Sunday – Leominster – A grey overcast morning with a breeze, but it is really quite mild. The usual Jackdaws are on top of the roofs. The water level in the River Lugg has fallen, not enough to expose the gravel bars, but close. The water is clear.
Onto Easters Meadow. Himalayan Balsam is spreading away from the river bank. A pair of Magpies fly towards Eaton Hill; Wood Pigeons fly in every direction. Bindweed, its trumpet flowers closed, has reached the top of a tall Rose brier. Nothing has changed in Brightwell’s compound; the same artic trailers, grit spreaders and army vehicles are still here. The Himalayan Balsam here is almost pure white just the vaguest hint of pink. A Wren sings loudly at the confluence of the rivers Lugg and Kenwater. Four Goosander are on the water then fly off downstream, a Kingfisher flashes turquoise up the Kenwater and a Moorhen stands on stones looking at the water bubbling off the weir on the Kenwater. The banks of Cheaton Brook are covered in Himalayan Balsam. Ridgemoor Brook is almost choked with Fool’s Watercress.
The market is fairly small and quiet, with a number of regular traders missing. Along Paradise Walk. The River Kenwater is also clear and flowing quite rapidly. Bell ringing practice is underway at the Priory. It is somewhat irregular and discordant. A Speckled Wood butterfly flits past beside the Priory Bridge. A spider has managed to bridge the gap across from one side of the street called The Priory to the other and sits in the middle of a very elongated web.
Monday – Leominster – Another grey morning. Along Worcester Road. A new laundry is opening in the station yard estate. Into Southern Avenue. A creeper has covered a laurel bush and has delicate white flowers. Building works continue at the sewage treatment plant, hopefully reducing the amount of raw sewage discharged into the River Lugg. Hazel nuts have been drilled or cracked, probably by Grey Squirrels, or maybe mice. A cheery lorry driver tightening the straps on a brand new cherry picker on his trailer, is pleased it is not raining! A white fungi with a slightly green centre, possibly a White Knight, Tricholoma album, has been well chewed.
The new unit that was being built around the time of COVID is now fully in operation. It has been landscaped outside with a number of crab apple trees with fruit of different colours. More saplings have been planted outside Dale’s site. Red Clover is in flower on the verge. Near the Hereford Road a Green Woodpecker calls from the large hedge. Into Hereford Road. Lady’s Bedstraw is flowering by the cemetery. A stretch of flowering Ivy is humming with bees. The hedge opposite St Botolph’s Green is the chattering with House Sparrows. Back in the town centre, Buddleia growing out of the Royal Oak has finally been removed, although little else has been done to the venerable building.
Wednesday – Cardiff – Peterstone Wentloog (Llanbedr Gwynllŵg) – Into this small village between Cardiff and Newport. Nearly all the dwellings are 20th century. The sky is cloudy and there is a blustery breeze. The road heads north at the east end of the village. The Hephzibah Baptist chapel stood on this bend but has been demolished and houses built on the site. The village hall is a corrugated iron building. Outside is a monolith commissioned to mark the flood of 30th January 1607 when the water was over seven feet above ground level. It was recorded:
The pub is closed down and turning into a ruin. It was originally a thatched inn but the village school was demolished and the pub extended. Opposite is the church of St Peter. The church has been sold and no access is allowed. New drainage ditches run across the churchyard. The site is said to have monastic origins. The present church dates from the mid 15th century, built under the aegis of St Augustine’s Abbey in the Perpendicular style. It was restored in 1606 after The Great Flood, and again in 1887 by Sir George F.R. Walker Bart in memory of his wife, Fanny Henrietta, third daughter of the Baron Tredegar. The west tower is three staged, with five staged, diagonal buttresses with crocketted pinnacles to each corner. It is in a highly decorative West country style, crenellated parapet of blind tracery with crocketted corner finials. A carved figure of a saint (possibly one of the Apostles) is set within the central crenellation of each face of the tower. The building is Grade I listed.
