Friday 6 July 2018

Of sheep and hills

In the weeks leading up to the holidays, I'm having recurrent nightmares, in which I've accidentally left my camera at home, giving some indication as to how important taking photographs is for me.

In the old days before blogging, I would now be clicking through my photos in preparation of creating a digital scrap album as a reminder of our holiday, which I stopped doing about two years ago when it transpired that my favourite online software was no longer available.

Before that, in the even older days, I'd be eagerly waiting until my precious photos - rolls and rolls of film - were developed, after which I'd be wielding real life scissors and glue for the messy business of making an actual album, which would include anything from entrance tickets and leaflets to candy wrappers.

Do I miss these days? Yes, and no!  I do love having the albums to browse through once in a while, but at this point in my life, I prefer to use my blog as a well documented travelogue.

As I already gave you Chapter 2, let's get back to the beginning, shall we?



We arrived at the cottage which would be our home for the next two weeks a bit earlier than planned, as our journey had been completely without hick-ups.

Byre Cottage, where once cows sought shelter from the elements, is part of a huddle of farm buildings nestling in a valley between the Long Mynd, a large, long heath and moorland plateau that forms part of the Shropshire Hills, and Adstone Hill.

Adstone, as the handful of buildings is called, is reached by the narrowest of hedged country lanes, and is about one mile from the nearest village. It is also about half an hour's drive to the nearest supermarket. Reportedly there should have been a village shop for essentials, but we didn't make the effort to find it.




Apart from our landlord, a friendly but rather timid man whom we hardly ever saw, our nearest neighbours were the sheep which grazed the hilly fields surrounding our cottage, their melodious bleating a soothing soundtrack.

Having spent so many holidays in our Welsh cottage, it was only natural that our new abode would be held up for comparison, but I can tell you that Byre Cottage compared favourably, especially as it was more spacious and generally better equipped.



There was room to swing a whole army of cats in the kitchen/dining room, which led onto a small terraced area outside, with seating for two. Then there was our bedroom, which had a wardrobe with plenty of hanging space, and which did not contain an ordinary bed but a four poster!



After we'd made ourselves comfortable and had a meal, we went for a little walk up Adstone Hill, soaking in the quietness and magnificence of our surroundings.



When we woke up the next day, Sunday, it was to solid grey skies and a bit of drizzle. As we couldn't wait to get started, this was a bit of a disappointment, but never mind.

First it was time for a proper fry-up, as Jos is a dab hand at making English breakfast.

Thus fortified, we were ready for our first adventure: we decided to explore the small town of Church Stretton, about 12 miles away, on the other side of the Long Mynd.



Along the way, we passed through our nearest village, a tiny place called Wentnor, which has a pub, a pretty little church and a red post box keeping a rare red telephone box company.

After skirting the Long Mynd, we arrived in Church Stretton, where we parked and paid for a ticket, minutes later realizing that parking was free on a Sunday. Typically, the silly machine didn't complain when we put in our money!



Soon it started raining again, so we escaped inside Stretton Antiques Market, situated in an early 1900s red brick warehouse, where we browsed the stalls laid out over several floors.



Nothing really took our fancy, but as it was lunch time by then, we made use of the on-site tearoom.



If at first there seemed to be a break in the clouds, they had now gathered to create a solid grey blanket and it wasn't long before the showers turned into a steady curtain of rain.

The town's charity shops, which mercifully were open on a Sunday, offered some respite, and our first purchases were made.

While Jos found a straw hat, I came away with a Phase Eight raincoat, two brooches and a vinyl case from a range Celia Birtwell designed for Boots in 2009.



Ditching our plans for a short walk, we then dived into a café for coffee and cake, after which we decided to call it a day and return to our cottage.



Setting our satnav for the return journey, we were mystified when the blasted thing made us drive in the other direction. When we started climbing and then bumped over a cattle grid, I knew we were in for an adventure of a different kind. Instead of skirting the Long Mynd, we were now driving right over it.

With the rain and low-hanging clouds diminishing our view, we continued our precipitous ride on a one-track lane which climbed ever higher until, thankfully, it swerved away from the sheer drop on our right, at which point I quickly hopped out to take some photographs with my phone's camera.


We thought we'd seen the worst, but how wrong we were! Suddenly there was a hairpin bend and the road started going downhill at a rather alarming angle, again with a steep drop on our right. As if that wasn't bad enough, a car suddenly appeared from the opposite direction. Obviously there was no way we could pass each other, so Jos made several attempts to back the car uphill. It comes as no surprise that I, a long time sufferer from vertigo, was getting a panic attack. In my mind's eye, I could see our car making a tumble over the edge, in which case I would never get to meet Vix and Lynn ...

