Saturday, February 02, 2013

A Walk at Loynton Moss

Loynton Moss is a nature reserve belonging to the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.  It can be found just through the village of Woodseaves not far from the Shropshire Union Canal which actually runs along the edge of reserve.  We've walked along the canal towpath in this area a couple of times before as far as Norbury Junction but had never explored the nature reserve.

 There is a small car park, well off the road with an information board and map.  We followed the path across a field and into the reserve taking the path which ran alongside the first of the two woodland areas.

 There was a stile to take you up the hill and then back down to the pond on the other side.  Apparently the trust are gradually returning land which was drained for agriculture back to its wetland state by raising the water levels and grazing the pasture at certain times to encourage habitats that they hope will eventually see the return of wading birds like the snipe and the curlew.

 From the pasture we entered the first of the two woodland areas and made our way round one of the paths. 

 From here we could see the canal towpath and you could actually get down to it but it was extremely muddy so we didn't venture further.

 At last as we headed back to the main reserve path we found what we had come to see

  Snowdrops

 This side of the woodland was carpeted with their pure white bell shaped flowers

 From a distance they looked like a light covering of snow or frost

 We spent ages just looking and taking photos before returning to the rest of the reserve.  It had been cold up on the hill and down by the pond but it felt much warmer under the trees.

 We traced our steps back to the first wood we had passed.  This was very wet in places underfoot and you could get a feel for what the area must have looked like many years ago.

 It was a good job that we'd worn our wellies as  the boardwalk was almost submerged and once or twice on the path towards the bridge back to the meadow I sank in the mud nearly to their tops

 We've decided that we want to return to walk here again later in the year and perhaps walk along some of the canal towpath too.

It was just so good to be out walking in the sunshine.  On our way back we stopped at the little town of Stone where there was a Farmer's Market with loads of stalls full of wonderful produce and a few street musicians entertaining the crowds of people who were out enjoying the day. 

26 comments:

  1. Good job you had your wellies on!Thanks for sharing your walk with us.I can't wait to get out walking again after my knee op.

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    1. I bet you are looking forward to getting it all sorted after the first one was cancelled - hope all goes well:)

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  2. Sounds like a lovely day especially on discovering a carpet of snowdrops! I don't suppose the trust will have much trouble returning land to its wetland state after all the rain we have had over the last couple of years!!! Did you treat yourselves at the Farmer's Market?!

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    1. It was very, very wet in places! Some of the produce was very tempting but we didn't actually buy anything - just had great fun looking:)

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  3. Oh, lucky lucky you finding those beautiful snowdrops and thank you for sharing that walk. I so wish we were closer to go visit ourselves. Suzy x

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    1. It was wonderful to see the snowdrops and when the weather is better it will make a good walk if we include some of the canal towpath too:)

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  4. Looks a lovely walk. Carpets of snowdrops like that are wonderful, aren't they? The sun today was magic, even though there was still a cold wind. Abby x

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    1. Wasn't it a beautiful day? Those snowdrops made it perfect:)

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  5. What a lovely place. I have this place bookmarked on my computer for a visit one day but we haven't done so yet. I'm pleased to see those snowdrops, the local ones haven't appeared yet and are usually there by now, so I was wondering if all the rain last year had affected snowdrops across the country!

    I might try to visit Loynton Moss soon as it sounds very nice from your post and I enjoyed the photos. I like to visit Stone too. I drove through it a lot before Dave moved here and sometimes we'd go there for a wander around at the weekends.

    We've been walking today too, making the most of the sunshine and we might visit the museum tomorrow if we have time after we've done the jobs we need to do. The sculptures are a permanent exhibition so we don't need to rush, but I'd like to go back soon.

    Oh, I spotted a 4 miles walk to Three Shires Head in one of my walk books today which might interest you. When the light is good for it, I'll take a photo of the map and email it to you.

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    1. You will certainly need your trusty wellies if it is anything like today as it is very wet in places. I'm glad the sculptures are a permanent thing, I thought they were wonderful. The map would be great thanks, I think I could manage 4 miles well I expect it would be 8 as we'd have to walk back as well:)

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    2. It's a circular walk, 4 miles total. There will be some uphill parts, but I think that's unavoidable for three shires!

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    3. That sounds good, Louise - I'm not too keen on too much uphill - well my legs aren't - but I know it's unavoidale in that part of the world and also it's good for me:)

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  6. Enjoyed your walk Rosie. We had a busy day today but hopefully weather permitting, we're going to take ourselves off somewhere tomorrow. I just love snowdrops.
    Patricia x

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    1. Isn't it lovely to see snowdrops at this time of year? It is also wonderful to have a little sunshine too - hope you have a lovely day out today:)

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  7. I like snowdrops and hadn't seen any until I saw a clump on Friday - we had a busy day today - taking KP and 9 of her friends to see Les Miserables - thoroughly enjoyed. Then to Prezzo's for pizza! I hope it's nice tomorrow but think the OH has to work - Grrrr!
    June

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    1. Sounds like a super day out - I'm guessing KP's birthday party? I bet they all had great fun:)

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  8. I do love snowdrops, especially en masse like that! Such a cheery sight at this time of year, and with the sun today as well it felt like Spring!

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    1. It did feel a little spring like today but I guess we'll have more wintry weather yet before we finally get there. The snowdrops did look wonderful:)

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  9. Lovely photos. It's great to see all the snowdrops. I can't believe how they have survived all this dreadful weather and seem to be flourishing. Jx

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    1. I've heard a lot of people say they haven't seen as many this year - I think the ones we saw were in a very sheltered corner of the wood:)

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  10. I did a snowdrop walk today - but they were a bit dissapointing. Yours looks better xxxx

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    1. I wonder where your walk was? We were lucky to see so many all together, they looked well established as if they had been there for years spreading under the trees:)

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  11. Snowdrops..what a fascinating British wonder! :)
    x

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    1. A wonder indeed! Just full of hope for spring:)

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  12. Rosie,
    Today on the Chicago radio station, they mentioned that people living in Great Britain were being encouraged to build snowmen, to delay the snow from melting all at once and flooding the country! I immediately thought of you, but you seem to have missed the snow, but you have some lovely snowdrops!
    Glad to see you are still walking and blogging!

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    1. Because we'd had so much rain last year and so much flooding in certain parts of the country they were worried about a rapid thaw not finding anywhere to go as the ground was already so wet. We've had loads of snow but it has gone now - we'd piled up snow from clearing the drive and it did take a long time to finally disappear:)

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