A public footpath passes a 20th century cottage and crosses the levels to the sea wall which stretches from the mouth of the river Rhymney to the mouth of the Usk as a first line defence against the sea. Earlier defences with built by Roman legionnaires based at Caerleon and some of the drainage ditches called “reens” maybe Roman in origin. The path passes Hawthorns and Willows. Long-tailed Tits call and a sizeable flock flies past. Up onto the sea wall. A low stone wall is a few yards away from the seaward foot of the wall. It appears to have been part of a channel that ran a short distance here. Then a wide stretch of marsh runs down to the sea. Gulls, Starlings, Carrion Crows and four Little Egrets are on the marsh. A Curlew stalks the seaward edge of the marsh. The islands of Flat Holm and Split Rock are clear across the sea.
Marshfield (Maerun) – A village on the north side of the Wentlooge Level and the South Wales mainline. There were originally two hamlets, Blacktown and Castleton with Marshfield being a church and farm. Blacktown has been subsumed into Marshfield. The name Maerun or Mairyn was a corruption of Ynys Mair or St Mary’s Island, so called because the rising ground on which the church stands was surrounded on two sides by water, generally thought to be the Ebbw river. Gradually St Mary’s Island became Mary’s Field and then Marshfield. The houses are mostly modern. The local shop is also the pharmacy and post office. Into Church Lane. Past allotments. The lane turns to run parallel to the village across a green, lush field of sheep. A barking Raven flies over. A stone cottage, probably 18th century or earlier, stands next to the churchyard of St Mary’s.
The graves at this end of the churchyard are recent, getting older towards the church, which is said to have been built in 1135 by the Countess Mabel, in memory of her father, Robert Fitzhamon, Norman Lord of Glamorgan and Wentlooge. In 1867 the nave roof was replaced and in 1924 the chancel was re-roofed. In 1909 the church was re-fenestrated and refurnished in Jacobean style. The heavily worn base of a preaching cross had a modern cross atop it. The church is locked. The churchyard has Wellingtonias all around its perimeter. A modern church hall has been built to the north side. Scarecrows stand in the churchyard. Church Farm has a relatively modern building against a much older barn.
Castleton – Northwards to this village on the A38. On the junction of the Marshfield and old Newport road (parallel with the modern dual carriageway a few yards away) is Castleton Baptist church. Erected in 1859 and designed by R G Thomas, architect, it is an early example of the Italianate-style chapel façade later developed by George Morgan. Built at a cost of £2,000, the funds for which are said to have been raised by an open-air rally held in Marshfield in 1858 by the famous English non-conformist Charles Haddon Spurgeon. A clay-tiled gabled roof with bell-tower and spire is in the north-west corner. The building is in red sandstone and limestone blocks with polychromatic detailing in cream, blue and red brick. It is no longer in use and is at risk of decay. Opposite is the graveyard. A former school hall and boiler house is attached to the back of the building.
Further along the old road is the masonic centre in the former Castleton Methodist Chapel, built in 1854 in stone in the Gothic style with a long-wall entry plan and integral tower. Across the dual carriageway is the Coach and Horses, an 18th century coaching inn, much modernised.
St Mellons (Llaneirwg) – Now an eastern suburb of Cardiff, St Mellons was a small commercial centre on the road from London to Cardiff. There was a concentration of coaching inns catering for the road trade. Tyr Winch Road rises past a small, locked graveyard. Opposite is Church Lane leading to St Mellons Parish church. Even the churchyard is locked. The church was built around 1360, although there appears to be records of a church here in 1254. The dedication is to St Mellonius, born in Cardiff and first Bishop of Rouen, where he died. An alternative is that the name is derived from the 6th century St Melaine who became Bishop of Rennes. The Welsh name, Llaneirwg, means church of Eireg, a legendary Welsh king.
