The Long Mynd

Saturday 25th July 2015

Last summer I wanted to do a walk outside of the county but I didn't feel like driving anywhere to get there. In the past I have driven to the Lake District or Snowdon for a day's walk and then driven all the way back home the same day, but I didn't want to do that now. After much deliberation I decided that I would visit an area of the country that I'd never been walking in before: the Shropshire Hills. I have driven past these hills many times when driving to Snowdonia, but now I was able to catch a train to the small town of Church Stretton at the foot of the Long Mynd. An early start to the day had enabled me to get to Church Stretton soon after nine o'clock leaving me with the whole day for the ambitious walk that I had planned.

Once I got off the train I walked through the quiet town onto a narrow road that climbs steeply out of town and onto the heather-covered hills above. At this point I came off the road onto a bridlepath that skirts the side of the hill gradually descending into Carding Mill Valley. The weather was fantastic so that I had warm sunshine and stunning views up this gorgeous steep sided valley. After passing the National Trust visitor centre the landscape became even more desirable prompting me to do some exploring instead of just staying at the bottom of the valley. I took a path that climbs a steep, craggy ridge that is later named on maps as Cow Ridge until at a temporary levelling of the gradient I took a path that veers to the right onto a tremendous terrace route back down to the valley bottom.

At the point where I rejoined the main path there was a junction of valleys and the side valley to my left looked fun so I headed up this deliciously narrow valley along a slender footpath all the way to a blockage of rock. This is Lightspout Hollow and a waterfall called Lightspout pours over the blockage. Although the rock step wasn't big I had a little fun trying to scramble up to the top where the path continued in less dramatic surroundings up onto the top of the moor. Rather than making my way across the moor to the hilltop path I turned right to cross the top of the Carding Mill Valley where I rejoined the Mott’s Road, which is the  main path coming out of the valley and followed this up to the the main path that crosses the top of the Long Mynd.

This had been a fabulous start to the walk, but unfortunately from then on the walk was a series of disasters so I would later look upon the Carding Mill Valley with affection and longing. For now I just headed along the wide path through the heather moor observing that although the heather was not generally in bloom there were some early flowers. The broad path continued across the moor until eventually I reached the trig point at the top of the highest point on the Long Mynd: Pole Bank. A short distance from the summit brought me to an unfenced road, the same one that I had left at the beginning of the walk to descend into Carding Mill Valley. There now followed a lengthy walk along the road with little change in the views around me until eventually I reached the edge of the Midland Gliding Club.

A permissive path goes around the airfield, and on the other side I resumed my walk along the top of the ridge until my way was blocked by a barbed wire fence. Just as I was contemplating my options I saw two men approaching me and when I'd joined them one of them asked “Are you lost?” He then informed me that I was walking on private property that was actually an active airfield. After they had escorted me off the airfield I rejoined the path that I should have stayed on that keeps to the edge of the escarpment. I shouldn't gone back up to the top of the ridge. I was very embarrassed by my mistake and practically ran along the path over Black Knoll and down the hill at the southern end of the Long Mynd. I was desperate to remove the memory of my trespass by getting off the hill as quickly as possible.

After crossing a main road and the River Onny I followed the route of the Shropshire Way, which I thought was going to be straightforward and quick route, but was anything but. After going the wrong way in Plowden Woods I eventually managed to find my way to the village of Edgton by taking a permissive path from edge of the woods up to a road not far from the village. The path out of Edgton was rather special as it involved climbing steeply through woodland to the top of a hill that afforded memorable views of the undulating landscape of Shropshire. On the other side of the hill I crossed a road and continued to follow the path through many fields until I eventually realised that I had once again gone wrong, as not only was I not following the Shropshire Way, but I was not on a footpath. I was trespassing again!

Retracing my steps I managed to find the narrow gap in the hedge that I should have passed through earlier and resignedly continued on this footpath that I had mistakenly taken rather than trying to retrace my steps all the way back to the Shropshire Way that I should been on. I was still having difficulty keeping to the footpath and reflected that the signage in Shropshire is very poor. I was longing for the clear yellow-topped posts that mark footpaths in Leicestershire and make following a footpath so much easier. I was now descending towards the village of Hopesay, but just before reaching the village I passed through a steep-sided wood where I spotted a badger before it scurried off into the undergrowth. I had never seen these shy, nocturnal animals in the wild before so felt privileged for my albeit brief view.

On the edge of Hopesay I joined a branch of the Shropshire Way to climb the bracken-covered slopes of Hopesay Hill upon whose top I finally rejoined the Shropshire Way that I should have been on earlier. By now I was really fed up with the difficulties that I was having with the navigation, and in the time that it was taking me to cross this undulating terrain. I had planned to continue the walk to Wenlock Edge, but by the time I reached the town of Craven Arms it was too late in the afternoon to keep going so I caught a train from there to begin my journey home. This walk had started with so much promise in Carding Mill Valley that I wish I'd spent the day in that area exploring the gorgeous valleys that lie on the eastern slopes of the Long Mynd. If so I would have avoided the navigational problems that plagued me later in the day.