Monday 4 February 2019

White Snowdrops and a Red Bridge

Hello!  Is it too late to wish you all a Happy New Year?  I suppose it is, although as it's the first time I have been here this year, perhaps I can get away with it? Happy Candlemas perhaps, although I suppose it's too late for that, too, as it was on Saturday and I think it's just one day rather than a whole season.  I packed away my nativity set on Friday - no, I wasn't late, if you don't take your Christmas decorations down in time for Epiphany it is absolutely correct to leave them up until Candlemas and I can't bear to take it down on 6th January when the magi have only just arrived at the stable.  It cheers me up during the bleak days of January when all the other twinkles and jollities have come down and eases me out of the festive season gently.

January was quite odd.  I was ready for some wintry action but, apart from a handful of cold days, the weather was mostly grey and mild.  We had two flurries of snow but nothing which lay.  It was very disappointing and I found the dreariness quite oppressive.  Rather than going out at the weekends, the Best Beloved and I stayed at home beside the fire which we lit more for its company than its warmth.  I read books, knitted, crocheted and felt very sluggish.  I heard somebody on the radio say, when asked whether it was winter or spring, that it's still autumn because we haven't had any wintry weather yet.  Tom Kitten, the Best Beloved and I all had our share of illness which did nothing to lift my mood - to be honest, for about a week I felt quite miserable.  I wanted to come here to see all of you but I didn't have anything interesting to share with you.

However, last Monday the sky was blue and the sun was shining and, as we were both free in the afternoon, the Best Beloved suggested that we go out to look at the snowdrops at Shipton after lunch.  He didn't need to ask me twice.  Off we drove to Shipton in the Corvedale to visit St James' church.  The sunshine, the countryside views and the snowdrops all worked their magic and the spring returned to my step, even though the sky was clouding over by the time we left.




We decided not to go straight home afterwards and drove instead to Ironbridge - I was going to say "on a whim" and the Best Beloved thinks it was a whim, but it was my plan all along, I just didn't tell him about it!  Sometimes, that's the best way.  The iron bridge, the first in the world, reopened just before Christmas after being under cover for a year while undergoing extensive restoration work.  During the course of this work it was discovered that the bridge was originally painted red and so it has been repainted in a colour as close as possible to the original shade.  The Best Beloved and I had been waiting for a sunny day to go and see it and although the sky was cloudy by the time we got there, at least it wasn't grey!





The colour is very controversial locally. I think I need to see it for a year, through the changing light and seasons, before I make up my mind - I imagine it might look spectacular when the trees in the gorge are wearing their autumn foliage.  Here's a similar view, taken in January 2015, so that you can make your own comparison.


So here we are in February.  Isn't it interesting that one good day can alter one's perception of an entire month?  I'll be here again soon.

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x

20 comments:

  1. Sometimes it's nice to lay quiet for awhile. Your January sounded very cozy, other than that week of illness. It's trying to snow here today, windy and cold with tiny, tiny flakes that swirl about. Dry snow.
    Happy February days to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, I hope you have had some proper snow! Yes, there are nice things about laying quiet. Happy February to you, too. x

      Delete
  2. beautiful white flowers at second photos.
    have a great day

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You too, it's lovely to see you here. Those flowers are snowdrops, the first flowers of the year. x

      Delete
  3. What a joy to see the snowdrops, they certainly lift your spirit. I like the bridge red, I can imagine its striking beauty when surrounded by the foliage of the trees. Love your new header.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! That header is Ironbridge, taken in December 2017 in the middle of a very snowy weekend. I think we are all ready for snowdrops, and they are out early this year. x

      Delete
  4. I like the color, though brighter would be nice too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, Janet. That "red oxide" colour is so like a modern undercoat that when the covers came off and the bridge was revealed, many people thought that that's exactly what it was, an undercoat, and wondered when the topcoat would be applied. x

      Delete
  5. I think I like that dull red myself, although it might be the design of the bridge that really makes it attractive to me, I am not sure! Just looked up the history behind it. Apparently, the beauty of it was not lost on artists...many sketched it and Thomas Jefferson bought one of the sketches of the bridge! You know, Thomas Jefferson..our 3rd President and the writer of our Declaration of Independence! He and I have the same taste! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, I didn't know that about Thomas Jefferson - I mean the bridge bit, not the President, I knew that bit, and my parents have visited Monticello! The bridge is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has led to the local area being known as the Cradle of the Industrial Revolution. x

      Delete
  6. Nice to see you Mrs T. Sorry to hear you've not been well but I should think those cheery snowdrops made you feel a whole lot better. I wonder if the bridge really was painted red originally or whether they just found the undercoat! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Many people are saying that locally, especially as it was only red for a few months before being overpainted black. You are absolutely right about the snowdrops! x

      Delete
  7. Sorry to hear that you have been ill, hope all is well now. Glad you got to see the bridge in its new colour, I guess it will mature overtime, when we visited the smell of the new paint was very strong as you got closer to the bridge and crossed over. The snowdrops are lovely such a ray of hope for Spring over these dark days. I've been feeling tired and clinging to home over recent weeks a bit like Alice's dormouse in its teapot. Take care:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alice's dormouse - I love that! I didn't notice any smell so perhaps it has faded, or perhaps my olfactory senses were a bit blocked up. It was really cheering to see the snowdrops, did me the world of good. x

      Delete
  8. I often have to look for things to cheer myself up during the winter months, I don't think it would be so bad if it was a 'proper' winter, bright days and snow, it's the dreary muggy days which tend to get me down. Small things can lift my spirits though like seeing snowdrops growning en masse, aren't they beautiful. I'm not really sure what I think about the colour of the bridge, like you, I think I'd need to live with it for a while. I think this colour makes it blend in but is that what's really wanted or do we want it to stand out? I'm not sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not sure either. I plan to visit several times this year and see it in different conditions. I absolutely agree with you about proper, bright, cold winter days, they would be very welcome, especially after last year's summer. Grey days just make me feel grey. x

      Delete
  9. A trip out to see the snowdrops and then a drive onwards to Ironbridge must have cheered you up after a January feeling under the weather. I must say that I feel better for going out even if it's to somewhere local and I'm very glad that the snow and ice has gone for now. Wishing you a happy February.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. So far, February has been much better than January. x

      Delete
  10. I quite like the red and it is quite subtle. Glad you got out and had a snowdrop moment. Spring’s on the way :) B x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was so surprised when the Best Beloved suggested we go to see the snowdrops, usually that's my idea but he must have been looking for Brownie points! x

      Delete