a few pools. A Little Egret is on one of the fields. Back along the Hereford Road. A Blackbird takes advantage of the few remaining haws. The wind is rising and there is rain in the air. The Hereford bound bus passes being driven by Santa Claus.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – The temperature is a couple of degrees above freezing and there is no frost or ice. There are blue patches between the clouds in the sky. The fields south of Leominster are flooded again. The water level here at Bodenham Lake is still very high. The boating lake is quiet just a few Mallard, a Great Crested Grebe and a Coot. Into the meadow. A Green Woodpecker flies off into the trees. A pair of cock Ring-necked Pheasants run across the meadow to join two more on the edge of the lakeside trees. They fly off towards Westfield Woods uttering their hiccoughing cries. A Muntjac, presumably the same one as last week, runs across the meadow into the trees. Into the plantation. A Wren darts across the path with a brief alarm call.
Into the hide. A flock of 85 Greylags are on the water. Another fourteen appear. There are also more in the mist and glare off the water. A Grey Heron is on the fence at the western end. The resident Robin is in the rose briar. Two Little Grebe dive over the flooded scrape. Three Mandarin Duck and the same number of Canada Geese are towards the south west of the lake. A Common Buzzard is on the camera by the Osprey platform. A single Cormorant is in the island trees. It would seem that most the wildfowl are out on the flooded fields.
Back to the meadow. Several Blackbirds and a Song Thrush seek food in the soft, muddy ground. A few Fieldfares are in the cider orchard but there are only a limited number of apples that have been left by the sheep. One apple disappears across the orchard in the mouth of a Grey Squirrel.
Friday – Hereford – Into the city after a wait whilst the rain ceases. More may well be on the way. The city centre is fairly busy with a craft market. Down to the Old Bridge. The water level in the River Wye is high but some ten feet below flooding. Black-headed Gulls search the water for food, emitting the occasional screech. Past Wye View Villas to the playing fields.
Over Victoria Bridge and past Castle Green. The rag and bone man can be heard in the distance. Here a Nuthatch calls from the trees. A Grey Squirrel sits on a branch eating something it is holding on its paws. A Lawson’s Cypress and a Cedar grow close together, both with a heavy crop. A small Ginkgo seems to have lost all its leaves at once and is surrounded by a yellow carpet. Past a house in Mill Street which appears to have a section of the old city walls in its garden.
Into Owen Street. It seems the majority of shops still open are charity shops or eateries. The city centre is rather depressing. The Old Market complex seems to have dragged all the spirit out of High Town. Not that there is much to lift one in the Old Market. The traffic is horrendous.
Sunday – Leominster – There is what is probably only a temporary relief from rain. The sky has high, luminous, pink-grey clouds with patches of dull blue. It is not cold, indeed very mild. Blackbirds hop around the ground in the half-light. A Carrion Crow calls. Lights on the Baptist church illuminate the blue and orange circular window. Jackdaws are on the roof tops. Onto the railway bridge. Wood Pigeons fly up from the track. Jackdaws call in the woods. The water level in the River Lugg looks a little higher than last week but the water is less coloured. A Cormorant flies south. The trees are bare.
Through Pinsley Mill. The Hawthorn bushes across the railway have been stripped of berries. Into the orchard. The Lady’s Finger apples are finally beginning to fall in large numbers although many still remain on the tree. A few Dabinett also remain attached. I cannot resist picking up a few Bramley and Hertfordshire Beefling windfall apples. Small catkins have appeared on the Hazels. The Cormorant flies around over Pinsley Mead. Vapour trails from the Paris to Dublin and the Newcastle to Lanzarote aircraft form a large white cross in the sky. A dozen Redwings fly over. The River Kenwater is still flowing rapidly. Two Wrens sing nearby.
Into the churchyard. A new nesting box had been attached to a Silver Birch. A large flock of Feral Pigeons flies around the rooftops in the town centre. By mid-morning it is raining heavily.
Monday – Leominster – A mild, damp morning. Scattered clouds drift eastwards. Past the decrepit Royal Oak Hotel. Feral Pigeons have now gained access through a broken window. Round the corner the Clifton cinema is also deteriorating. Two tall Atlas Cedars by the supermarket car park are the only signs of that Westbury House stood here. Up Ryelands Road and through the former orchard, now houses, onto Cockcroft Lane. A worried looking dog is being taken into the vets.
