I can’t believe that I have been volunteering at Attingham Park for a year. My first post shift walk (after a taster session) was on February 8th 2024 to see the snowdrops.

You can view the post here.

I haven’t walked after my shifts for a couple of months due to the lighting levels for driving home. I don’t like driving along a dark busy road with oncoming dazzling headlights.

I love it when the evenings get lighter with increasing speed in January and into February. Today, the 11th February it was light enough for my first post shift walk of the year.

One year on from the beginning of my volunteering journey I enjoyed another post shift walk through the snowdrops and walled garden.

One of my aspirations after I took early retirement was to become a volunteer in the Visitor Reception Area at Attingham Park. I regularly checked volunteer opportunities at Attingham but the result was always ‘no volunteering opportunities currently available’.

Then we had Covid-19 interrupting normality leading me to stop checking for volunteering opportunities.

In early January this year it was a pleasant surprise to see a Facebook post from Attingham Park seeking for volunteers. I signed up immediately and was given the opportunity for a taster session which was today. I am now signed up to volunteer and my first day is coming soon.

I am a little bit excited

After the volunteer taster session there was time for me to explore the snowdrop walk and the walled garden. I enjoyed my walk; the snowdrops are stunning. The light level was low so my photos do not do justice to the spectacle.

I have completed my challenge to walk 30 miles  in a week for World Cancer Day which takes place on the 4th February each year. My mileage total is 32.59. I have made my donation of 1 pound for each mile I pledged to walk to Cancer Research UK.

The walking adventure that completed my challenge…

After my regular Thursday morning get together I headed off to Attingham Park for lunch and the Snowdrop Trail. I enjoyed taking my car for a leisurely spin in the sunny weather. When I arrived at Attingham I was surprised at how full the car park was for a ‘week day’. I checked in, made my way to the teashop and joined the short queue.

There was a sign suggesting that face masks should be worn in crowded and enclosed places, a reminder that there is still a bug on the loose and to be careful. Most people were careful, however I dropped unlucky! A lady behind me was up close and personal, as in so close she kept touching me. I arrived at the counter area with the sandwich and drink I had chosen and was asked if I wanted anything else. I didn’t.

As I was about to pay, the server attending to me asked if we were all together (meaning me and the two ladies behind me). Oh no said the lady behind me who was so close, she was touching me again. She still didn’t get it. I had to ask her to move so that I could get to the card reader to pay for my lunch. She moved just enough for me to access the card reader but was still in bodily contact with me!

Lunch items in hand, I picked up a glass for my drink as I made my way to a table looking out over the parkland. As I was finishing my sandwich a gentleman with a mobility walking aid arrived by my table and said ‘I am going to inflict myself on you, in fact two of us are, I have no choice’. As he was about to sit himself down at my table his wife called him away, other tables were available.

Comfortably replete, I set off on my walk towards the walled garden and the snowdrop walk. As I entered the snowdrop walk, I noticed a grey cloud over that area, the only grey cloud in a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. As I entered the woodland snowdrop walk I was first treated to ice cold raindrops followed by hailstones. I embraced the weather but regretted this meant I had to put my camera away.

I set off on a lovely walk around the walled garden, revisiting the snowdrop walk when the sun was shining (which it did for the rest of my walk), exploring new pathways in addition to my farourite walks. The photos of the walk speak for themselves there is no need for additional words

I spotted these lovely snowdrops whilst checking out a route that I intend to add as an event in one of my local walking groups. A few weeks before Christmas I had a failed attempt at adding the event. Facebook showed others a different time (one hour later) than the one I had scheduled for the start, whilst showing me the time I intended. Re-walking the route today made me think that the failed attempt was a blessing in disguise, I had chosen to walk the circular in the opposite direction from the way I normally walk it. Today, I realised that the walk is not as good in the direction I had originally planned.

Along the way I noticed that a small housing development I had watched progressing during my lockdown walks was finally complete. In front of two most prominent bungalows there was a large poster showcasing ‘The Wrekin Rowers‘, a local team who are taking part in the ‘Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge 2021‘, raising money for RNIB and Severn Hospice. The four-man team have recently, suffered a setback when the spike of a marlin (a giant fish) pierced their boat causing it to take in water. The team have managed to patch the hole with a sandwich box, however the water taken on board has made the boat heavier and slowed their progress to the finish line.

Much later in the day, whilst I was cooking dinner the doorbell rang… Who could it be?

Mr C and I were treated to a lovely unexpected visit from a friend we hadn’t seen for far to long. Dinner was slightly delayed

Henry David Thoreau

Marcel Proust (1871 – 1922)

drop

noun, verb, dropped or dropt, drop·ping.
1. a small quantity of liquid that falls or is produced in a more or less spherical mass; a liquid globule.
2. the quantity of liquid contained in such a globule.
3. a very small quantity of liquid: I’ll have a little more tea, just a drop.
4. a minute quantity of anything: not even a drop of mercy.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out Whistlestop PhotoHunt.