Much Wenlock to Bridgenorth

Day 9 Much Wenlock to Bridgenorth.  15 miles   only about 4 stiles again :)

A jigsaw puzzle has kept Phil amused all week -
 Pat and I are helping with the final few pieces!

The final day has arrived and we had a walk of about 14.5 miles to do without much climbing or descending of hills.  The weather was fine and warm, but overcast.  We set off from Much Wenlock at about 8.30 and by 9.28 had done the first 3 miles, so the going was good, the next 3 miles were just as quick.  We had coffee then, hiding in a wood as it looked like rain (it didn't!).  From there we got 10 miles done by about 12 noon; we decided not to stop then as it was only 12 and to keep going a bit.  Just as well really as that was when we had our first real hill and we didn't want that just after lunch.  The hill was a muddy path up quite steep, but not too long fortunately; and it was as well it wasn't raining otherwise it would have been extremely slippery.  Lunch followed in a field with the sheep, then off we went again with no real navigational issues other than the farmer hadn't put a path across a field, so had to walk quite a long way round it.

Jacqui getting to know the horses

Lyn outside a church en-route.

We met up with Phil and Carol about a mile from the end and walked back to the railway yard at Bridgenorth.  So nothing terribly exciting happened today, other than we finished the walk - yey!  It was supposed to be a 106 mile round walk, but actually turned out to be about 118 miles.

More lovely horses!

Lots of men playing trains - sorry - railway enthusiasts here.

Everyone is weary now, and I had a lovely doze on the bus!  Carol had done a brilliant job of driving us everywhere, and Phil did the navigation - I don’t think they got too lost!

The End!

Tonight is fish and chips from the local chippy, with cheese, biscuits, and port to follow.  Carol and Phil bought some nice cheese at the local foody shop near Ludlow.  Great fun tonight with award ceremony, and lots of laughter!

So packing up now and heading home tomorrow.  Got to discuss next year’s adventure as well!

Thanks everyone for reading this.
Alison x

Church Stretton to Much Wenlock

Day 8 Church Stretton to Much Wenlock  16.5 miles  (should have been 15)  Only about 4 stiles.

Today  started with a little rain, so everyone had waterproofs on.  We knew the forecast was for drier weather after about an hour, but it stopped much quicker, so we stripped all coats etc. off as it was getting hot!  I can’t believe the weather weve had, we are having to remember to put sun cream on!  Has this ever been known before?
The day’s walk was to have a big hill first thing, then mostly flatish for the rest of the time.  Well the big hill was called Caer Caradoc and was huge and very steep!  It had 3 tops - the first called Three Fingers Rock, then past another set of rocks and finally to the summit of Caer Caradoc.  Then we had to come all the way down again ... that was equally steep and at one point it seemed easier to shuffle down on bottoms, but the grass was wet, so I ended up with a wet bottom!!

Steep decent.

After that it was fairly easy going but unfortunately Alan slid on wet stones at a ford; his ruck sack took the brunt of the fall, which was as well - when we stopped for coffee, he discovered his lunch box had broken; fortunately his sandwiches survived! We managed to find a coffee stop under some trees as we had a little shower at that point.

we found a horse near the youth hostel.

  On again past the youth hostel and Wilderhope manor (good loo stop), and the sign post read 7 miles to Much Wenlock - at this point most of our sat navs were registering about 8 miles, so for once the mileage looked to be going ok .... or was it!!  Navigation was ok as well which was great - the sun was shining, the birds were singing, the cuckoo was calling, the sheep were cute, the calves were equally cute, and it was a nice walk.   Lunch was in the usual church yard.

After lunch there was one fence / gate in the wrong place probably as the pub had closed down, so we hummed and harred at bit there; but eventually got on the right path, and on then to a railway track and other good track through woods that was really lovely but went on for ages, but at least we were eating up miles as the first part of the walk was quite slow.  

Well we had about a mile to go into Much Wenlock and something went a bit wrong - not sure what really, but we ended up going though fields instead of the track;  I don’t think it added too much to the daily mileage, but we still ended up doing an extra mile and a half somewhere.

Well, into the town and met up with Phil and Carol at the George and Dragon for a well earned pint of beer (apparently ‘Help the Heros’ beer)  or cider or lime and soda (all the girls had that - aren’t we good!)