The sun glares through cloud, then emerges to light up the land. The wet shoots of winter cereal shine emerald green. The path comes to the top of the large field that runs down towards Passa Lane. Rogue Oilseed Rape plants are flowering. The valley below are the water meadows of the River Arrow and are doing what they have done for centuries, flooding. Beyond, the ridges of hills run through to the Black Mountains. On along the side of the fields. Columns of gnats dance in the sunbeams. Looking south, there is more flooding on the fields beyond the Hereford Road. Vehicles on the A49 are effectively driving along a causeway between the flooded fields. Down the path towards the Hereford Road. A Great Tit calls as it dashes from tree to tree.
Along the Hereford Road to Broadward Hall. A Pied Wagtail walks along the guttering. On to Broadward Bridge. The River Arrow passes under the bridge clearing the central arch by just six inches. Surprisingly, there are only five Goosander on the flooded field and nothing more. The western field is also empty of wildfowl. Back up the Hereford Road the wind, which was gale force during the night, is beginning to rise again. Past the High School. A Cormorant flies over.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – A grey, damp morning with a chill wind from the north. Flooding is extensive south of Leominster and along the Gloucester road. The roads are flooded into Bodenham but passable. A fair number of Mallard and a Little Grebe are on the sailing boat lake. However it looks like the majority of the wildfowl are still out on the flooded fields. The islands are completely submerged. A pair of Goldfinches are at the top of one of the lakeside Alders and there is a larger flock of finches flying around but not settling. Distant cackling gets louder as a skein of Canada Geese arrive. A troupe of Long-tailed Tits moves through the tree tops. The meadow is saturated and treacherous underfoot.
From the hide there is little to see, a few Mallard, a couple of Great Crested Grebes and a Canada Goose. The cloud is thickening. A drake Mandarin Duck in full breeding plumage sails around from behind the island. A Magpie flies across the water. Another six drake Mandarin Duck come out from within the flooded island. A Moorhen picks at the water beside the flooded reed bed. The wind is strengthening, sending shimmering ripples across the water. A squawking Grey Heron flies across the lake.
Back to the meadow where Redwings stand watch at the top of the bushes. A Green Woodpecker in Westfield Woods utters a brief yaffle. A few Fieldfare are in the cider orchard.
Back to Leominster. The Little Egret is in the flooded field beside Broadward Lodge.
Friday – Leominster – The overcast, grey skies continue. Last night the clouds prevented any chance of seeing the Geminid meteor showers. It is mild. A long black carriage train headed by 82230, a Driving Van Trailer (DTV), a British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train, is in the station. It is being pushed by a Class 67 Bo-Bo diesel, 67014, still with the Deutsche Bahn logo. Somewhat weirdly, this engine can be purchased as a Hornby OO model for nearly £200!
Onto Butts Bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has not changed. A Mistle Thrush sings beautifully nearby. Back to the railway bridge. Robins sing either side of the tracks. Another DVT of six carriages heads south.
Through Pinsley Mill. Blackbirds are calling alarm calls on the other side of the tracks. There are a number sitting silently in the bushes as well. It has been suggested that the alarm calls are in fact more territorial statements than real alarms. Into the Millennium orchard where more Blackbirds are feasting on fallen cider apples. Fresh molehills have been thrown up near the Millennium stone circle. Into the Peace Garden. One of the old Class 158 two carriage trains rattles by at speed. Like the Lugg, the Kenwater remains unchanged. A pair of Moorhens scurry across the lawn of the house over the river. An Oak variety is holding on to its leaves.
Sunday – Leominster – The air is cooler but not cold. Broken grey clouds with pink tints drift eastwards. Wood Pigeons and Jackdaws are on the rooftops. Over the railway. Someone is camping in the woodland. Onto Butts Bridge. Robins sing on both sides of the river. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen slightly. Clouds on the southern horizon are edged in golden.
Through Pinsley Mill. Jackdaws are noisy in the Mistletoe festooned Black Poplars by the river. A small flock of Fieldfares flies over. More Robins are in song. Into the Millennium Orchard. Eighteen Blackbirds, nearly all males, are feeding on apples. Another half dozen fly out from the Herefordshire Beefling trees. A Sparrowhawk flies over at speed. The bare trees begin to glow as the sunlight falls upon them. The River Kenwater seems unchanged for several weeks now. There is a seemingly lonely cry as a single, unseen goose passes over.