Nearby is the large Summerwood House, the former vicarage. A path leads down the hill and comes to the main Newport road by The Poachers pub (formally The Star, it seems all the pubs around this area have changed their names for some reason). Westwards is the 20th century Community Council building. Opposite is a chapel, built as Soar Welsh Independent Chapel around 1840 and is shown with burial ground to rear on OS map of 1880. It became the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses but is a commercial property. Nearby is the War Memorial, unveiled by Lord Tredegar in 1923. Into Chapel Row. The Fox and Hounds was originally a cottage and smithy, becoming an inn before 1870. A row of cottages, Chapel Row, date from the early 18th century. The Bethania Chapel, formerly the Bethania Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, was founded in the 1820s and, of course, John and Charles Wesley are both reputed to have preached there. The present building dates from 1869. The architect was the 18 year old H C Harris. It was built on the main road into Cardiff, on the route of a Roman road, the old Pilgrims Way. It is now bypassed.
Back down Newport Road and into the Church Inn. This was formally The Bluebell. The main part of the building is 18th century with later extensions. Welsh Sunday Closing Act did not apply to Monmouthshire prior to 1921 and as the boundary between Monmouthshire and Glamorgan being the nearby Rhymney River, inns at St Mellons did a good trade with visitors from Cardiff. Stable facilities were offered here and a pump is shown on OS map of 1880.
My bed for the night is at the Tyr Winch, formally The White Hart. The lower wing is possibly 17th century and the uphill wing is later, possibly mid 19th century. Eastwards on the Newport Road and into a modern road into a housing development. At the top is St John’s College, a private school. Built as Ty-To-Maen in 1885-9 by E Bruce Vaughan of Cardiff, who was also the diocesan architect, for Richard Allen of Spillers at a cost of around £15000. A mansion in the Tudor/Gothic Revival style, built mostly of snecked rock-faced stone with Bathstone dressings. Sir William Edgar Nicholls, manager of Spillers, was the subsequent owner who presented the mansion and estate to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary for use as a convalescent home as a memorial to the late Mr Richard Allen who built the mansion and lived here for many years and in memory of the donor’s long association with the city of Cardiff. It was formally opened by Lady Nicholls on 24th April 1926.
Thursday – Cardiff – Into Parc Tredelerch in Rumney. The area was once a waste tip, but was cleared twenty years ago and landscaped into the park. Something screeches and flies up into a tree but I cannot locate it. It looked vaguely like a raptor but not quite right. A dog walker passes and mentions there are a couple of parrots in the park so I guess Ring-necked Parakeets have arrived and I comment that they will probably be several hundred in a few years. The track crosses the South Wales mainline and descends to the Levels. A large lake is below. Mute Swans flap noisily along the surface of the water. Black-headed Gulls are on the water and circling the lake. Coots call. The Mute Swans have several full grown cygnets. Mallard and Great Crested Grebes are present. Suddenly a burst of song near me comes from a Cetti’s Warbler. Three Magpies fly over, Jackdaws head in the opposite direction. Back across the railway. Another Cetti’s Warbler calls from the thick undergrowth.
Sunday – Leominster – A cool morning with high thin cloud. It is quiet, even the Jackdaws on the rooftops are silent. Onto the railway bridge. Robins are singing. Blackbird alarm calls come from an Ivy thicket. The water level in the River Lugg remains unchanged. Along Easters Meadow where a few Hogweed are in flower. Wood Pigeons and Rooks are on the move. High in the sky, a Washington to Paris Boeing 777 leaves a rapidly dissipating vapour trail. A lot of the Himalayan balsam is now turning to seed, those small pods that spring opens shooting the seed several feet away from the parent plant. They often land in the river, hence spreading them rapidly all the way down the water course. A Wren flies out of a Bramble psych and into a Hawthorn where it chatters noisily, possibly at me or maybe a chucking Blackbird. Towards the end of the path, White Dead-nettle is only now coming into flower.
