My afternoon walk took my to Leegomery Pools. The goslings have grown such a lot that I almost didn’t spot them. After my circuit of the pool I decided to walk back on a route that I had explored last year.
Walking on this pathway home I noticed another pathway going off in a different direction, just waiting to be explored. I tried a few twists and turns eventually choosing a long curvy pathway that eventually led me back to Leegomery Pools from where I returned home via Woodhenge.
PS: I have a severe case of lockdown hair!
Tags: #walk1000miles, #walk1000miles2020, Goslings, Leegomery Pools, Lockdown Hair, Shropshire, Woodhenge
My medals have arrived for two walking challenges that I undertook before the lockdown restrictions were eased.
Due to the recommended hour for a walk once a day I was limited to the 5k (3.1 miles) option.
VE Day Challenge – 3.31 miles completed on 11 May 2020 taking 60 minutes. This event commemorated 75 years since VE day, to raise awareness and to raise money for SSAFA.
NHS Challenge – 4.01 miles completed on 12 May 2020 taking 70 minutes. This event raised money for ‘NHS Charities Together’ during the COVID-19 crisis.
Tags: #ThankYouKeyWorkkers, #ThankYouNHS, #walk1000miles, #walk1000miles2020, 3.1 miles, 5k, Belvedere Principessa di Piemonte, Covid-19, Key Workers, Race the Distance, Shropshire, VE Day, VE Day 75, Walk the Distance, Walking Challenge, WW2, WWII
And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
T.S Eliot
Tags: Bird Gift, Cherie's Place, Cherie's Place Thought, Sunflower
Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to take a longer walk to Dothill Nature Reserve.
I spent as much time walking there and back as I did in the Nature Reserve.
I will do it differently next time. I will park near to one of the entry points which will allow me more time to enjoy exploring the Nature Reserve
Tags: Bird Box, Cygnets, Dothill Nature Reserve, me, Self Portrait, Shropshire, Swans, Tee Lake
Acton Burnell Castle was the home of Robert Burnell, a close associate of Edward I who became Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Sharing its setting here with the atmospheric ruin of his fortified house stands the pleasing early Gothic church that he built in the 1270s.
It has survived basically unchanged, though the attractive little tower is a Victorian addition.
The church is by no means ostentatious, but the craftsmanship and materials have all the hallmarks of a wealthy and fashionable patron of the time: fine detailing, Purbeck marble shafts and some windows that have progressed from Early English plain lancets towards the Decorated style, with trefoil and cinquefoil patterns.
Some of the original medieval floor tiles remain, and there is a tomb with a fine brass of 1382 to Nicholas Burnell, the 1st Lord Burnell. The much more elaborate 16th century tomb in the north transept is that of Sir Richard Lee and his wife.
Unfortunately on my recent visit to Acton Burnell this church was closed due to Covid-19. I intend to go back when it is open so I can see what treasures are inside.
Whilst I was there I noticed a walking route which I had not noticed on previous visits, I intend to explore that too 
In 1284, Robert Burnell obtained a licence from the king to fortify his residence. Work was probably still in progress when Robert died in 1292. The large first-floor windows of the castle suggest, however, that it never had a serious defensive purpose and was instead perhaps designed to impress.
The Burnell family of Acton Burnell held land in Shropshire from the 1180s, though it was a century later that Robert Burnell came to prominence. Entering royal service as a clerk to Henry III’s son Prince Edward, he rose to become Chancellor of England and Bishop of Bath and Wells when the prince acceded to the throne as Edward I in 1272.
The king’s military campaigns in Wales frequently brought him to Shropshire, and he stayed at Acton. His visit in 1283 assumed national significance when he held a parliament, according to tradition, in the tithe barn here. This was supposedly the first at which commoners were represented.
Tags: #walk1000miles, #walk1000miles2020, Acton Burnell Castle, English Heritage
As you walk, you simply walk. Don’t go ahead, don’t jump here and there. Mind always go ahead or lag behind. Remain with the moment.
Osho
Tags: Bluebell Wood, Bluebells, Cherie's Place Thought, Hodnet Hall, Shropshire
