Charlotte caught the train from her home in Stirling (in Scotland) and met me in the village of Craven Arms. For three days the two of us, both from Stirling, but from different countries, walked the back lanes and hills of Shropshire.
Christmas markets are in many villages and in Ludlow this lovely lady was buying mistletoe (£3 a "bunch"). She hangs mistletoe in her house every year because her grandmother told her that by doing that good fortune would follow the householder!
For the three days that Charlotte walked with me we followed the back lanes that showed on "Mr Google". However, this first day we had about a mile of walking on a busier main road, before heading down the lanes. At the end of the first lane we came to the little hamlet of Onibury, complete with some thatched roofed houses, and the very old church of St Michael.
A thatched cottage in Onibury.........
The village of Ludlow was a delight. From to the old Victorian grandstand at the race course to the even older half timbered houses in the village itself. Because it was such a short day of walking we had time to browse the town, though we didn't go into the castle.
The Victorian grandstand at the race course.
We stayed at The Feathers hotel in Ludlow. A lovely place to mark my birthday!
We spent a leisurely morning wandering around Ludlow, before following the flat back lanes to the village of Tenbury Wells. Again, we arrived with lots of time to spare and enjoyed wandering the streets. Our hotel was the Ship Inn, with the innkeeper being an 85 yr old gent.
This is hop growing territory and along the way we have seen quite a few fields with hop frames. I was surprised at how high the hops must grow. The frames are really quite high, and we saw vast paddocks (oops - fields) of them on one stretch.
On the third day of this section we followed a lane running more or less parallel to the river. We had the bonus of no traffic as road works were in progress and so we had the road to ourselves until we got to Rochford, where the occasional vehicle started to come past us, including a trailer towed by a tractor laden with young farmers out on a shoot. From then on our journey was punctuated by the percussion of gunfire. Then, further on, there was even more percussion sound effects as we passed another larger group heading into the fields for a shoot.
The pump house at Tenbury Wells. They tried to turn this into a spa town at one point, and this stylish pump house is a legacy of that.
We stopped at a farm shop to have a refreshment break before heading up the hill to catch a bus to Worcester. Fortunately we allowed plenty of time to go the one and a half miles, because after we had been going for a long time I checked the map, and we were on the wrong road. We motored up that hill, breaking into the occasional jog, and made it to the bus stop with about five minutes to spare!
Why was I catching a bus you ask? I had studied the maps the previous night and was unable to find an appropriate place to stop where there was available accommodation. It was therefore simpler to go into Worcester for the night and then head back and walk from where we had stopped the previous day. This meant that Charlotte could have a shower in my room before catching her train home, and we were able to go to the Cathedral together and have a look around.
The next day I walked the bit I missed, following the River Severn along the muddy, slippery Severn Way for some of it, before heading back to Worcester for a rest day - but more of that later.
Why was I catching a bus you ask? I had studied the maps the previous night and was unable to find an appropriate place to stop where there was available accommodation. It was therefore simpler to go into Worcester for the night and then head back and walk from where we had stopped the previous day. This meant that Charlotte could have a shower in my room before catching her train home, and we were able to go to the Cathedral together and have a look around.
The next day I walked the bit I missed, following the River Severn along the muddy, slippery Severn Way for some of it, before heading back to Worcester for a rest day - but more of that later.
Worcester Cathedral lit at night.
The view across to the hills, where we made our mistake yesterday.
If you are heading for Lands End you need a copy of The End to End Trail by Andy Robinson published by Cicerone Press ISBN 978 1 85284 512 4 but if you reach Minehead without it you need the National Trail Guides (2 No) for the South West Coast Path published by Aurum Press -"Minehead to Padstow" and "Padstow to Falmouth" The book shop Waterstones in most towns should be able to get them in for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks Richard. I am aware of these books, but at present I'm picking my way along a variety of paths and cycle routes. You might have noticed that this part of my year long journey began back on September 18th - referendum day, and having done almost 1,600 kilometres thus far ( I haven't chosen the most direct way), I'm trying to get to the end ready to coninue on the next phase of my journey. I am over the mud (ankle deep on the Severn Way the other day) and am quite content following back lanes. Google maps is particularly useful for this, as are the sustrans pocket guide maps. Interestingly outdoor stores and Waterstones had much better selections of maps and guide books further north. The further south I go the worse the selection and also local knowledge in the stores. In Chester, very close to Offa's Dyke, I was asked by three different sales assistants how to spell it, and could not buy an Offa's Dyke map anywhere in the town though there plenty available in Scotland. Cheers, Janet
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