The market is much larger than of late and Christmas items are making an appearance. The cooler nights seem to have seen off the Pond Skaters by Ridgemoor Bridge. Tractors are on the move through the town. The River Kenwater seems a little murkier today. The Minster bells are ringing, still not in complete harmony.
Home – The grassed areas and the now strimmed meadow patch is mown. Kay has collected up a dozen bags of conkers now, they will have to go to the tip tomorrow, as well the now somewhat odoriferous apple pulp from the cider making.
Courgettes are coming to an end, although there will be a few more of the climbing variety, which never climbed. Although quite a few Hertfordshire Russets have fallen, most with bird damage, few of the crop on the tree are fully ripe (they are gently twisted on the tree to see if they come off easily, they do not). In the afternoon the Christmas puddings are mixed. They will be boiled tomorrow after a night of allowing the liquids to be absorbed.
Tuesday – Leominster – Dawn creeps slowly later and later. A horned moon hangs in the sky accompanied by a brilliant Venus. Nearby is the star Regulus, Heart of the Lion in Leo. To the west is Jupiter. In the south is Orion The Hunter. The sky lightens in the east over Eaton Hill but great black piles of cloud are there too.
In the afternoon, the edges and orchard area are strimmed. The orchard is not a nice job; lots of Ground Elder and other invasive plants send up tiny specks of wet greenery and catching an apple under the Herefordshire Russet sprays of juice. It seems an endless job but hopefully the Ground Elder in particular will be kept down. On a couple of occasions in the last few days small flocks of thrush-sized birds have flown swiftly overhead. I suspect they are Redwings but it seems early. There are now a number of reports of winter thrushes around the county, so that seems to confirm it.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – Rain fell at dawn but had now ceased leaving everywhere wet. Robins sing and various squeaks and chatter comes from the bushes. A Mistle Thrush rasps as it rises into the air. The bales of hay from the meadow have been brought down and lined up beside the track. Mallard, drakes in their new, pristine plumage, are parading around the boating lake. Little Egrets are on the islands. A pair of yelping Canada Geese fly in.
Through the meadow to the accompaniment of Robin song and cawing Carrion Crows. Into the hide. A Teal, a drake not yet fully out of eclipse, and a Moorhen are on the scrape. Three Mallard swim across and start washing themselves. Two Grey Herons, a Great Crested Grebe, a small number of sleeping Canada Geese and two Little Egrets are on the south side. The Cormorant count is lower than of late, just eighteen birds in the trees. Spluttering sounds of Mallard and Teal sifting the wet mud to filter out small invertebrates comes from the scrape. Another Little Egret, two Great Crested Grebes and a number of Coot are at the western end. There appears to be less than half a dozen Mute Swans. A Little Egret flies across the water to the scrape and struts around its edge. A Raven calls from Westfield Wood. A fight breaks out between two Little Egrets on the south side before they both fly off behind the island. They then fly across to the scrape and hostilities break out again. One flies off but the other now chases off the egret that had been there for a while now. It is mild and tiny insects float in the air. Canada Geese arrive in threes and fours, then a much larger skein flies in. A second Teal arrives on the scrape. A Robin flies into the hip laden riser briar. A Wren darts along the base of the reed bed.
Back into the meadow. Blackbirds are muttering in the hedges; there is a Green Woodpecker nearby. A small flock of winter thrushes flies over, high in the sky.
Home – Grey feathers and blood are on the path by the feeders. It looks like a Wood Pigeon has met its demise, but I am unsure what the killer could be. A Sparrowhawk seems likely, although a pigeon seems a large prey. Conkers are turning up all over the garden, ably distributed by a rather cheeky Grey Squirrel. I dig some beetroot and gather some French and little broad beans for dinner.
