Shifnal to Penkridge

8 September 2010 - Shifnal to Penkridge

Distance - 18.3 miles

Weather - Dry and sometimes sunny

We stayed at - Littleton Arms, St Michael's Square, Penkridge, Staffordshire, ST19 5AL Cost - £65.00

As we were on holiday we didn't have an early breakfast, which was a big mistake on our part. Halfway through the service there was very little food left and we were told the hotel had run out! When we checked out, we joined a large queue of people all complaining. A summary of our stay at Haughton Hall was although the venue was great, the service just didn't live up to the price.

It took us a while to escape from Shifnal and to join the Monarch's Way, largely because the north of the town is ringed by the M54. We had to do a fair amount of road walking, which involved passing a large traveler's encampment, complete with snarling dogs tied up with binder twine. Luckily I had no cause to use my walking pole in a ninja like manner!

Once on the Monarch's Way, a 615 mile trail that follows the escape of Charles II after the battle of Worcester in 1651, we found ourselves in or by fields. There were lots of interesting buildings en-route, the first of which was a folly near Tong Norton. The next was the Royal Oak at Bishop's Wood! OK perhaps not wholly architecturally absorbing, but they did great food and the staff and locals were friendly and talkative. There was one significant thing about Bishop's Wood and that was we crossed the main British watershed for the first time since Exmoor. It was also near here that we crossed out of Shropshire and into Staffordshire.

Finally, Black Ladies, now a private listed house, but once a priory was also very interesting and was encountered just before we passed by Belvide reservoir. After crossing the A5, more famously known as the Roman road Watling Street, our route was meant to take us from a bridge over the Shropshire Union canal up to Lapley. I love the Shroppie (as it's affectionately known) and at the sight of the sunshine playing on the water and the earthy aroma of the canal water, we changed the route so that I could walk along it for a while to Wheaton Aston. As luck would have it, there was a good pub by the canal at Wheaton Aston, which made it worth adding the extra mile detour to our journey!

From Wheaton Aston we took quiet lanes to Longnor & Mitton, where we rejoined the Monarch's Way and  followed it into Penkridge. A feature of the footpath signs around the area was a little dancing man! We stayed that evening at the Littleton Arms. The food there was top notch and our contemporary room was freshly decorated.