Phil and Carol had some good walks too, and made about 8 miles; unfortunately they walked back towards us to try and find us, but I think we were a bit later - and we missed the path, so maybe it was just as well they went back to the bus.

Back to the house for tea and fruit cake this time made by Carol (Alan’s wife) - thanks Carol it was good.  Tonight the Steves are cooking pork dijonaise and apple crumble.  I think there will be a quiz tonight.

Last night we played the colander game where you have to put names in a colander or bucket and then pull them out and describe who it is to your team; you then put the names back in and the next round you are only allowed to use 3 words to describe the person; then you put the names back yet again and then the third round is where you are only allowed to act that person to your team.  Good fun, Tim got the award for the best acting were he used his long arms to act a crocodile for crocodile Dundee - also his Basil Fawlty walk was pretty good too!

Feet, legs and knees are just about holding up ready for the final day tomorrow of 14.5 miles (or so!) back to Bridgenorth.

Lynley to Church stretton

Tonight Steve (my Husband) has written this blog as  I am on cooking duty, and it was a roast that was going to take a while to peel spuds, parsnips, sweet potatoes and carrots; not to mention the stuffing and roseberry topping trifle for afters.!  Over to Steve ....


This is no day 7 and the route took us from Lynley to Church Stretton, supposedly just over 12 miles but our regular readers will be aware that the mileage in our guide book is a little under valued! Today we finished recording a distance of just over 14 miles. Today was the most ascent we walked at 2888 feet that consisted of 3 very big hills and of course if you go up you have to come down and two of the drops were very steep and we were all conscious of knees.

Steve W is there somewhere after taking a photo of us all!

The Stiperstones.

Additionally large parts of the walk were hard going insomuch that the paths were various sizes of rock that slowed us down as every step had to be monitored. Tops of big hills bring stunning views and today was no exception with stunning views of the Shropshire hills and although the visibility was a little hazy it took nothing away from the amazing vista. None of us realised that Shropshire was such a lovely county and as we neared Church Stretton in the valley we were surrounded by hills and the locals refer to this as little Switzerland.

The trip in the mini bus was a bit interesting this morning as we came across a sheep with 2 small lambs trying without success to return to the field with her friends and careering all over the road. It was an accident waiting to happen so I and ex farmer John with the help of other motorists returned them to a field. Whether it was the right field we will never know!

Church Stretton is a really nice place, the hill we walked down into the town has an accompanying river that attracted families with small children playing in the water or having a picnic. The ice cream stall was doing a good trade but we declined as although we are burning lots of calories we are also eating a bit too well. Last night we had a tremendous chilli (cooked by Walt, Alan and Stuey)followed by Strudle and what with our mid day lunch and cake on returning to base the pounds are starting to pile on some of us (no names mentioned).

Lat night after our evening meal our ukulele band provided our entertainment with some community singing with me doing ‘Ernie, the fastest milkman in the west, and Alison singing ‘Parsley
Sage Rosemary and Thyme with excellent backing by Steve W, Pat, Jacqui and Lyn. At 9.45 we all escaped to bed and poor Alan was photographed not being too alert at the end of the concert. (photo tomorrow!)

Tonight to keep up the high standard of cuisine we are having roast chicken.

Last night the property owners asked us to help them out. They had a massive keg of draught lager that required using and would we assist. Some of the lads were kind enough to help them out! No wonder Alan was tired.

Newcastle-on-Clun to Lydham

Day 6  Newcastle-on-Clun to Lydham    13.8 miles  (should have been 12.5!)    24 stiles

Today we started from the village of Newcastle-on-Clun and walked back towards Offa’s Dyke.  Once we left the road we encountered the first of the hills for the day.  We knew today was going to be like a roller coaster, a lot of up and down!  We remembered these hills from when we walked the route 2 years ago; they were very steep both up and down.  It was a bit of a shock to the system so early in the morning ..... did I mention we get up really early and are in the bus by about 7.50 ready for the off!  We were walking by about 8.20 today.  Steve W has been doing a fantastic job however making porridge for everyone - well nearly everyone, I don’t really eat porridge, but I understand it has been excellent.