The slowly rising sun also lights up the Priory church and the golden cockerel on top of the tower flagpole. Up Broad Street and through Drapers Lane to Corn Square. A good number of Feral Pigeons, all well marked in the plumage of their ancestors, Rock Doves, are billing and cooing, with much chasing across rooftops.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – Weather fronts keep moving through. At midnight the sky was clear and the stars bright, a couple of hours later it was clouded over. This morning the sky is still grey but it is still mild. The floods south of Leominster have receded but many large pools of water remain.
Along the track at Bodenham, the hedges are adorned with the white fluffy seed heads of Old Man’s Beard. A Mistle Thrush rasps from the top of one bush whilst a Fieldfare sits silently in another. Two dozen Redwings fly over. The water level in the lake remains high. A Carrion Crow barks from the top of a tree across the lake. A large flock of finches flies to the top of the Alders. They are silhouetted against the sky making identification difficult but I pick out Goldfinches and Redpoll. They are also very flighty departing in less than a minute. There are just Canada Geese on the water.
Through the meadow. Three yelping Greylags fly in. A flock of some 200 Greylags were recorded at Wellington this week. This is followed by the horrendous racket of numerous Canada Geese arriving. Into the hide. Most of the noise comes from the island. Several groups of Canada Geese swim about. A few Mallard and a Great Crested Grebe are also on the water. The island by the southern hide is submerged but for the top of a rock on which stands a Cormorant, possibly the only one present. More small skeins of Canada Geese fly in, ramping up the volume.
Back through the plantation. The two tone call of a Great Tit rings out. Into the cider orchard where Grey Squirrels run up and down the hedgerows. Numerous fresh molehills have been thrown up. A few Fieldfares fly through the trees.
Thursday – Home – A gale raged all night and powerful winds still blow into the morning. Storm Pia, named by the Danish Meteorological Service, is a deep depression moving across the Norwegian Sea. Although, the eye is many miles from us, the associated winds are are causing travel difficulties in the north-east of the British Isles. As the day moves on the sky brightens but the wind remains lively.
Friday – Ledbury – The Winter Solstice. This morning may be the latest that the sun rises, but there is no telling here as the sky remains resolutely grey. From Ledbury station into the town along Homend past fine late Victorian and Edwardian villas. Church Street dog legs around from the main road to the church. The British Legion Club occupies what was a store for the Sergeants House with the back of The Prince of Wales pub between it and the Sergeants House. The house was built in the 18th century and provided housing for the police sergeant. Opposite a sign records that Ant’s Nest was demolished in 1993. Eight cottages stood here on the site of old farm buildings. A stone wall has more modern steps behind it leading to modern houses. Church Street Board School stood at the top of the steps but was demolished in the 1980s. The church bells toll the hour, then two more bells ring out, each a few seconds after one another. Opposite is a building with two wings, part of the Upper Hall. Upper Hall, originally Aula Superior, then Over Court, Over Halland finally Upper Hall, is made up of many additions over the years, following its near destruction in the Civil War, including a Jacobean and a Georgian wing. The two were joined in the 18th century and many Victorian alterations were made. It was originally owned by the Skyppe family of Norfolk, and one of whom was John Skippe, Bishop of Hereford from 1539 to 1552. By 1920, this large and imposing mansion had ended its life as a family residence, and was sold to Herefordshire Council who converted it to what became known as Ledbury Grammar School. In WWII it again took on the mantle of hospital for wounded soldiers, after which it was extended and carried on life as a school, including post 1978 when for a time it became part of John Masefield High School, accommodating 11 to 13 year olds. In the late 1990s, after some years of being neglected, Upper Hall was sold to a London solicitor, who converted it, and all the outbuildings, to private apartments. Between this and the church is Lower Hall and its lodge. The road continues up to Dog Hill, but I follow a footpath to the Church of St Michael and All Angels. Through a gate is a small park, once part of Lower Hall’s gardens. Through the churchyard.
Outside the gates is an imposing brick building built in the early 18th century, once the Police Station and Magistrates Court. Opposite is Church House, an imposing timber-framed house built around 1600. Into Church Lane. A long timber-framed building, the old grammar school, now the Heritage Centre. Next to it is the other side of the Prince of Wales pub, a late 15th century building. Opposite is the Burgage Hall of 1607, rebuilt in 1852, formally the Congregational Church. On down the lane past the Malt House and two long timber-framed buildings, one, built around 1500, is the town council offices and formerly the Poor Law Institute.
