Hiking Holiday in Shropshire Hills...

On June 27, Camilla drove me and her neighbor Julia to Little Stretton in the Shropshire Hills (west of Birmingham) where we met up with five of Camilla’s friends for a hiking holiday. While most of the ladies wanted a private room, Camilla and I shared a room at the Mynd House B&B. We were both crazy enough to wake up in the middle of the night to watch that fateful presidential debate between Biden and Trump.

Little Stetton was indeed little, but it was also quite charming. 

That first night we walked to the nearby Ragleth Inn for a pub dinner.  

After breakfast the next morning, we set off for our hike from Little Stretton to Ragleth Hill for a circular hike.  

We weren’t very far in before we hit quite a steep hill, which a bunch of students were scurrying up while I huffed and puffed. 

The climb was worth it for the views.  

Luckily the rest of the climbs were gentle despite going down to Church Stretton, where we stopped for a drink, before going back up into the hills. Just loved how this postal box was decorated by knitters.

Nice that the sheep didn’t seem to mind moving off of our path. 

We brought packed lunches along from the B&B.

Not too shabby of a view from our lunch stop!

 

More Animal Sculptures...

As I’ve shared before, I love animal sculptures by Gillie and Marc and go out of my way to see their work whenever it appears in London. These paparazzies were in a park near Paddington Station... 

...as was The Wild Table of Love. I’ve posted this large sculpture before, but wanted to feature Dogman and Rabbitwoman on two of my visits: this one being in March 2024...

…and this in April 2024.

These critters visited Southbank in spring 2024...

…while these visited St Paul’s Cathedral in June 2024.

 

Final Bits on Shetland...

There was a raffle drawing over lunch and I won some Puffin Poo, made from Rice Krispies and white chocolate and tastier than it sounds.

Saw some more Shetland ponies as we walked back to the ferry.

Here we are on the short ferry ride back to Lerwick.

We were then picked up by a bus to gather our luggage from the hostel and to meet our overnight ferry. I was completely exhausted after this whirlwind weekend.

 

Hangover Hash in Bressay...

Ironic that I’m finally posting this as just one week ago we were back in Bressay for this year’s hangover hash. Hopefully it won’t take a year to write about that weekend, but in the meantime back to last year....

It was nice there were no wet feet at the second hash in Shetland. We started running from our hostel and quickly made our way to a ferry for a quick crossing over to Bressay. 

I opted to take the shorter running trail. I mostly ran alone across the barren Scottish landscape.

Opee opted for the long trail, which circled around the island and came up and over the hill to the drink stop, whereas I climbed half way up the steep hill where I could rest my weary bones while waiting for the long runners to arrive.

I finally saw some Shetland ponies up close before arriving at the lunch stop.
 

Partying in Shetland...

Rather than heading straight into the hostel after the bus dropped us off, we watched a local parade with adult Vikings...

…child Vikings...

…a monster truck...

…and mini trucks.

Lerwick, with a population around 7,000, is the northernmost major settlement in the UK. 

After getting back to the hostel, we showered and took a nap before donning our kilts for the evening’s festivities. 

After a three-course dinner, the ceilidh began. We failed to get a proper photo of us, but you can see my back in my red and black tartan dress.

Opee long outlasted me on the dance floor. 

When we caught the bus at 12:30am, it was still not fully dark outside.

 

Hashing in Shetland...

A bus picked us up from the ferry when we arrived at 8am. We dropped off our luggage at the Islesburgh Youth Hostel...

…and then were taken across the island to the start of our trail. 

The scenery on the 9.6K trail with a elevation gain of 275 meters was both beautiful...

…and barren. There was no way to keep my feet dry through the bogs, but the views were worth it.

The trail ended at a beach for a dip, which I skipped, but Opee couldn’t resist jumping in.

The bus then took us (except for Opee, Cockatool and Inspector Gorse who insisted on running after mooning the bus) to a community center for a delicious lunch. Many of the swimmers wore the robes that we all got in our goodie bags.