John at the halfway point

So we kept plodding onwards and came to the Offa’s Dyke halfway point; a quick photo and off again.  Eventually there was one last very steep and long downhill that we recalled from last time was extremely muddy and slippery as it was raining, but today was not too bad as it was dry, warm - not too sunny today as it was rather hazy.  I think this must be a record in our walking adventure trips; 3 dry, warm and sunny days in a row!!

Also found another bath for Tim!

We found some steps - 122 of them!

Once we got down this last hill we turned off the dyke and rejoined the Shropshire Way; which took us gradually into Bishop’s Castle; the hills were not too steep now.

Lunch stop at Bishop's Castle 

We had lunch sat in a church yard, and then made our way up out of the town and another 3 miles to Lydham.

Carol and Phil found us about a mile and a half from the end and walked back with us.  They had enjoyed an uphill walk from Clun for about 2 1/2 miles - over 15 stiles, then back down again and over the same 15 stiles.... they beat us on the stile count for the day!!  They also let slip that they had sampled the breakfast baps in the tea shop we had visited yesterday in Clun!  When they were trying to find suitable parking to meet us at the end of the walk, they were approached by a farmer who asked if they would mind blocking a road so he could move his cows - they obliged and watched all the cows move to a new field, they then parked up on the verge by this field.

So back to the house for tea and parkin cake made by Carol - very good.  Parkin or Perkin is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in northern England.

Fantastic views.

Walt, Alan and John are on cooking duty tonight, we are expecting chile and rice with apple strudels for afters.  We were also offered by the owner to use up a barrel of lager that a party had left behind - so the boys have been sampling that.

Feet and legs are rather weary tonight, hopefully they will be ok again in the morning, as we are promised more hills!

Aston-on-Clun to Newcastle-on-clun

Day 5 Aston-on-Clun to Newcastle-on-clun    14.5 miles (was supposed to be 12.5!)  Not too many stiles today just about 6 I think, the rest were gates :)

Another lovely day, the sun was beautifully warm with just a cool breeze every now and then; the countryside looked stunning.  The boys had their legs on show again and the girls took their jumpers off and even rolled the trouser legs up!!

One of the other things we are noticing with our walk is that the distances given in the book are not quite always correct.  Today, we had no navigational errors - hurray!  and pretty much kept on track, but we did 2 miles more than the book says.  So we have taken to saying to ourselves that if the walk is supposed to be 12 miles, then we will be doing 14 - it’s all psychological really; it was mentioned as we passed the 12.5 mile mark that we all stopped and stamped our feet saying we weren't going on, but we were in the middle of no-where and the bus was not nearby! so we plodded on in the heat - are you feeling sorry for us yet?

We started off from Aston-on-Clun and walked through fields and woods; following the Shropshire Way for some of it, until we came to the village of Kempton.  From there we carried on towards the ‘Bury Ditches’ hill fort.  Apparently this was not visible until 1976 when a storm blew most of the trees on top of it down, and the fort was found.  It has since been cleared and attracts a few visitors, especially to see the views from the top.

Looking at the toposcope, on top of the fort

 It was then a long path down and into the village of Clun.

Metal man - on the way to Clun.

 About half way down we met up with Carol and Phil who were walking up to the fort from Clun - it was probably about 3 or 4 miles each way for them to walk so they had a good walk too.
After walking through Clun and earmarking a tea shop for later to visit on our way back; we walked up and up steadily towards Offa’s Dyke.  We stopped for lunch in a field on the way up.  Once we reached the dyke, most of us remembered the location from 2 years ago when we walked the trail.  It was a small wooded area where we sheltered from the rain and had lunch before walking down a long way following the dyke towards Newcastle-on-clun.  Today’s weather of course was so much better, so we were able to appreciate the scenery.

Stabiliser cows!

Before the fort we met a farmer who was rounding up some unusual cows - he told us they were ‘stabilisers’ a cross between Aberdeen; hereford and simantile ; the breed was produced in America.   Also at the top near to Offa’s Dyke we saw a yellow hammer, a little bird with a bright yellow head.  We have seen kites too.

Once at the bottom we walked the short distance on the road to Newcastle-on-Clun to find the bus.  We then drove to Clun and found that tea shop we had spotted earlier.  Very good reasonably priced tea (£1 a mug), and lovely cakes; a selection of lemon; coffee and walnut; chocolate brownies and scones, jam and cream.... Lyn puts the cream on first and then the jam, Stuey puts butter, jam and then cream!

