Ragleth Hill

Here In The Marches, March Comes In Like A Lion

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And we can only hope that old country lore comes up to snuff when it says that March coming in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. It can’t be too soon for some lamb-weather either. At least yesterday, after I’d taken this first photo of Ragleth Hill, the sun came out and melted the snow. But it was a one day wonder. Today, after more overnight frost, the wind is roaring round the house and down the chimneys and it’s wet, wet, wet. Downcast daffodils all round.

So, Weather Gods, more skies like this, please. (You can hold on the snow).

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Ragleth Hill, Church Stretton

Seasons Past ~ In The Shropshire Hills

Ragleth Hill Dec 2020

This first photo is a ‘family favourite’ square due to its being the view of Ragleth Hill from my sister’s house taken last Christmas when we were gathered there for lunch. A perfect winter’s day too – sun and moon and no snow.

Across the valley from Ragleth is the Long Mynd, an extended spine of hill, its flanks riven by a number of small valleys, locally known as batches. The best known is Carding Mill  Valley, a busy local beauty spot in all seasons.

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And back to Ragleth Hill in summer:

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Past Squares #21

Looking Up Between Mynd And Ragleth

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On Christmas Day we drove over Wenlock Edge to Little Stretton to spend the day with our family. It was a bright and chilly day, but as I climbed the steep steps to my sister’s home I saw the spring bulbs already emerging in her terraced beds and some frisky pink primroses freshly opened. The house is perched on a lower flank of the Long Mynd and overlooks Ragleth Hill. So while the turkey was roasting, I stood out on the deck and took these photos, watched a pair of buzzards who live in the garden’s larch trees waft over in the stillness.

And now I’m thinking that these views are rather apt for Jude’s new challenge at Travel Words. She wants us to think about colour through the coming year, and in January that colour is brown: earth shades.

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The close-up above was a very ‘long shot’, but I like the way the sun glints off the bare branches of the dark wood; the layers of russet leaves and bracken and the deeper soily looking browns among the ash trees. It could well be a candidate for Jabberwocky’s tulgey wood. It also reminds me of one of those ‘heavy’ Victorian oil paintings – Arcadia seemingly overdone with every expectation of rustic maids and shepherds popping up. But here it is. No time-slipped lads and lasses, just a piece of real Shropshire landscape.

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Square Up #5

Becky is keeping us ‘upspired’ during trying times. Interpret ‘up’ anyway you like, but keep it sUPer square.

Life in Colour: brown   Jude at Travel Words wants us to really pay attention to colour. This month she asks us to explore shades of brown.