Sunday – Leominster – A cold morning, frost on the roofs and ice on the cars’ windows. Dunnock sing, Jackdaws caw and Wood Pigeons clatter out of the trees. The sun has risen above Eaton Hill and blazes straight into one’s eyes. Sparkling frost covers the deck of the railway bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has risen. Mist rises, caught by the shafts of sunlight through the trees. Blue Tits chatter, a Robin sings, both nearly drowned out by the almost constant noise of cars on the bypass.
Today’s market has been cancelled as the field is waterlogged, so I return to the White Lion and into Pinsley Mill. A Swedish airline, Stavanger to Tenerife and an easyJet Manchester to Lanzarote fly over, their vapour trails vanishing quickly. Into the Millennium Park. Birds fly out of the churchyard and off over the railway, Wood Pigeons, a couple of Redwings, Blackbirds and small birds, probably Blue Tits. A pair of Carrion Crows fly over. Magpies call by the River Kenwater which is flowing grey and fast.
The Minster bells chime 9 o’clock then ring out calling the faithful to prayer. Beyond the Western end of the church Blackbirds are feasting on Rowan berries.
Home – A patch of ground has been cleared of dwarf French bean plants and weeds and in go red onion sets. One bed of courgette plants is cleared. One of the recently emptied compost bins is already filling rapidly. Compost is dug from one of the big bins, put into troughs and mustard leaf and pak choi seedlings planted into them. More Herefordshire Russet apples are gathered but many have bird damage.
Monday – Bodenham Lake – A grey, cold morning. Robins sing and Wrens churr. A rasping Mistle Thrush flies over. There is the sudden roar of a military jet racing across the sky. Mallard and a Great Crested Grebe glide through a spectral mist over the water. A couple of Little Egrets and Grey Herons are on the islands. The former start squabbling. The sheep are in the meadow, as the old rhyme goes. They are all busy chomping at the lush green grass. Hints of yellow and copper are in the Westfield Wood. A Common Buzzard flies through the trees mewing.
Forty Cormorants are in the trees. A small gaggle of Canada Geese make themselves heard. Four Tufted Duck fly in. A drake Shoveler is on the south side. A pair of Teal are out from the scrape. Several Grey Herons are also on the south side. Sixty Canada Geese fly in from the east creating a cacophony. The west end hosts Mallard, Mute Swans and a couple of Mandarin Duck. A Jay flashes past.
Back through the Alder plantation. A black pig snuffles its way across one of the enclosures. Four geese graze in another. Back in the meadow, the sheep have finished feeding and are resting, many under the hedge.
Thursday – Stourbridge – We head to this Staffordshire town. The weather is unpredictable. Storm Babel has hit the east, especially east Scotland. A deep depression swept up from the Atlantic but has been stopped by an area of high pressure over Scandinavia. This has resulted in almost continuous rain in the east of the British Isles. Stormy clouds linger here too but with far less precipitation. Cloud covers the hilltops and wisps drift over the woods at lower levels.
We are visiting the Stourbridge Glass Museum. It is a new museum opposite the Red House Glass Cone Centre we visited in 2015. It has a fine display of glass from all ages. Looking at the delicacy of some of the exhibits it seems a wonder that so much has survived in one piece, although a few rarer pieces have not. Upstairs there is another excellent of modern glasswork and the exhibition we had come to see, Carnival Glass. We had generally thought of Carnival glass as cheap, orange pressed ware given away as prizes at carnivals and fairs, but this exhibition quickly banishes that illusion. It is pressed glass, that is usually patterned and often hand finished, then iridised to give a spectacular “oil on water” effect as the surface reflects back a myriad of tones and hues. Early pieces were for the rich by illustrious names such as Tiffany and Steuben, but Harry Northwood and his cousin, Thomas Dugan, went from Stourbridge to America where they set up glass factories producing carnival glass that was developed to bring iridised luxuries into the homes of everyday working people. Some pieces are simply gorgeous, others wonderfully bizarre and some the simple glassware we had seen before from our grandparents time.
