Outdoor Odysseys

Reconnaissance walking in South Shropshire

Engineering works induced some timetable changes that presented the prospect of a Sunday visit to Knighton to explore some of the scenery around there. After all, the Offa’s Dyke Path passes nearby, so it can’t be bad. A bus journey from Macclesfield to Crewe set me up for an onward train journey. Everything was going well until tardiness by Arriva Trains Wales meant that I missed the train to Knighton. It’s on the Heart of Wales railway, and so the level of service isn’t at all frequent. Couple that with the absence of a Sunday bus service, and plans soon change.

As ever, I had a back-up plan in mind: this time, it was to be the Long Mynd near Church Stretton. Having passed by this striking hill country a number of times while destined for such places as Abergavenny, Crickhowell and Brecon, it was about time that I paid the area a visit, even as short as my first one turned out to be. The oversight had been caused by my not realising what was there. The sighting of the shapely prominences even had me wondering if I was nearing Abergavenny, the first time that I went down there. More wisdom has emerged since then.

Thus, I pottered up the Carding Mill Valley to the heights where Pole Bank tempted me until I saw the faintness of the path through the heather from Shooting Box. That still left me with a good bimble before I came back down again, by way of Haddon Hill and Bodbury Hill. These hills may not be high in those parts, yet the gradients are nothing to be mocked; they certainly gave my legs and lungs a decent workout. The day remained resolutely overcast, but that doesn’t bother me, since the idea of a return is a tempting prospect. In any case, I still hope to get to Knighton, and the prospect of seeing the environs of Church Stretton under blue skies is another motivator. There may be much cause for repeat visits yet.