Clun to Bury Ditches and return via Sowdley Wood

The walk from Clun to Bury Ditches is a  straightforward and very enjoyable section of the Shropshire Way, and we made it into a pleasant circuit, making use of more of the minor roads that we were discovering to be very minor. We again parked in the Clun Memorial Hall car park (SO302811). Today, rather than heading into the town we left to the north-west, passing the attractive Youth Hostel (a converted water mill) then cutting across fields. Back on the road, we continued to climb, past Guilden Down (a farm with some recent barn conversions) then left on a track. The "Tea-on-the-Way" tearoom, mentioned in the guidebook, is no longer here because one of the owners died after a short illness. Very sad.

We were soon in woodland, and there were a few spots of rain. We passed the time of day with a couple of walkers coming the other way, then continued. The track divided and we took the left hand (higher) option, which meandered its way around and up Sunnyhill to Bury Ditches, a hillfort which apparently dates back to about 500 BC. There were lovely views in all directions, though at the time of our visit we didn't realise we'd been here before, back in 1993 when we were on holiday in the area with the children. The photograph below proves the point.

From the hill fort we continued on a footpath, passing an information board that is not in such a good condition as when Michael was studying the one shown in the 1993 photo,  and on downhill to a large car park. Now we had a decision to make.  We could keep going,  but that would mean we couldn't take advantage of the Bury Ditches car park for tomorrow's walk (and there was nowhere obvious to park along the next leg), or we could simply turn around and walk back to Clun. However, we had plenty of time, so we decided to follow a circuit around, down the road to the south as far as Clunton, then up the other side of the valley as far as Sowdley Wood and through the wood before descending to Clun.

It's nearly 2 miles along the minor road from the Bury Ditches car park at SO334840 to Clunton, and it descends quite a lot (and undulates a bit) but it was an attractive road, with not too much traffic, and the views were stunning. We were surrounded by tree-topped hills, including (to our right), Sunnyhill (with Bury Ditches on top), Steppleknoll and Radnor Wood. To our left was Clunton Hill and, in front of us in the distance was Black Hill, which is the hill with Sowdley Wood on it.

We crossed the busy B4368 at Clunton and, shortly afterwards, crossed the River Clun. We then had a brief but steep climb to the corner where the forest track leaves. There is a seat just here, which was tempting, but it was still a bit early for lunch so we kept going. The track through the wood was lovely, with good (if difficult to photograph) views down to the valley and beyond. There was a distinct shortage of suitable places to stop for lunch, but eventually we found a fallen-down tree that provided a very useful place on which to sit. 

We eventually emerged into a more open landscape near Woodside and followed the road down to Clun. There were disappointingly few views down to the little town and, because of the lie of the land (there was a hill in the way!) what views there were didn't extend around to the Castle. However, on the approach to Clun, where we had a choice  of routes, we took the left-hand option which took us past Clun's attractive St George's Church, with its unusual Norman tower, and down to the historic Clun Bridge, which we duly photographed before returning to the car and driving back to the cottage.

Following leg of Shropshire Way (anti-clockwise)