The Twilight Zone - West Midland style!

It was getting dark, but I still wanted to walk. Armed with headtorch and phone, I headed to Chance Wood, just outside Stourbridge 

Pictures were rather dark just using my phone, ...

... but my headtorch helped  

 There were plenty of snowdrops out ...

...and the paths were quite clear. 

Navigating was fairly easy, but exploring is part of the fun.

More and more snowdrops.

They are such lovely flowers.

At the far end of the wood, there are some gravestones. They are small, and commemorate hunting hounds from the nearby estate, back in the 19th Century

At one time, you could read the inscriptions, but I couldn't see any now. Mind you, it was dark!

Looking towards Kinver, there was still some light from the setting sun

 ... but to the east, the moon shone through the bare branches

I returned, past another patch of snowdrops

 ... and some daffodils which will flower soon.

Leaving the woods, I headed back from a fantastic mini expedition!

This walk was in Chance Wood, which belongs to the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, but actually any woodland is great for a torchlit twilight walk  - or without torch if you are confident. Mine was only switched on for the photos, as the eyes soon adjust, and it's a real adventure. There were few sounds apart from the breeze in the trees, and some distant tawny owls hooting away, (I couldn't see any, though.) 
Why not try twilight walking for yourself? You won't regret it.

Lonely North Wales Coast

A wild and lonely section of the Wales Coast path on a misty January day.

We were in North Wales delivering an outboard engine and decided to explore the nearby coast - misty weather notwithstanding.

Parking at Glan Y Mor Nature reserve (just east of Bangor),..

...the tide was high as we started.

Much of the fencing was made of local slate

 A huge pile of stones...

... ready to add to the coastal defences

The tide dropped quite quickly

When the mist lifted, there were views towards Snowdonia,...

... but the coast itself was flat

Penmaen Mawr  - a mountain headland loomed ito view. It's just by Llanfairfechan and has vast quarries on the other side.

A local train passed.

There were two bird hides on the route - and lots of birds. Note to self: Binoculars !!!!!

A very welcome boardwalk over some marshland (most of the route was mud free)

Further upstream are the famous Aber Falls, but here the Afon Aber is much more sedate as it runs to the sea

The (featureless!) furthest point of our walk - we turned back here

A moment's sunshine on an unknown far peak

As we got back to our car, we could make out Anglesey across the water - and also lots of rocks which would make boating quite tricky

This walk was an out and back of 8 miles in total. Route finding was simple - Wales Coast path signs show the way. If we had had more time, we would have reached Llanfairfechan, which has a couple of cafes - the seafront chalet opens all year.                                           

It was flat, but tough going on parts of the shingle - and the path had been eroded in places. We saw virtually no one at all while walking. 

IF you want to follow in my footsteps, Leave the A55 at the junction for Tal y Bont and head for the sea on very minor roads. Park at Glan y Mor car park (free), which is right by the sea. Keep the sea on your left and walk as far as you like and then return. It's not really served by public transport.                                                                             

Mist in the valley - Cardingmill in the gloom

Mist put paid to our planned circular walk today - we turned back at the waterfall.

But the Cardingmill Valley, near Church Stretton, Shropshire, is a fantastic place to walk in any weather.

Mist shrouded the hilltops but this is walk is so popular that the car park was more than half full.

The well-defined path makes it easy to get to the head of the valley, (route finding is less easy on the summit).

We take the left fork off the main path, keeping right by the stream (the main path takes the right fork).

After some clambering, the first waterfall

...and a little further on, the second, bigger one 

The mist closed in, so we turned back. A full blog of this walk will be done when I can actually post some of the excellent views.

But as a bad weather walk, it was an exhilarating three miles - highly recommended.

Notes: people from the Black Country love this area. There's a National Trust Car Park at the entrance to the valley, and there are easy walks up the valley, with more challenging walks over the Long Mynd. Plus, the stream is fantastic for all ages, for paddling and making dams. 
I have to say I have never been in bad weather before and I really have missed out.  
PS Also a cafe part way up the valley, heated by a log burning stove and selling breakfast sandwiches till 12.00 (just saying!)

Water water everywhere - Thames Path Day 2: through the Cotswold Water Park

Day 2 of our Thames Path journey, past some lovely lakes, part of the Cotswold Water Park (like this one, Somerford Lagoon)

Starting from Neighbridge, the river flowed clear..

About 4 feet deep at this bend, you could see every stone on the bottom

We soon reached the Lower Mill Estate, based round a lake...

...and a gated community with very expensive houses

...some of these waterside ones are over £1m to buy!

It would be lovely to sail here.

Just in case we weren't sure, the sign explained where we were

There are almost 150 lakes in the water park, which was formed following gravel workings. Still 60 years supply apparently, so more lakes to follow.

A recently fallen tree ahead

As we walked, the river got a little wider

The village of Ashton Keynes, a very attractive settlement 

Here, the path left the Thames for a while

New thatching 

Though we'd left the Thames, there were more lakes

This field had dire warnings of treacherous quicksand

The path was in a good state

This lake had a waterski jump

Finally we left the lakes...

...through a few flooded fields

...and back to the river

It was nice to walk beside the Thames again

...even though it was somewhat muddy

Between the trees, the tower of Cricklade's Saxon church

This is North Meadow, which is famous for its massive April display of snakeshead fritillaries 

Horses grazed the watermeadows, ...

... and I loved the use of an old delivery van as storage for their equipment

Arriving at Cricklade,..

..there were several nice looking pubs.

In thebarista Cafe the glass for the can of coke was a jam jar!

...and the milk came in a cow creamer. The food was good though

A narrow lane led to...

...St Sampson's Church. Saxon in origin, but largely rebuilt later

The distinctive tower is 16th Century

Here, we finished for the day. Another 8 miles completed. Next time, Cricklade to Lechlade

About the walk. Public transport is difficult here, We parked at the Town Hall - all the other car parks are also free, (amazing) The South Cerney Cabs taxi arrived very promptly, and charged a reasonable £12.50  to Ashton Keynes, from where we walked from to the Thames at Neighbridge.
Distance walked  9.6 miles, of which 8 were on the Thames Path. 
So we are now 13 miles down, with 171 to go!