But all's well that ends well. The other driver eventually took pity on us, and swiftly backed his car  downhill to a passing place, so that we could continue our journey unharmed. Phew!


Needless to say, we made it safely back to the cottage, where I insisted on posing with my new found treasures in the rain.

That raincoat really was the best buy ever, as the weather gradually started improving once I'd bought it. Nevertheless, I'm taking it, and my floral trousers to Patti's Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style.

But more about that in my next travel posts!


42 comments:

  1. Driving country roads isn't for the timid as you never know what lies ahead. Glad you were able to get out of it unscathed. Great coat and bag though so, totally worth the trip to town.

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    1. Those roads would have been far less scary in better weather, but yes, the coat and bag were totally worth the trip. xxx

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  2. The bad old days of getting your photos back from Boots and discovering you'd managed to chop off the crucial bit of scenery!
    I'd forgotten we'd had that miserable day - I'm so glad that didn't set the scene for the rest of your holidays!
    Your cottage is gorgeous, what a find that was. Church Stretton is gorgeous, isn't it? It's been years since we visited and there's no excuse with it being so close.
    How fab do you look in that mac and snazzy trouser combo?
    I'll always think of Jos when I see jacket potatoes on the menu anywhere now, his holiday favourite! xxx

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    1. ... or managed to get the crucial bit out of focus! Church Stretton is certainly worth a return visit and yes, Jos does love his jacket potatoes! xxx

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  3. What a wonderful raincoat! You look amazing in it Ann. And so useful! I am lucky that your trip had a good end. Thanks for so many wonderful pictures. Your cottage is so gorgeous, a great day for a nice holiday.
    A very huge hug Tina

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    1. Thank you Tina! It certainly was a holiday we won't forget in a hurry! xxx

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  4. poor ann! on the first day such an adventure. but the the landscape is fantastic - esp. with the fog. and this cute little villages!
    well done to buy the coat and the waterproof case - style AND weather wise :-D
    like you i did made albums with photos, snippets and even some text and i like to look into them from time to time - and i too gave up the habit after starting the blog - this is my big album now......
    hugest hugs! xxxxx

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    1. We needed this adventure for the story-telling but we'd love to return on a better day. I often added text in my albums too, and occasionally some little poem I'd written. But I gave it all up for blogging ;-) xxx

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  5. I think I remember that Celia Birtwell vinyl case.
    The raincoat is lovely, but how nice the weather improved so you didn't have to wear it.
    Church Stretton looks beautiful, and the cottage too.
    xx

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    1. Thank you Hazel. The cottage was absolutely delightful. I miss it already! xxx

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  6. Wow! What adventures you had, Ann! The cottage where you stayed looks so cosy and the surrounding scenery is beautiful. You look fabulous in your new raincoat and I love that vinyl case! It's so scary winding around narrow roads in bad weather, isn't it? I would've been freaking out too! Thankfully you made it home safely! I look forward to the next installment! Hope you have a great weekend, Ann. XXX

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    1. Thank you Sasha! Little adventures like this are what holidays are all about! xxx

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  7. Those little country lanes in England always stressed me out. Some areas in Spain are worse though if you can believe it. I've seen people back all the way down and out of a winding circular parking lot because it was only one lane.

    Shame about the weather but that coat was quite the score!

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

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    1. Yes, I've heard it can be even worse in countries like Spain. And this was the only really rainy day, so who am I to complain? xxx

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  8. What a shame you had rain! We've had none of that in Essex! The ride you had sounds rather scary! I am not sure I would have liked it either! Ahrgh! That's so annoying about the parking! Grrr!!! I love your Boden coat!

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    1. That was the only proper rainy day we had, so no worries! xxx

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  9. The cottage looks lovely and so does Church Stretton. You won’t believe it but I picked up a raincoat like yours in a charity shop. I’ve not had it on yet though as the weather has been so lovely.
    Your blog is the perfect travelogue for all your adventures Ann and it’s nice to see Jos in the photos as well xxx

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    1. We are raincoat twins! Yay! I've only had mine on once, which was a mistake. See next blog post. The weather continues to be lovely here too. A bit too hot, actually. xxx

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  10. What beautiful scenery. The views so serene. Except for the scary road. I would have had a panic attack as well. Narrow roads with no railings completely freak me out. Love that fab mod looking raincoat. And, of course, it was bound to stop raining because you purchased it!

    Thanks for sharing your lovely travel photos. I so want to visit England one day before I get too old to walk through all those quaint villages!

