Vale of Belvoir Ramblers: Church Stretton Weekend Away, 15th to 18th September 2017

This year's Weekend Away was based at HF Holidays' Longmynd House, Church Stretton, formerly a hotel built in 1900 as a hydro-spa when Church Stretton enjoyed a brief period of celebrity as a health resort. Three days of walking were planned with two walks each day.

Both Saturday's walks started in the car park with a short briefing.

Then the longer (anticlockwise) walk ...

... went up the Carding Mill Valley, location of a carding factory built in the 18th century, and named after a stage in making cloth. This very steep-sided valley ...

... rises gradually to the famous Long Mynd plateau whose geology dates back to the Precambrian era.

Top of Carding Mill Valley looking back at Church Stretton

There the route met the Shropshire Way which took us along good tracks to Pole Bank the highest point on the Long Mynd at 516m with excellent views to the west in clearing weather.

Toposcope on Pole Bank

Then it was over Round Hill and down over open country ...

... for lunch, taking care to avoid the suicidal cyclists.

After lunch, down to Little Stretton ...

... and eventually back up to the Ong Ynd Hotel.

The shorter (clockwise) walk led by Elaine ascended Townbrook Valley to Pole Bank before turning back along the Shropshire Way to meet and greet (very briefly) and immediately leave the rest of the group ...

... before descending Carding Mill Valley for ice cream in the National Trust cafe.

Sunday took us on an interesting drive over the top of Long Mynd to The Bog Visitor Centre to visit the Stiperstones, a 536 metres quartzite ridge formed 480 million years ago.

During the 1870s the Stiperstones area was one of Britain’s main sources of lead. Commercial mining started at Bog in the 1730s and stopped in the 1880s but the mines were re-opened in the early 1900s to extract barytes until production ceased in 1922. At The Bog there used to be 17 individual mines and, altogether in Shropshire, a staggering 950 mines at 180 separate locations extracting barytes, calcite, clay, coal, copper, fluorspar, fullers earth, iron, lead, limestone, sandstone, silver, tar and zinc.

The shorter walk took both parties up the gentle but rocky slope of the Stiperstones ridge ...

... in very misty conditions

Coffee stop on the ridge

At last, a clear view of the Stiperstones

Then it was across farmland past evidence of mining ...

Remains of Tankerville Mine - one of many near Shelve

to Shelve itself ...

Church of All Saints, Shelve - about to host a parachute jump for teddies!

... and back along one of Offa's routes (see below) to The Bog Visitor Centre for tea and cakes.

Seven of the group left the rest on the Stiperstones and descended to Ratlinghope (pronounced Rachup by the locals) and Bridges on the longer route.

Lunch in the Golden Valley on the Shropshire Way again

On Monday, after a briefing in Church Stretton itself, ...

... Rab (after some important and useful reconnaissance earlier in the weekend) took us up the slopes of Caer Caradoc, a volcanic pre-Cambrian rock thrust upwards by movements deep down along the Church Stretton fault. The summit is crowned by an Ancient British Iron Age or late Bronze Age hill fort after which the hill is named - Caer Caradog in Welsh meaning Caradog's fort.