
This Friday gone I had added incentive to get out of the house at 6am and catch a train to Shrewsbury with my bike, the highlight of the day being a partial solar eclipse which fitted in nicely with a few straightforward low level hills. I found a good viewpoint on Harmer Hill to watch the shadows slowly creep across the land. It was quite a surreal moment in the dusklike conditions as the partial eclipse reached its maximum and through some trees I could see the sun as a thin crescent if I squinted hard enough.
After that I headed over to Grinshill Hill which was just under 200m but had an superb outlook over the Shropshire plain, with some fine rugged sandstone outcrops to peer down from. It warmed up nicely again here while the sun started shining full power once more as I ate my tuna butty v.ery contentedly.
I had a few more hours cycling around after that to get to my return station which wound the day down v.ery finely through some gentle countryside.
All in all it was a quaint and pleasant trip out in a v.ery 'English' landscape. As the year goes on though I do hope to put in some hikes through much wilder and remote surroundings.












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