Friday – Leominster – It is raining heavily at dawn. The pressure has dropped to 962mB, one of the lowest readings for years. Water is pouring down the street. The new surface in South Street is flooded! I go down to the Millennium Orchard and gather four bags of apples, mainly Lady’s Fingers, Genet Moyle and Dabinett. They are sitting in mud and Stinging Nettles, not the most enjoyable picking. I get back to the car to discover a punctured tyre. It is a nightmare changing the wheel even though the rain has eased and I am helped by a kind chap.
By the afternoon, the River Kenwater has risen a couple of feet and is running fast and coloured red-brown.
Saturday – Home – A wet and windy day. The storm is gradually moving across the east of Scotland bringing extensive flooding. The apples gathered yesterday and pressed. Annoyingly, I am half a gallon short of another barrels-worth.
House Sparrows around the feeder are most amusing to watch. They cluster around, one will displace another at a feeder opening but is soon displaced by a third and so it goes on. Every now and again one is spooked by nothing I can discern but they all rush back into the big Laurel bush with a loud whirr of wings. This gives Blue Tits a chance to dash in and grab a seed. Below, fat Wood Pigeons waddle around clearing up the spilt seed – House Sparrows are very messy feeders. Blackbirds and Dunnocks also make an appearance. All are disturbed by Grey Squirrels who are having a territorial dispute. One Grey Squirrel nips behind the summerhouse and returns with a conker in its mouth. It sits on the stone statue of a pig and manoeuvres the conker until it is satisfied with its orientation then it dashes across to one of Kay’s stone planters and proceeds to dig a hole to store the conker. This will not please Kay, so I nip out and chase the miscreant away.
Sunday – Leominster – Storm Babet has moved away and it is much calmer now. Locally as well as nationally, a fair number of roads have been closed by flooding. Grey clouds tinged with a dirty white drift eastwards. It is cool rather than cold. Jackdaws are in rooftops and a few Robins sing. A pair of cackling Canada Geese fly down the line of the river, then skeins of six and a dozen fly overhead, all heading south. Singles or small groups of gulls fly north.
Onto the railway bridge. A rabbit bounces along the old track. Another couple are actually on the railway track. A Magpie chatters. A Cormorant heads north. Unsurprisingly, the level of the River Lugg has risen considerably and the brown water flows rapidly. Magpies, Carrion Crows and Jackdaws are noisy in the trees.
The market has been cancelled until next spring because of the wetness of the field, so its back to the Millennium Park. There are few berries on any of the bushes except a Spindle. More gulls head north and another skein of Canada Geese fly south. The River Kenwater is still running high and coloured. Into the churchyard where Grey Squirrels are chasing around.
Home – I get the stepladders out and pick some Herefordshire Russets. Nearly all have bird damage. It is really annoying as there is usually only a small hole pecked in each apple. One would hope the birds would eat one and leave the other along but that is not the way it works. The pea sticks are cleared away. One, a willow stick, has rooted itself so deeply I need a fork to dig it out. Sadly, the peas were a complete failure this year.
Wednesday – Bodenham Lake – Flooding south of Leominster has diminished but there are still large pools around Bodenham. The sky is covered with a thin layer of pale grey cloud. A Green Woodpecker flies up from beside the bales of hay by the track. The water level in the lake has risen considerably and the islands in the boating area are just twigs sticking above the water. A pair of Mute Swans take off from the far side. The meadow is soggy and sheep still feed there. The lakeside trees are silent and only the occasional alarm call of a Blackbird comes from the hedge.
