Craven Arms to Ludlow

We'd deliberately omitted this leg on our previous holiday in May (described from here) because we knew could use public transport to get from one end of it to the other and it would therefore fit nicely as part of a weekend break in Ludlow. and we planned that weekend break to align with my birthday. I'd celebrated my birthday yesterday with the end of a conference in Guildford and a journey from Guildford to Milton Keynes by train and on to Ludlow in the car with Richard. Richard had been slightly delayed by having to return home from a short way into his drive from Norfolk because he'd forgotten his walking boots! However, after that, the journey was surprisingly straightforward, and we'd got ourselves to the little flat we were renting up above  Ludlow's Castle Square. We would recommend the flat very highly; despite a location that is in some senses unpromising (access through a door next to Betfred!) it was extremely quiet, very comfortable and by leaving our car at the owner's house (quite a long drive around Ludlow's peculiar one-way system but only a 5 minute walk back) we got free parking for the weekend.

When we emerged onto Castle Square a bit before 8.30, the market was, if not in full swing, definitely open for business. We walked to the station and caught the 8.51 train towards Holyhead, with a fair number of our fellow passengers obviously heading to a wedding somewhere. We were only going one stop so we didn't discover where they all got off. From Craven Arms Station, we walked through the town, passing the idiosyncratic Tuffins supermarket that we remembered from last time we were here, and on to the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, unfortunately not yet open for the day (so we couldn't use their toilet).  We continued past the Discovery Centre and along a wooded path back to the A49, which we crossed and followed a minor road down to Stokesay Castle.  Stokesay Castle was also not yet open, but we've visited before and were planning to return again the following day (and did).  English Heritage describe Stokesay Castle as "the finest and best-preserved fortified medieval manor house in England" and it is certainly pretty impressive; well worth a visit. 

Last time we walked past Stokesay Castle (on a hot day in 2022, when we had Covid, though I don't know if we realised this at the time of the walk) we'd turn right off the road almost immediately, to cross the railway line by a farm and then climb up to Stoke Wood. Today we stayed on the road for longer but again, we crossed the railway line, and climbed. We had good views back to Stokesay and beyond, though the more distant views were somewhat misty. 

We'd started the climb to the right of a field boundary, but we eventually crossed to the other side of it and continued to climb...and climb...and climb, on an ancient track through the wood. It was delightful. According to the guidebook, after leaving the wood behind us, we should have had "superb views across to the Clee Hills, Ludlow and the Mortimer Forest". That was reckoning without mist, and more especially without the hedges either site of the track, which we struggled to see through or over. We did emerge onto a high country lane close to the hamlet of Aldon, as promised, and the guidebook's instructions through the hamlet to the turning down to Aldon Gutter were spot on. Mind you, with a change of map from Sheet 217 to Sheet 203, it was just as well that the guidebook and the OS Maps app on my phone were both accurate,  because our paper copy of Sheet 203 didn't have the current route of the Shropshire Way between here and Ludlow marked on it.  It's the same issue as we'd experienced a bit further round the Shropshire Way in the summer; not great!

The descent to Aldon Gutter was lovely as was the walk along the bottom of it. It's a wooden dene, and as we descended, there were spectacular views down to a house in the woods beneath us, like a gingerbread cottage. The flat bottom of the dene was populated by large numbers of pheasants, and the only difficulty we had with route finding was around the another attractive old house. We found a somewhat overgrown route to the right of the house, but whether we went the way we were meant to, I'm not entirely sure. Our slightly overgrown path curved to the right into Brandhill Gutter. We knew we needed to turn back on ourselves to return on the other side of the gutter; we saw a possible way to do this but it seemed a little soon to do this, so we continued on a little way,  before a sign sent us back, passing just a few yards from where we had been.

The path led back to Aldon Gutter, and we stopped for me to change my socks. We reached Stonehouse Pools on our left (apparently these are reservoirs) and we had sheep for company. Eventually we climbed up and past a house to join a road , close to a junction. The next section was the least good of the day, with about a mile and a half along a road.  To be fair, there wasn't too much traffic and we passed some interesting buildings, but as well as dealing with the road walking, we were heading mostly to the south and thus walking into the sun. And we wanted our lunch!

