Blackfordby spire

• Walked: 19 July 2009
  
• Distance: 7.2 miles
• Terrain: Some inclines and stiles
  
• Summary: Starting at Shellbrook, Ashby de la Zouch, walk to Blackfordby, continue out to Woodville, then back in a loop to Blackfordby and back to Shellbrook.
• Time: 2.5 hrs

I usually start this walk from home, and approach Blackfordby church from a slightly different direction, but today I decided to start at Shellbrook (just outside Ashby) which is a convenient place to start, and goes through Prestop Wood, a very pleasant part of The National Forest. I've watched these trees (on the left in this picture) grow from about a metre high and they're now adolescents, I guess, way above head height.



It was a murky day today, giving the black spire an atmospheric background.





Strawberries? Raspberries? No, much bigger. This is the second time in a week that I've seen robin's pincushions. A friend pointed one out earlier in the week, and I don't remember noticing them since I was a child. A parasite attacks a dog-rose, which reacts by growing this fluffy red nest: