Country diary: where are the violets?

Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: These longed-for heralds of spring would make this wild morning completeIt begins with geese: the laughing gods, flying laps around their nesting ponds behind the priory before honking over trees, through the mizzle, north-west to Venus Pool, the river's green hunger their guiding light.Here, in the hedges around the Mayfield, the smoky white of blackthorn winter gathers and a robin sings the world into the wind. Sunlight breaks into the hills, flashing around down there. Where are the violets? Here somewhere, they must be here somewhere. Continue reading...