Past Wetmore Farm, we turned left along Wetmore Lane, a track which took us past Cambridge Cottages before looping around and south to the A4113. The track wasn't terribly interesting, and our search for somewhere to stop for lunch continued. We'd realised that we were unlikely to find a bench to sit on, so we were looking for a patch of grass which was suitable for sitting on, whilst also having some shade. This was remarkably challenging; the landscape was agricultural, and every time we passed a tree (with shade), the ground beneath always seemed to be nettly, brambly, or stony. Eventually we found a good place, almost at the A4113; time for lunch! There were attractive open views and things looked up from here on.  Immediately the other side of the A4113, Upper Pool is described in the guidebook as "tree-enshrouded",  so we thought it would be hidden but it wasn't; either some of the trees have been felled or the description in the guidebook was somewhat over-poetic.

We found ourselves walking around a massive crop field. It was surprisingly attractive, with, along the top and longest edge of the field,  the contrast of the woodland of Stocking Nursery to our right.  Eventually we headed down through the field again to Lower Pool, then followed along a hedge to reach the River Teme. We followed along the river, and the tower of Bromfield came into view. The Shropshire Way doesn't go to the Church, but we did, and we were rewarded by a bench on which to sit for a snack. There is also some car parking here; it is an attractive spot and seems popular with dog walkers.

After our little diversion, we returned to Bromfield Bridge, which crosses the River Teme, with an attractive Mill with multiple weirs almost opposite. After our earlier experience of road walking into the sun, I wasn't looking forward to the next bit, which the guidebook describes as a "long straight tarred lane [which] continues through the manicured estate of Oakley Park" - and we knew we'd again be heading south. However, it was actually quite enjoyable walking and we weren't bothered by dazzle from sunlight.

Just before the hamlet of Priors Halton, we turned off the lane. I was getting tired and had underestimated the distance from here to Ludlow.  However, I loved this section of the walk, through assorted crop fields, one of which had been recently harvested. We had views, no longer too misty, to a distant mountain whose distinctive shape we recognised as being Titterstone Clee; it is really rather easy to spot because the summit is missing a chunk as a result of quarrying. 

In a field in which cows were grazing, we had our first views to Ludlow Castle; we were getting there. First of all there was a descent down to close to the river, then a climb up through one last field, and we emerged back onto the lane we'd been following, and so onto the road close to The Cliff at Dinham, a hotel which we'd expected to be rather a nice place to stay. I don't doubt that it serves excellent food, and it may indeed be a "tranquil setting" at some times of the day and the year. Not when we were there though. In walking down to Dinham Bridge we walked past the park homes of Cliff Park ("a little piece of tranquility" apparently), all the while dodging the cars that were trying to find somewhere to park in the spaces by the road between here and the bridge.

The whole area around Dinham Bridge was busy, but we noted with some interest the sign indicating the departure point of the Mortimer Trail (a route that goes from here to Kington which looks to be excellent walking, though it may be too tough for us) and took the obligatory photos of the bridge and the views from of the river and the castle. Over the other side, we'd noticed that there was a café, actually CSONS, one of the places recommended by the owner of the flat we were staying in, and we'd thought it might be nice to stop here for a drink. The volume of people milling about on "The Green" almost put us off, but we found a table to sit at and had a pleasant enough takeaway cup of tea (from an upmarket tea bag) and coffee, watching children playing by the river while their parents sat on the grass and occasionally rescued and pacified wandering toddlers. To be fair it was a fine day and the last weekend before children return to school, and I'm sure that CSONS is lovely when it is a bit quieter, especially if you actually go into the café/restaurant or sit on the terrace. 

From here it was just a short walk to the centre of Ludlow, around "The Linney" (the narrow road that goes around Ludlow Castle some distance beneath it, that we'd used last night to get from the flat to the owner's other property so as to park our car) and then up a path that climbs up past the Castle's outer walls to Castle Square. It was pretty busy here too! Before returning to the flat we visited the nearby St Laurence's Church whose tower dominates the skyline. It's an enormous and impressive place altogether. It feels like it aspires to be a Cathedral (and is apparently described as "The Cathedral of the Marches") which is a bit odd in a modest-sized town, but you have to remember that Ludlow was a wealthy wool town...and it does trade in superlatives e.g. "probably the loveliest town in England" (John Betjeman). 

Ludlow is currently perhaps best known now for its foodie reputation, and we still had to celebrate my birthday (yesterday's ready meal, although very pleasant, didn't quite count) and in the evening we had a table booked at The Charlton Arms. It hadn't been our first choice of eating place, and we only just managed to get a booking here, but it was superb. The food was delicious, and we had a table outside the main restaurant, but much nicer for that - we sat by an open window directly above the river overlooking the Ludford Bridge and with excellent views up Broad Street to St Laurence's Church. It was a fitting end to what had been a lovely day.

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