The scrape has disappeared. Water has climbed the bank below the hide so the reed bed is several yards out in the lake. The shingle bank in front of the new hide is submerged. Bird life is sparse. A few Mallard, Coot and a Great Crested Grebe are on the water and just two Cormorants in the trees. A cock Ring-necked Pheasant struts along the south bank. A single Greylag swims into view, passes behind the island and emerges with a partner. Over the Vern, crows are harassing a pair of Red Kites. A Kingfisher pipes as it flies into the scrape willow. A pair of Cormorants fly in. One of the Red Kites sits at the top of a dead tree to the west. A Grey Heron flies up the River Lugg. A single Canada Goose appears. Crows start to harass the Red Kite again and it departs. So do the Greylags heading noisily in the direction of Wellington gravel pits. Three military helicopters pass over making so much noise the hide vibrates. Flocks of Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws and three Grey Herons are disturbed. A Green Woodpecker flies onto the bank then up onto the fence beside the hide. A Moorhen pecks at dead leaves beside the reed bed.
A smallholder is tossing treats to the black pigs in their paddock. A few Redwings fly out of the meadow hedges. Many apples are still to fall in the cider orchard.
Friday – Lugg Meadows – Rain has ceased and the sky is clearing. Grey and white clouds are smeared over china blue. Lugg Meadows are largely flooded. There appears to be few wildfowl, just some Black-headed Gulls and a couple of Mute Swans with three grey-brown cygnets. Along the busy A438. There are a lot more gulls, mainly Lesser Black-backed and a few Herring Gulls, on the south side. Dozens of Carrion Crows are on the saturated fields. A Jay flies across the meadow and into a Hawthorn hedge. The clouds are thickening and darkening. Back past Lower House Farm, formerly known as Nobletts, built in 1614.
Sunday – Leominster – Scraps of white cloud are scattered across a blue sky. A gentle beat of wings heralds the flyover of three Mute Swans, heading south. The sun is high in the sky as we have the pointless biannual ritual of the changing of the clocks. Over the railway. Robins sing in competition in the riverside trees. Blue Tits chatter and a Wren ticks. The water level in the River Lugg has dropped slightly. Nearly all the leaves have fallen from the Black Poplars, leaving balls of Mistletoe on the branches.
Into Pinsley Mill. Four Wood Pigeons are in a Hawthorn feeding on the berries. Blackbirds do the same in another bush. Gulls fly over, high on the sky. Into the Millennium Park. An ornamental Rowan has pink berries turning grey. There is a considerable range of tree varieties along the hedge by the railway, Hazel, Spindle, Apple, Oak, Wayfaring Tree and a Maple. Carrion Crows and Magpies call in the trees. The Minster bells toll the hour. I wonder if someone had to reset the time when the hour changed, although it is probably automatic these days. The River Kenwater is still flowing rapidly.
In the churchyard, a Nuthatch calls from the towering pine by the porch.
Monday – Ludlow – The sun fights bravely against the thickening dark clouds but is slowly being defeated. High on Whitcliffe Common, the view is across to the mighty Ludlow castle and the church of St Lawrence. The Italianate dome of St Peter’s Catholic church is also standing high on the far hill. Beyond the Brown and Titterstone Clee Hills are topped with clouds.
Through the edge of the woods on a muddy path. A Wren utters a brief song. I decide against following the path, it is slippery even when on level sections, and head down Middle Wood Road to Dinham Bridge. Along the roadside are Ash trees, many of which look like they are in trouble with Die-back. Across a shallow valley is a patch of allotments. Modern bungalows are on this side. A Nuthatch calls. A large house called The Cliff, built in the mid 19th Century as a gentlemen’s residence for a local solicitor, looks over a static caravan site. The lane joins the lane from Priors Halton. A sign indicates The Cliff, a hotel and restaurant apparently, has gained a final “e”. A row of cottages, Clive Cottages, stands above the road, formerly Alms Houses. Slightly further on are the exposed layers of Silurian mudstones. On the other side of the road, the River Teme roars gently over a weir.
Onto Dinham Bridge. Mallard float in the lee of a small island below the weir in front of Castle Mills. From the mill, a path climbs up to the castle walls. Below the walls is the bedrock of Whitcliffe Formation siltstone. The path reaches the castle forecourt and the Sevastopol cannon. There is a market in the square, although it is not very busy.
