At last we can go outside without our winter layers. Of course being Brits, we’re bound to complain that we’re now too hot. But then I don’t think this mini warmth-wave is set to last beyond a couple of days. Even so, it called a halt to digging up the lawn, which will doubtless resume later in the week when it’s reported to be several degrees cooler.
Instead, we meandered along Bishop’s Castle’s green lanes where all is a shadowland of dog roses and foxgloves among aged gnarly roots. The overarching boughs of sycamore, field maple,hawthorn, elder and ash create a sappy coolness.
Green lanes are a covert feature of the English countryside – unpaved, their one-time hedgerow borders grown up into tree arcades. Some of these byways may be old drovers’ roads. Others are far more ancient, once on trading routes used by Bronze Age and even earlier travellers.
This particular lane takes us up to a high meadow where the grass has been mown for hay. There is an antique barn, settled in scenic decay, and fine hill views all around. Bishops Castle town lies way below, quietly.
*
* “Summer is icumen in” a thirteenth century English round, hear it sung here in Middle English
Tish Farrell 
Aah, and this is the type of thing I was sorely looking forward to had we been able to pop by!
Next time we will do our own itinerary.
And as always, while you lot are warming up, we are most definitely cooling down.
Winter is on its way Brrrrr!
Lovely to hear from you, Ark. Sorry about the shivering though.
Just popped back from Le Jardin. Picked some radishes and a few other salad greens.
Sun out so it’s warming up a bit.
You are making me feel a very big pang for Africa. It was this time of year when we once drove around Zimbabwe. I loved the cool mornings and the fabulous light.
Love th9se green lanes and the overarching boughs!
They’re special places indeed.
Quite bucolic, Tish. We, on the other hand, have just done a mad dash to Loule hospital- half hour away on the motorway! Neighbour was having gall bladder removed at 9.30 and had forgotten her notes. Couldn’t do the op without them. Never a dull moment! 😵🩷 Enjoy the peace!
Gosh, Jo. Very well done on the mission of mercy.
She’s a sweetheart, and a lovely neighbour…normally! The same one whose ungrateful cat I sometimes have to feed 🤣🩵 Which reminds me- shower and lunch out next! Just reward 💕
Shower and lunch out sounds just the job. It’s quite hot here today, and feels holiday-ish too. Builder back from his hols and into bricklaying. I’m sure your neighbour will be forever grateful to you. Tx
What lovely countryside scenes. You have picked a pleasant spot indeed. It’s not too hot here (coastal fog and sea breezes always keep the temperatures down) but hot enough for me to actually sit in the garden and enjoy the flowers for once.
Isn’t it bliss when you can actually sit in the garden and let it do the work on you, rather than you on it 🙂
A lovely evocation of summer in Middle England. And those singers sounded very much like our choir singing that very piece. Love it.
I’m so pleased you liked the choir and the post.
🙂
The perfect walk for a hot summer’s day, with a shady lane and a high spot to catch what breezes there might be 🙂 We’ve waited so long for summer I’m trying really hard not to complain I’m too hot!
Thanks, Sarah. Being hot does take a bit of getting used to, doesn’t it. There wasn’t much of a preliminary warm-up 🙂
Oh so beautiful Tish! I love the unpaved lane and tree arbor. And that view is something else. How’s the house remodeling coming along?
Hello, Anne. The house is coming along, thanks, though the builder has been on his hols this past week. Bricklaying about to resume, then the electrician is due next week. Then the kitchen unit fitters to measure up. French doors and ceiling skylight and window delayed until end of July though. Presently climbing under and over scaffolding poles to get into the back garden.
Sounds like your adventure will take you through the summer!
Yes, certainly looks that way.
😍
Splendid! Love the origin story of the country lane. Reminds me of similar passages round the vineyards near my mom’s house in Germany, the hand cut wooden signs denoting place names and family names. I like the barn in decay, can almost smell the hay…and hey! Happy summer! Glad it’s mild, I’m of the same mind on that.
Hello, Bill. I’m a sucker for old pathways – actual and metaphorical. And now I’m enticed by those vineyard paths, doubtless walked by generation after generation. Happy summer to you too. Tx
The perfect way to spend a summer’s day!
It was, but not so summery this morning. The wind is back. Hopefully not the Arctic version.
My goodness, summer is beautiful, and your photos capture it!
Thank you, Jennie.
You’re welcome, Tish.
super views of Shropshire hills with the colour contrasts like Housman’s ‘coloured counties’ from Bredon
‘coloured counties’ – such wide-ranging vistas in those two words, Laura, and so fitting for this particular borderland. There are days in Bishops Castle when I feel I’ve fallen into the pages of A Shropshire Lad.
I know what you mean Tish – I used to live where he was born!
Ah, that’s a lovely part of the world. We drove through in December coming home from the Cotswolds, though a bit overburdened with germs to appreciate it fully.
I love those shaded paths. They are so beautiful and they look so friendly, almost inviting you to walk there.
The last time I heard that song I was one of the singers. It was way back in college and was the best part of being a music major. I was never as self-conscious singing as I was playing piano. Later on I damaged my voice and now can’t sing more than a very little bit, but I remember when I could.
There’s also a modern (funny) version of the song, written I think in Ireland. I wish I could remember more than a few of its words.
We have mostly been spared the worst of the heat. We had about of week of it. The heat wasn’t nearly as much of a problem as the humidity, but humidity is pretty standard here in summer. That level of heat isn’t. We set lots of new records. But these days, everything sets some kind of record.
For me, as long as we keep getting rain, I’m okay. Living with only a well can be pretty nerve-wracking if the rain stops.
In my mind’s eye I’m starting to put together a little choir of those who say they once sang this song 🙂
Our heat lasted 2 days only. Now we’re back to grey cloud and a gusty chilling wind. It feels like autumn. I can certainly understand why you need the rain to keep coming.
I remember learning that song in primary school, circa, middle 1960’s, in Australia. 😀
Ah, the joy of walking the Brit countryside. Enjoy the summer.
Walking yes, we must keep it up, but now it’s back to warm coats. Summer lasted two days. Now it’s back to autumn and a lot of cloud. Ah well, the vegetable garden seems happy: lots of lettuce, kale and and a few pointy green cauliflowers, plus one yellow courgette and a cucumber.
Two days and back to warm coats? That explains the resilience of the Brits. 😉
Garden sounds promising. I’m not too keen on courgette, but lots of lettuce sounds sooo appealing.
This is such an idyllic vision of old England Tish, it makes me feel quite nostalgic. Hope the fine weather lasts longer than a couple of days