Clun bridge - look closely and you'll see Carol and John 

Back at the house - no we didn't have any more tea and cake today!   Pat and Stuey are on cooking duty and we are having salmon in breadcrumbs.
Just done another small Sainsburys order and the blog's going out early!  Don't know what games are in store for later, I'll let you know tomorrow.

Ludlow to Aston-on-Clun.

Day 4 Ludlow to Aston-on-Clun.  11.5 miles:        12 stiles

Today’s weather has been stunning; bright blue skies and pleasantly warm.  The boys had their shorts on, and the girls took their coats off!!

We started from the very picturesque town of Ludlow and walked through some lovely countryside and park land.  Not too many navigational issues - though we had walked 100 yards or so from the road at the start and (up hill of course) had to stop for a moment to check we shouldn’t have been down on another path.

Should we be down there? !!

 Carol and Phil walked with us for the first hour until we got to the lovely village of Broomfield.  They then peeled off to look at St Mary’s church which has an amazing painted ceiling and a memorial placque to Henry Hickman (1800 - 1830) who was the pioneer of anaesthesia and lived nearby.   They also visited the food centre - need I say more!  They were however looking to see what cheeses we could buy for our final evening meal; I understand there is a good Ludlow blue cheese we could try.

Once Carol and Phil left us, we carried on a fairly flat walk that seemed to go on for a long distance across many fields and quite a lot of stiles and gates; amazingly again, navigation was ok and there were several arrows at each gate, including one for walking with Offa.

 We had a coffee stop on a bank at the edge of a field.  Eventually we got to a beautiful part of the walk, all past ponds and streams and up through woods.  Up a big hill and to a road which took us to another path and a stop for lunch on a hill which we shared with some sheep!

Lunch time companions!

After lunch, we set off again and unfortunately had our first navigational error - you can see a spike up and down at the end of the chart above, which was of course a pretty major hill that we had to come back down again.  After that it was fine, all on roads or tracks and we met Carol and Phil about a mile from the finish.

Back quite early to the house, where everyone relaxed, drank tea and ate cake - today’s was Steve Y’s fruit cake (made with condensed milk - Mary Berry recipe).  Tonight is bangers and mash with onion gravy followed by jam tart cooked by the two Steve’s.  A games evening is in progress!

Cleehill to Ludlow

Day 3 Cleehill to Ludlow     7 miles  ;   18 stiles

Just a little about the house we are staying in - each bedroom has an en-suite bathroom which is great.  There are no showers as such, just shower attachments over a bath.  Tim is 6’4” and appears to have the smallest bath!  But - today we found him a bath.

Tim's new bath!

Today was a short walk into Ludlow, and mostly downhill, having done a lot of uphill yesterday.  However we still managed to take wrong paths, it should have been very straightforward in that we were following the Shropshire Way paths, but it went wrong somehow!  Anyway we found our way through, and the paths were not too bad today.  Carol and Phil had walked back from Ludlow and found us about 1/2 hour away from the end having found the paths.  We found the bus near the railway station, then we changed our shoes and had about an hour’s wander around Ludlow.  We found some quirky shops -

Fork handles?

A bridge somewhere!

After the wander round Ludlow we drove to a village not too far away for lunch, but the sat-nav took us through an archway that was barely wide enough for the bus!  So well done Carol for steering it through and to Phil for guiding also.  Having negotiated the arch we were supposed to go over a bridge, but this had been closed for some time due to an accident, so we had to drive a fair way round to get to the road we wanted.  We arrived a little late at the pub called the ‘The Boot’ at Orleton.  We had a first class lunch and of course the boys sampled the ale  - including ‘Hobsons best’; Hobsons ‘twisted spire’; and Hobsons ‘old prickly’ then from the wye valley brewery ‘ Hereford pale ale’ and ‘butty bach’ - and Lyn sampled the local cider which she said was really good.

John talking to the sheep!

Back to the house reasonably early to sample Lyn's other cake, a rather tasty ginger one.  The boys had games of boules and tennis.  Pat and I did another food order with Sainsburys and I was on cooking duty with Jacqui and Tim; we had jacket potatoes with lots of salad and bits and pieces followed by marmalade bread and butter pudding - we didn't have a pudding at lunch time!