Buzzard Kestrel Red kite Sparrowhawk Raven Magpie Rook Jackdaw Crow Jay Swallow House Martin Spotted flycatcher Meadow pippet Stonechat Robin House sparrow Goldfinch Wheatear Dunnock Starling Wren Blackbird Pied wagtail Grey wagtail Kingfisher Dipper Wood Pigeon Collared dove Pheasant Heron Little egret Herring gull Lesser black-backed gull Black headed gull Mallard Canada geese Swans Read more

We parked in Berriew below the aqueduct, and walked through the village and across the fields & woods towards Brithdir. We made good time, and decided to go on up to Belan. Then it was an easy walk back along the canal to Berriew Berriew is the home of the Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture.… Read more

We parked in Aston on Clun, which has a lot of strange buildings for somewhere so small. We headed up to Burrow Fort, another iron age hill fort. Then over the fields the other side, down into Hopesay. Party dudes… Fun guys… Other interesting things seen in fields We stopped for lunch in Hopesay churchyard… Read more

The whole site is in the process of being handed over to the National Trust, so several of the museums were closed (for handover, assessment, refurbishment, etc) We walked through the woods up Coalbrookdale, and along behind the back of the town. The views over the gorge would have been magnificent, if it weren’t for… Read more

We parked in Church Stretton, and headed up Carding Mill Valley. The weather was… changeable! Wet enough  for waterproof trousers on the way out, but glorious sunshine by the time we got to the top. But it was very breezy on the ridge, and we were glad to keep our coats on. Home for chicken… Read more

The forecast looked OK, but the cloud seemed quite low, so we decided to have an easy day and a look round Powis Castle. Sadly the castle itself was closed for rewiring and the Clive museum wasn’t open yet. So we toured the garden (in on/off drizzle) and collected information for a geocache. After lunch… Read more

We parked at the Discovery Centre in Craven Arms, whose mascot is a woolly mammoth We crossed the little river Onny, and across the fields to Nortoncamp Woods. It was a stiff-ish climb up through the woods to the actual hill fort, which is quite a big one with double ditch & ramparts – but… Read more

It was forecast for rain, so we had an easy day in Shrewsbury. We started with a walk along the river, around the loop of the town. We also made a circuit of the Dingle, as designed by Percy Thrower when he was Superintendent of the parks. It still looked amazingly flowery, even in mid-September… Read more

At the northern end of the Stiperstones, this little village grew up around the lead mining industry – of which there are many traces remaining. We headed up through the woods to the top and along the edge of Crowsnest Dingle, with views across to Lord’s Castle (a rather indistinct earthwork) and down to Stiperstones… Read more

Caer for Roman(ish) fort, Caradoc for Caractacus, last chieftain of the Catuvellauni. His last battle was round here somewhere – although probably not at the top of this hill! It was rather fresh on top – an extremely stiff breeze from the west! We found a sheltered spot for our picnic, which we shared with… Read more