Wildlife & walks

With the changing of the clocks and the lengthening days of spring, I set myself the challenge of walking from some of the lowest ground

The landscape around Chorley, near Bridgnorth, folds into gentle hills. Sheep-grazed pasture and timber-framed cottages, lost in time, give the area a typically ‘English’ feel.

No two sunsets are ever the same. Hill tops, hedges and valleys are bathed in shades of orange, red and purple as the sun releases

Birds have the ability to brighten even the dullest times. It is just another winter’s day along the River Severn, just north of Bridgnorth. The

The long, dark nights at this time of year provide ample opportunity for catching up on some reading. There is a wonderful book entitled, ‘The

Shropshire is a wonderfully varied county but to find true mountain scenery one has to head west, for Wales. Snowdonia is a vast landscape of

2011 will certainly go down as a great year for fruits and nuts. Oak trees draped with deep brown acorns, hazel nuts hanging from hedgerows

Farmers working late into the night getting the last of the crops in; a bushy-tailed fox cub, now old enough to fend for himself, running

All around the countryside are ponds that have been dug to drain roads and housing estates, reservoirs created to supply drinking water. Even well-established lakes

Huge fields of canary-yellow Oilseed Rape stretch to the horizon. In other fields, wintersown Wheat shimmers in the early summer breeze. From an agricultural point

Lloyds Coppice rises up from the Jackfield stretch of the River Severn. A tangle of Birch, Elm, Oak and Alder clinging to the steep side

I am on the border between Shropshire and Worcestershire in the beautiful Forest of Wyre. The spring sunlight brings warmth. With that warmth, life returns

I get out of my car in the early morning darkness and walk towards the bird hide. There is still a brisk wind whistling through

Look east and you can see the town nestled in the valley, the twin spires of St. Leonards and St. Marys backed by the dark