    Theresa

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    1. Thank you Theresa! England is certainly well worth a visit. We have been visiting for more than twenty years now, so there must be something pulling us back, again and again! xxx

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  11. I had a similar travel experience on holiday and Philip kept telling me not to look at the spectacular view/ dizzying drop as my language became quite ripe!
    The raincoat looks fab and thankfully you won't have needed it much for most of your holiday.
    Photo's were always such a disappointment in the old days, I couldn't wait to get them bag but half of them were usually either over exposed or out of focus! xxx

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    1. Glad I'm not the only one ;-) Oh, and I certainly don't miss the that part of the old days, especially as you still had to pay for them, whether they were any good or not! xxx

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  12. That looks like a lovely place for a holiday, magical mystery tour of the countryside aside.

    We could do with a bit of that rain now - the heat is getting rather wearing.

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    1. Same here, Mim! I did rain for about 15 minutes one night last week, which woke us both up. If the next day hadn't been a working day, we'd have gone outside and have a little dance! xxx

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  13. what a beautiful cottage! and also lovely landscapes, everything looks so peaceful!. And also lovely buildings; that red brick warehouse looks really picturesque!
    Glad that you found that raincoat, it's so cute! and it fits you nicely! Also lovely vinyl bag and floral pants!, totally rock!
    besos

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    1. Thank you Monica. It was indeed very peaceful which was exactly what we needed! xxx

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  14. looks like a magical place, from a lovely old English novel. And you look cheery despite the rain (great raincoat you found!) xo

    -Patti
    http://notdeadyetstyle.com

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    1. Thank you Patti, that raincoat will now always remind me of that day, even if it was a bit scary! xxx

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  15. That raincoat is a spectacular piece - I would have fought you for it! And of course, as soon as you bought it, the weather gets better - typical! That cottage looks so lovely and cozy - I wouldn't want to leave! Sorry about your drizzly weather!

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    1. Thank you Sheila. And yes, I can definitely see you in that coat as well! xxx

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  16. Phew! Thank goodness you were safe and sound!!
    You look absolutely stunning in this outfit! It's one of my very favorite ones on you! The trench is gorgeous, and so are the floral trousers! So rarely we see you in pants, but oh these are so pretty!!!

    Your cottage and the surroundings are absolutely idyllic - as if you and Jos are genuine English villagers from a charming countryside which I see i movies! Completed with sheep, no less!

    I never really was into scrapbooking or photo albums much, but I also made a few in earlier days. Like you, I bring my camera (these days, often my phone) everywhere I go, and my form of a visual diary has been letters (emails) to my folks, completed with pictures and videos, for the last 16 years. I love blogging for the same reason, though my blog doesn't really reflect our life fully - I am more focused on my outfits and places we visit or some cultural bits and my thoughts, than on our everyday life.

    Lots of love, my dear!

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    1. Thank you Natalia. I never like seeing myself in trousers, but I have to admit these floral ones don't look too bad on me. It must be delightful for your folks to get your visual diaries. It must be hard to be so far apart! xxx

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  17. Shropshire is beautiful Ann. I've stayed there. You should be in the UK now, it's boiling! Have you been to Scotland? it's really beautiful there too. xx

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    1. Thank you Laurie. I have been to Scotland one, the year I turned 18. My Dad was a big fan, and went more than ten times! xxx

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  18. the cottage and the surroundings are very nice so I am sure that you are enjoying your staying there!
    Beautiful trench: it has a graphic pattern that I really like .
    Those sheep are cute, I wonder if you can touch them or they are too wild...

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    1. Thank you Dan! The sheep were semi-wild and ran away when we came near them, but we did see some sheep in a quite touristy place, who just walked up to people, begging for handouts! xxx

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  19. I have friends in Church Stretton, how funny that you were there! It's a picturesque part of the world, your cottage looks really lovely. I thought you'd be used to 'hairy' roads with all your trips to Wales! I still get the odd stomach flip on the roads around me, and typically end up being the one to reverse.
    Gorgeous photos! And fab outfit. Xx

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    1. How funny that you have friends there! We loved Shropshire, which we chose as it wasn't too far from Wales. It actually felt strange NOT being in Wales for our holidays. We took quite a few hairy roads there, but never when visibility was so poor, and we certainly never had to back up a road with such a steep drop! xxx

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  20. The cottage looks wonderful and the scenery is beautiful. Loved your finds especially the groovy Mac and the lovely bag. The floral trousers are looking fab!
    xxx

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    1. Thank you Veronica. I quite like the combination of the floral trousers and groovy raincoat! xxx

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  21. I can't believe you had rain it's been baking heat for what seems like months now! Love the rain coat it's so you. xx

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    1. After one day of rain, and one with the odd shower, the weather started improving and indeed it became very hot. Too hot for me, really, but when one's on holiday, it seems much more bearable! xxx

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