My Walking Journeys

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, Angela and I visit The Wrekin, one of central England’s best loved hills, located close to Telford.

We arrived early on a sunday morning and were surprised to find quite a few cars already parked up in the lanes. Well, we shouldn’t have been, because it is a very popular spot with spectacular 360 degree views. After some driving around we found a new car park – The Donkey Field car park, operated by RingGo. It took quite a while to pay because of the poor mobile signal on my phone.

It was a short walk from the car park to the start of the trail that would wind it’s way steeply up the hill. We passed a café on the ascent called the half-way café – typically it was closed because we were walking quite early in the day.

As you would expect, in olden days, there was an iron age fort located on the Wrekin.

Some people were descending down the path already – they must have been very early birds! Eventually, the broad track showed signs of less gradient – the top was close.

Close to the summit there was a radio mast and we started to see the distant views.

Also at the summit there is a trig point and a toposcope.

Having taken some photos we moved away from the summit and took a seat on rocks for a short break and paused to admire the views.

After our stop we headed down the opposite side to that we had ascended. If we thought the way up was steep this path was much steeper and I regretted having left my walking poles in the car. Having nearly slipped a few times on the slippery path we were pleased to arrive in one piece at the bottom.

Our walk continued through wooded tracks around the base of the Wrekin and then we headed to Limekiln wood and Ercall wood. Walking through the woods was nice because we were able to enjoy some shade. The woods were part of a medieval hunting forest. Within the forest are the hollows of small pits where coal and limestone were dug.

The Ercall was extensively quarried from the 19th century and the abandoned faces reveal some of the oldest rocks in the country and wave ripples from a 540-million-year-old seashore.

After an 8-mile walk and 1,700 ft of ascent we arrived back in the car park. I had been wanting to go up the Wrekin for some time, so it was nice to tick that off the list. We had great weather for the walk and the views were fabulous.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶

Today, myself and Angela did a classic Shropshire walk on the Stiperstones ridge, followed by a walk to Nipstone Rock. It would be a distance of 9-miles and 1,540 ft of ascent. However, our journey began in the picturesque town of Church Stretton.

I put the location into Google Maps and stupidly chose the shortest route. It would be a half hour drive to the East Bog car park. Well, what a drive on top of the Long Mynd (nice views) and unfortunately along single lane roads, lined with hedgerows and no passing places. My nerves were frazzled. And then suddenly, in front, is a large HGV with its hazard warning lights flashing, stopped and completely blocking the narrow lane. I thought the driver might get out of his cab and tell me what was happening but he didn’t. So instead, I went to the lorry cab and asked if he was waiting to turn into the nearby farm. Turns out, he had broken down with a fractured air pipe and his lorry now unable to move. He said he was waiting for the breakdown wagon to arrive. I wished him luck and did a three point turn and looked for somewhere else to park – luckily we found the main Stiperstone visitor car park. There was only one other car there which was no surprise at 08:00.

So, after all that excitement I fired up my phone to get the map only to find the mobile signal was poor. As we could see the ridge we started off walking up the track where we met a herd of wary cows coming down – we stood to the side and let them pass.

The Stiperstones is a succession of serrated quartzite rock pinnacles that punctuate the ridge in this remote area of Shropshire. Angela decided to scramble to the high point of one of the pinnacles – I was thinking if she falls I have no mobile signal to call for help. Thankfully no incident occured.

The path across the ridge is very rocky so we needed to be very careful where we put our feet. The ridge is covered in heather and we had glorious views over Shropshire.

We descended from the ridge and made our way to the Bog Visitors Centre. Unfortunately, it would not open until 11:00 so sadly we missed visiting it. We did see the broken down lorry which was still there but a couple of rescue vehicles were also there.

Close to the Visitors centre were some information boards that told the story of the lead mining activities that were carried out near the village for 200 years. In fact, the visitors centre was previously the village school.

Having read the information boards we continued along our route to Nipstone Rock. The heather was very colourful.

We were following a section of the Shropshire Way. Ferns crowded in around us – a check for ticks would be necessary at the end.

We passed under Nipstone Rock and then followed the Shropshire Way along an undulating route. It was tough going in the heat. The surrounding fields were parched.

Eventually we arrived back at the car – the car park was full.

On getting back to the car I chose a longer route home, mostly avoiding the narrow lanes (and broken down lorry – I hope its not still stuck there!). It had been a good day out exploring Shropshire.

Happy Walking! 🚶😊

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today Angela and I enjoyed a 8.7-mile circular walk in the county of Shropshire. We visited one of our national treasures – the Ironbridge Gorge. This area lying deep in a wooded gorge, gouged out by the River Severn, is a World Heritage Site and is where the Industrial Revolution began. In 1708 Adrian Darby started iron-smelting in the coalbrookdale furnaces using coke. He would become the worlds first mass producer of cast iron.

We parked in coalbrookdale and it was a short walk along the river to reach the famous iron bridge – the worlds first cast iron bridge, built by Thomas Telford in 1779 to link the important industrial towns of Broseley and Madeley.

We sat on a bench and had some lunch taking in the design of the bridge. After, we walked across the bridge, passing the old toll house where, historically, a toll had to be paid to cross. The table of Tolls was on display.

Having crossed the bridge we followed the trail which once was the course of the Severn Valley Railway. Some track and level crossing gates were a nod to its past.

As we continued we passed the Jackfield Tile Museum – the area had been a big producer of tiles – in fact, shortly, we passed the site which is now a craft centre but was formerly the worlds largest tile works.,

Major engineering works had to be carried out in recent years to prevent Jackfield slipping into the River Severn.

Our next port of call was ‘The Boat Inn’ – a nice pub by the river where a refreshing cold drink was taken. A little further on we crossed the river once again, using a pedestrian bridge, and found the pot kilns of the former Coalport Pottery -now also a museum. The pottery was moved along the canal in tub-boats – I think we will be returning to look at the museums and learn more about the history.

We shortly found the Silkin Way – a pleasant wooded route along the course of the Coalport Branch Railway. A nice former wagon wheel marked the route.

Along the Silkin Way we passed the entrance to another museum – Blists Hill Victorian Town which is a very popular spot.

We took a detour involving quite a bit of uphill to visit a spot called the Rotunda, which in Victorian times, was a popular viewing spot. On this occasion not much could be seen through the trees and our route downhill was closed off for repair so we followed the path diversion. Eventually, we landed back into Coalbrookdale where we found a wonderful piece of sculpture and a beach!

It had been a voyage of discovery – which is what the best walks are.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