Stafford Nature
Last week I got back from 10 days in England, mostly Stafford but also London. Stafford is a city of 60,000 in the West Midlands region, north of Birmingham. I wound up taking a lot of nature pics along the way - birds, animals, fields, trees, etc. I wanted to post a few here and then pass on the link to the full collection. All these pics are from Stafford.
Swans
These swans live in the lovely Victoria Park stretch of the River Sow.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Doves
Lots of doves / pigeons / wood pigeons. This white one perching on a house near the park caught my eye.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Fields by Train Line
Near my friend's place in Stafford, there's a big cut of field between a couple of neighborhoods. The main train lines, freight & passenger, run through it. There are also trails and garden allotments. I visited several times for fresh air, leg stretch, and time in nature.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
By the Castle
Stafford Castle is the site of a Medieval castle, although that castle is long gone. You can still see the fortifcations, but on top of them is a 19th century "folly" in the Gothic style. Anyway, the site is surrounded by a ring of forest which surrounded by some fields. I went on a bit of a nature hike all through the area, plus up to the castle.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Monster Tree
Walking to reach the castle, I discovered a church next door, Castle Church, with a fabulous cemetery, featuring a monstrously large tree. The tree would take 5-6 (or more?) people, holding hands, to ring around. I don't know what sort of tree it is, but it trunks all over the place and the middle is solid but with age is sort of splitting/hollow. Must be a few centuries old.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Doxey Marshes
Looking on a local area map, discovered the Doxey Marshes, a nature preserve in northwest Stafford, at the top end of Victoria Park. So I wandered up the park, past a bit of industrial sprawl along the Sow river, then over into the marsh, which has trails and a few benches.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Swans
These swans live in the lovely Victoria Park stretch of the River Sow.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Doves
Lots of doves / pigeons / wood pigeons. This white one perching on a house near the park caught my eye.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Fields by Train Line
Near my friend's place in Stafford, there's a big cut of field between a couple of neighborhoods. The main train lines, freight & passenger, run through it. There are also trails and garden allotments. I visited several times for fresh air, leg stretch, and time in nature.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
By the Castle
Stafford Castle is the site of a Medieval castle, although that castle is long gone. You can still see the fortifcations, but on top of them is a 19th century "folly" in the Gothic style. Anyway, the site is surrounded by a ring of forest which surrounded by some fields. I went on a bit of a nature hike all through the area, plus up to the castle.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Monster Tree
Walking to reach the castle, I discovered a church next door, Castle Church, with a fabulous cemetery, featuring a monstrously large tree. The tree would take 5-6 (or more?) people, holding hands, to ring around. I don't know what sort of tree it is, but it trunks all over the place and the middle is solid but with age is sort of splitting/hollow. Must be a few centuries old.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
Doxey Marshes
Looking on a local area map, discovered the Doxey Marshes, a nature preserve in northwest Stafford, at the top end of Victoria Park. So I wandered up the park, past a bit of industrial sprawl along the Sow river, then over into the marsh, which has trails and a few benches.
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England
From Stafford and London, England