Back onto the High Street by John Abel’s Market Hall. There are only a few empty shops in the High Street. One side is a fine mixture of buildings from the 16th century on through to Victorian. The opposite side is dominated at one end by The Feathers Hotel and then St Katherine’s Hospital and Alms Houses. Homend starts with the Barrett Browning Institute, built in 1896 on the site of a tannery. Beside it is Salter’s Yard, a reference to the saltpetre used in the tanning process.
Christmas Eve – – Leominster – Gales have continued but have died away by the morning. It is very damp now. A Blackbird is in full song in the False Acacia outside the museum. A Carrion Crow is on the gatepost outside the Baptist Chapel. Another caws loudly from a rooftop opposite. At the bottom of the street, Jackdaws sit in pairs on chimney pots. Over the railway. Branches, both small and large have been brought down by the winds. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen slightly. Robins sing and a Mistle Thrush rasps. A pair of Dippers fly off downstream, chirping quietly. Back to the White Lion. Dunnocks sing outside the pub.
Through Pinsley Mill to the Millennium orchard. All the Lady’s Fingers apples have fallen now. Through the churchyard. A Nuthatch calls high in the trees. Into town where the greengrocer, butchers and cheese shop are all setting up.
Boxing Day – – Leominster – Across the Grange with the grandchildren and their new toys. As usual there was no white Christmas and the sky started blue with white vapour trails from aircraft but soon turned Leominster grey. It is cool but not cold. Robins sing in the trees and Jackdaws chack as they fly around. The Minster bells ring midday. The pub is now open so I retreat for a few pints.
Wednesday – Home – Storm Gerrit is moving in. It has been raining all morning and the various holes in the chicken run tarpaulin are dripping and making the run muddy. I need some dry weather so I can seal the holes. The newspaper linings from the hen house, full of droppings, are being buried along with kitchen waste in a trench where the climbing beans will go next year. The pak choi and mustard greens are still growing slowly in the greenhouse. More green shoots have emerged from the red onion sets planted in the autumn.
Rain continues throughout the day. The wind sets the bare, skeletal branches of the Ash and Horse Chestnut swaying.
Thursday – Leominster – After another night of gales and rain the wind has died down to a breeze and the rain a slight drizzle. Onto the railway bridge. A Carrion Crow bobs up and down on a branch that is bouncing in the wind. A Robin sings. The water level in the River Lugg has risen by several feet and it at its highest for some time. The water is coloured red brown.
Into Pinsley Mill. A Song Thrush sings from across the railway tracks. Grey clouds move eastwards but there seems to be a hint of brightness in the west. Into the churchyard where Magpies chatter and fly from tree to tree. A Grey Squirrel scurries across the grass and up into the trees.
Friday – Kidderminster – A grey sky but much less wind. The temperature has fallen slightly but it is not cold. Along Park Lane and past the entrance to Kidderminster Cemetery and Round Hill. At the end of the road is the Watermill pub in a former mill on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Across Round Hill Bridge and down to the tow-path. Nearby is the rusty brown River Stour and the confluence with a branch of the river that flows through the town centre. Opposite are ivy-clad trees standing above thickets of Rhododendron. Robins sing. The steep bank becomes a cliff by Caldwall Lock of red Chester Formation sandstone, laid down 250-248 million years ago in the Olenekian Age, a part of the Triassic Period. Water pours down the overflow channel into the river.
Past a yard of self-storage containers. The river and canal pass under the elegant seven arches of Falling Sands Viaduct, a railway bridge designed by Edward Wilson, West Midlands Railway engineer completed in 1877 as part of the Kidderminster Loop Line. It now carries the Severn Valley Railway. Next to it is Falling Sands Bridge, a road bridge. An unseen train passes over. Two canal boats pass whilst a third is moored at the edge of the canal. Under a modern road bridge. Four Mallard speed over. Hoo Brook joins the swollen river. An old pipe on stilts approaches the river but the end has rotted away. The canal bends sharply into Falling Sands lock. The four Mallard are on the river here, three drakes trying to entice the affections of a duck. Green Crab Apples are still on several trees. Opposite, a Magpie coughs above in Oldington Wood, now much reduced by housing and an industrial estate. A pair of Blue Tit tussle over the water before disappearing into brambles. Two large modern pipes in a gantry cross the canal. Beyond is a large water reclamation plant. A hump backed bridge has a small entrance into Platt’s Wharf, now just marshy scrub. Blue Tits chi chi chi, and a Grey Squirrel climbs up into the trees. Patches of blue sky appear. The river has moved away towards the east across a large marsh from which comes the yelping of gulls.