Back to the castle forecourt and into Dinham. The Woodhouse drinking fountain was made in Coalbrookdale in 1908 and presented by George Woodhouse, the Mayor. A plaque records “Glenfield & Kennedy Co Kilmarnock Hygienic Fountain” a later conversion of the pump mechanism. Past fine, historic houses and down to the bridge. The River Teme is fairly high but the damaged vegetation along the banks shows it had been far higher recently. Up the steps towards the top of Whitcliffe Common. Beech and Birch leaves are turning yellow and copper. The clouds have lifted above the Clee Hills.
churchyard has Wellingtonias all around its perimeter. A modern church hall has been built to the north side. Scarecrows stand in the churchyard. Church Farm has a relatively modern building against a much older barn.
by The Poachers pub (formally The Star, it seems all the pubs around this area have changed their names for some reason). Westwards is the 20th century Community Council building. Opposite is a chapel, built as Soar Welsh Independent Chapel around 1840 and is shown with burial ground to rear on OS map of 1880. It became the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses but is a commercial property. Nearby is the War Memorial, unveiled by Lord Tredegar in 1923. Into Chapel Row. The Fox and Hounds was originally a cottage and smithy, becoming an inn before 1870. A row of cottages, Chapel Row, date from the early 18th century. The Bethania Chapel, formerly the Bethania Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Chapel, was founded in the 1820s and, of course, John and Charles Wesley are both reputed to have preached there. The present building dates from 1869. The architect was the 18 year old H C Harris. It was built on the main road into Cardiff, on the route of a Roman road, the old Pilgrims Way. It is now bypassed.
Cormorant count is lower than of late, just eighteen birds in the trees. Spluttering sounds of Mallard and Teal sifting the wet mud to filter out small invertebrates comes from the scrape. Another Little Egret, two Great Crested Grebes and a number of Coot are at the western end. There appears to be less than half a dozen Mute Swans. A Little Egret flies across the water to the scrape and struts around its edge. A Raven calls from Westfield Wood. A fight breaks out between two Little Egrets on the south side before they both fly off behind the island. They then fly across to the scrape and hostilities break out again. One flies off but the other now chases off the egret that had been there for a while now. It is mild and tiny insects float in the air. Canada Geese arrive in threes and fours, then a much larger skein flies in. A second Teal arrives on the scrape. A Robin flies into the hip laden riser briar. A Wren darts along the base of the reed bed.
The sun has risen above Eaton Hill and blazes straight into one’s eyes. Sparkling frost covers the deck of the railway bridge. The water level in the River Lugg has risen. Mist rises, caught by the shafts of sunlight through the trees. Blue Tits chatter, a Robin sings, both nearly drowned out by the almost constant noise of cars on the bypass.
Robins sing. A pair of cackling Canada Geese fly down the line of the river, then skeins of six and a dozen fly overhead, all heading south. Singles or small groups of gulls fly north.
off from the far side. The meadow is soggy and sheep still feed there. The lakeside trees are silent and only the occasional alarm call of a Blackbird comes from the hedge.
single Greylag swims into view, passes behind the island and emerges with a partner. Over the Vern, crows are harassing a pair of Red Kites. A Kingfisher pipes as it flies into the scrape willow. A pair of Cormorants fly in. One of the Red Kites sits at the top of a dead tree to the west. A Grey Heron flies up the River Lugg. A single Canada Goose appears. Crows start to harass the Red Kite again and it departs. So do the Greylags heading noisily in the direction of Wellington gravel pits. Three military helicopters pass over making so much noise the hide vibrates. Flocks of Wood Pigeons, Jackdaws and three Grey Herons are disturbed. A Green Woodpecker flies onto the bank then up onto the fence beside the hide. A Moorhen pecks at dead leaves beside the reed bed.
cottages, Clive Cottages, stands above the road, formerly Alms Houses. Slightly further on are the exposed layers of Silurian mudstones. On the other side of the road, the River Teme roars gently over a weir.