Circuit from Rowton Manor to Craven Arms and Stokesay

It was forecast to be a hot day today, certainly too hot for comfortable walking by the afternoon, so we decided to get out early and do a circuit from the cottage in the morning and then to do something else in the afternoon. There was a collection of descriptions of "Shropshire Hills Discovery Walks" at the cottage and we could see that we could connect onto their "Stokesay Walk" on a walk from the cottage. From our OS map (Explorer Sheet 217: The Long Mynd and Wenlock Edge, 2018 copyright) we had also thought that our route would include a leg of the Shropshire Way from Watling Street on the outskirts of Craven Arms to Stokesay Castle.

The wonderful cottage we'd rented was at Rowton Manor (SO409805) and the eagle-eyed will spot a footpath direct from here to Park Lane. However, we could see no sign of this on OpenStreetMap and we hadn't seen it on the ground (though we hadn't looked hard). so we walked along the lane on which the vehicular entrance to our cottage was located and then turned left onto Park Lane towards Craven Arms. It was pleasant enough walking along here, though slightly busier than ideal (probably because it was early, so people were going to work/going to buy a paper etc.). We noticed the place where our return route emerges onto Park Lane, in particular noting that there is a fiercely private track just the other side of a field boundary from the path; we'll need to make sure we're on the right side!

Park Lane follows the route of a Roman Road (Watling Street) and it went on a bit, but walking was fast and we were soon at the railway bridge on the approach to Craven Arms. The Shropshire Way heads off just to the south of the bridge, but first of all we walked up to the B4368 to check on parking for future legs. Watling Street used to head straight across here, but on the opposite side it has been slightly re-routed leaving an area that should be OK for parking. We returned under the railway bridge, on the way passing the time of day with a man out walking his dog. and turned off to the east by the railway line, slightly behind a farmer who had headed into the field to check his sheep.

We followed the railway for a while, expecting the route of the Shropshire Way to turn right and head up the hill to the edge of Sallow Coppice. Then we realised that we'd passed the place where we needed to turn - bother! It turns out that the main route of the Shropshire Way stays nearer to the railway to visit Craven Arms before heading to Stokesay. However, the map still shows all the old interconnecting Shropshire Way signs, and although there wasn't a sign at all to direct us up the hill, when we got to the corner of the wood there was one of the old-style Shropshire Way signs. We didn't have any further route-finding problems and we soon reached the railway near Stokesay. This is actually a different line from the one we'd encountered previously. We'd been alongside the Heart of Wales Line (heading from Craven Arms across rural mid-Wales to Llanelli near Swansea); we were now at the Welsh Marches Line (heading to Ludlow, Hereford and on to Newport). To the north of Craven Arms, the line (with occasional through trains) connects via Shrewsbury to Crewe and so to Manchester or Holyhead. Complicated, but potentially very useful for future walks.

We passed under the railway line by way of a tunnel and found ourselves beside a pond and with Stokesay Castle, which dates back to the 13th Century with notable 17th Century additions, slightly to the left. We have visited the Castle a couple of times before when we were English Heritage members, and very much enjoyed it, but it would have cost £20 to visit today and it was still well before opening time - and stopping to visit would have meant it was later in the day and therefore warmer for the rest of our walk. So, for today we restricted ourselves to a short walk up to the castle, and some attempts at photography, which was tricky because of the direction of the Sun.

At Stokesay we had briefly joined up with the main route of the Shropshire Way, but we soon left it again and re-crossed the Welsh Marches Line, this time walking across the line by a farm. On our approach to Stokesay we'd looked at the route we were going to take now, a path which climbed across open fields to Stoke Wood. It was beautiful countryside, but I was dreading the prospect of climbing in full sunshine. However, we took it slowly and all was fine. Once we were in the shade of the wood, we stopped for a rest and an apple.

We emerged from Stoke Wood at Clapping Wicket, which has a sign telling you this is where you are, and is a meeting place of a number of footpaths. We took the correct route at this point, passed a cottage and set off on a track down a hill, but as we descended towards the road we became aware that we were on the wrong side of the hedge boundary and we hadn't spotted a way through. We knew that this might lead to difficulty down by the road and, sure enough, with no advance warning in this direction, we encountered "private, no entry" signs on the track, and no way through. We had no choice but to retrace our steps up the hill towards Clapping Wicket; fortunately, in this direction we spotted the route through the hedge, complete with signpost amongst the vegetation.

The route to the right of the hedge boundary was somewhat overgrown but passable. This took us down to a little wood and out onto Park Lane and from here we retraced our steps to the cottage. In the afternoon we went out to Croft Castle , another place that our old photos tell us we've visited when on holiday in the area in 1993, but which we didn't remember. I think we probably enjoyed the grounds back in 1993 but today it was a good destination largely for the opportunity to get inside the house and church i.e. out of the heat of the afternoon. In doing so, we enjoyed learning more about the family who still live here, after building, selling and repurchasing the property, with much tragedy along the way.