Craven Arms to Much Wenlock

6 September 2010 - Craven Arms to Much Wenlock

Distance - 18.7 miles

Weather - Dry

We stayed at - The Raven Hotel, 30 Barrow Street, Much Wenlock, Shropshire, TF13 6EN Cost - £85.00

When we checked out of the Stokesay Castle Hotel we found that our food and drinks for the evening hadn't been added on to our bill (something that seemed to be happening at least once every stage we walked). We pointed out the error and the owners thanked us profusely, then made an error with the decimal point on the card machine, nearly giving me heart failure, but everything ended up OK! 

From Craven Arms we followed a footpath by the side of the River Onny and some pleasant brooks to Strefford following the Marches Way. Here, there was a steep climb up to the top of Wenlock Edge, where we stayed in the trees virtually all day. It was quite windy and so it was nice to be walking through the sheltered, ancient woodland. Every so often we'd get a little peek out to the world outside the woodland. At one stage we saw a tower, but there were no other clues on the OS map to suggest what exactly it was and why it had been erected.

As well as the Marches Way, we followed two more long distance trails, the Shropshire Way and the Jack Mytton Way. I prefer to plan my routes using established long distance footpaths, as generally you can be guaranteed they actually exist, unlike some of the lesser known public footpaths. We had been warned that the Jack Mytton Way was very churned up, but it was fine when we walked it. It was particularly pleasant around Roman Bank. 

On a narrow strip of land above a deep quarry we came across a flock of black sheep with large horns. They seemed quite oblivious to the potential peril they were so near. A little further on we came to a viewpoint for The Wrekin, which you could just about see through the trees (I think Alistair held the camera up above his head to get this photo). We left the Wenlock Edge by a tiny lane, which led us into the pretty little town of Much Wenlock, full of ancient timber framed houses. Our hotel was really lovely and we we had a spacious and characterful room. We also enjoyed a good evening meal there.