Oldington Bridge leads to a small lane which runs through an industrial estate on the site of Oldington Farm. The lane reaches the main Kidderminster to Stourport road. A lane opposite leads to the Birchen Coppice estate. I decide to walk up the main road for a bit. Industrial buildings and offices, including the Fire Service and Police headquarters, takeaways and a gym and eventually a pub, lay either side of the road. A stretch of woodland, a small remaining part of Oldington Wood, has a long, rusting fence with an empty gate space leading nowhere. Opposite is mid 20th century housing. There is then a supermarket, more takeaways and modern houses and apartment blocks. A bridge crosses the Severn Valley Railway.
The modern housing gives way to a mixture of late 20th century and older properties, one dated 1878, others of 1887 and 1904. This area is Foley Park. Along Northumberland Avenue past Foley Park primary school (an academy of course), built in 1894. There are small lead ventilation towers on the roof and a bell tower. The terrace opposite was built between 1892 and 1902. Into Larches Road. Northumberland Cottages are dated 1887. The houses then become progressively more modern. At one point there stood a large house and estate, The Larches, all demolished. The road ends at Round Hill.
Home – The journey back is in rain, often torrential. In the afternoon, a double rainbow appears in the darkened northern sky. Route
Sunday – Leominster – Pre-dawn rain has almost passed over but grey clouds still cross the sky. The high winds of yesterday have quietened. The moon sits high in the west. The Blackbird that was singing lustily in the tree before dawn has now moved on. Predictably as I head down the street the rain falls more heavily. Sky is now clear overhead but clouds are still thick on the western horizon. The rain does not deter Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons which fly in good numbers around the station and riverside woodland.
Over the railway and onto Butts Bridge. The rain has ceased. The water level in the River Lugg has risen (the measuring station records 2.64m) and it remains the colour of café creme. Robins sing and a Mistle Thrush rasps. A pair of gulls head south. Eleven Waxwings fly into one of the Black Poplars but are chased by an excited Mistle Thrush. The Mistle Thrush rushes across to the Poplar and stands on a branch a few feet away from the flock of Waxwings, rasping loudly and continuously whilst quivering its wings and tail.
Into Pinsley Mill. A small flock of Long-tailed Tits flies across the railway; Blue Tit are in the trees and bushes beside the track. More than a dozen Blackbirds and a small number of Fieldfares are feeding on the fallen cider apples in the Millennium Orchard. A tree has been uprooted and much of it has fallen across the Millennium stone circle. The water in the River Kenwater is high, rapid and green-grey.
Through the churchyard where there are more broken branches. The ground is saturated. The Minster tower is bathed in sunlight. The sun also illuminates the Feral Pigeons flying around the town. The air is getting colder and the rain returns.
We come to the end of another year. A year of war, the hottest on record and in our country, political incompetence and corruption on an unprecedented scale. Can we look forward in hope? Well, what else is there?
supermarket car park are the only signs of that Westbury House stood here. Up Ryelands Road and through the former orchard, now houses, onto Cockcroft Lane. A worried looking dog is being taken into the vets.
any chance of seeing the Geminid meteor showers. It is mild. A long black carriage train headed by 82230, a Driving Van Trailer (DTV), a British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train, is in the station. It is being pushed by a Class 67 Bo-Bo diesel, 67014, still with the Deutsche Bahn logo. Somewhat weirdly, this engine can be purchased as a Hornby OO model for nearly £200!
that flows through the town centre. Opposite are ivy-clad trees standing above thickets of Rhododendron. Robins sing. The steep bank becomes a cliff by Caldwall Lock of red Chester Formation sandstone, laid down 250-248 million years ago in the Olenekian Age, a part of the Triassic Period. Water pours down the overflow channel into the river.
as I head down the street the rain falls more heavily. Sky is now clear overhead but clouds are still thick on the western horizon. The rain does not deter Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons which fly in good numbers around the station and riverside woodland.