To Much Wenlock on circuit from Benthall Hall

Yesterday had been very wet, so we'd had a day off walking, and we were slightly anxious that we might have problems with mud or even flooding today. We decided to take just one car and to park in the National Trust car park at Benthall Hall (SJ657025). The Hall wasn't open today but their website was clear that the car park would be open - and it was (and in fact the fascinating little St Bartholomew's Church was open too) The plan was to walk back to Much Wenlock along the Shropshire Way, and to visit the Priory. Various other named paths, including the Jack Mytton Way and the  Cross Britain Way, take slightly different routes in this area, so we should be able to take a slightly different return route. 

A few other people had parked here and another couple set off walking in another direction. We followed the continuation of "The Avenue", the track we'd driven down to the car park, past Benthall Hall Farm. We soon reached Benthall Woods and we rejoined the Shropshire Way here. The onward route of the Shropshire Way (heading west to Ironbridge) is diverted at this point, because of a landslip, but we were going the other way (east) so it wasn't a problem, We followed a track through the attractive woods then crossed more open countryside to Cowslip Cottage, a holiday rental next to "The Vineyards",  from where another track led up to the hamlet of Wyke.

A road, so minor that it was little more than a track, undulated its way back into woodland, though we caught occasional glimpses to the attractive Tickwood Hall. We climbed out of the woodland, now with views to the tree-topped hill we were on. The paths we followed across rather squishy sheep fields were clearly signposted at their ends, but the exact route within the fields (shown on the map as heading straight in one direction then making a distinct turn and heading in another direction) was unclear. We must have got it approximately right because we met a group of walkers coming the other way at a stile in the middle of this section, and we successfully navigated our way to a clearer route between paddocks where horses were grazing, and so to Bradley Farm. 

Bradley Farm was actually something of a building site; come this way in a year and I suspect you'll be walking past des res barn conversions! Our route continued on a clear track, though it was also the most difficult section of today's route to progress along because of some rather large puddles, one of which necessitated a choice between paddling and a rather narrow and nettly strip at the edge of the puddle. We emerged onto a better path across a stream and around Downs Mill, now a pretty house but presumably once a water mill. The final section to Much Wenlock was fiddly, passing a sewage works then following what looked like a disused railway line. The signposting was generally good, with both Shropshire Way and Cross Britain Way signs. We've encountered the Cross Britain Way before and commented about its poor signposting, so it was good to see the signs here, though they are very small. The Cross Britain Way, which heads from Boston to Barmouth,  is one of the Macmillan Ways.  Its charitable aims are laudable, but it is a pity it isn't more frequently walked.

We passed Gaskell Field, Much Wenlcok's playing field, which proudly declares itself to be birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. It turns out that Dr William Penny Brookes, the town's doctor, with a passion for the benefits of physical exercise, founded the Wenlock Olympian Games in 1850, and after attending the Wenlock games in 1890, Baron Pierre de Coubertin was inspired to found the International Olympic Committee. Although the history of the modern Olympic Games is complex, with many influences, the link to Much Wenlock was acknowledged when the mascot for the 2012 London Olympics was named "Wenlock".  We reached Wenlock Priory but decided that the time (11.45) was such that it would be better to go for a cup of tea before visiting, so we headed to the town centre where we had a drink in the Barrow Street Cafe, then sat on a bench on The Square to eat our lunch.

Wenlock Priory has a history that is rather older than the founding of the modern Olympic Games,  The initial  abbey on the site was founded around 680 AD King Merewalh of Mercia; his daughter Milburga was the second abbess and hailed as a saint, leading to the name "St Milburga's Priory". Interestingly, at that time,  Wenlock, then known as Wimnicas, was a so-called ‘dual house’, with a community that included both monks and nuns. The nuns departed after Milburga's death and  in Norman times, Wenlock was re-founded as a priory of Cluniac monks; it is the impressive remains of this medieval priory that survive today. It's a relatively small English Heritage site, but has a lovely feel to it, with remains of impressive height and some interesting topiary.  When we arrived we decided to just pay our £8 each for concessionary entry to the Priory, but in walking around we decided to re-join English Heritage, many years after we were last members. We duly signed up and put all the paperwork into the rucksack before leaving for our return walk to Benthall Hall.

Between Bradley Farm and Wyke we took a higher road past Downs Cottage and Newhouse Farm. It was such a minor road that there was grass growing along the middle of it and we didn't meet anyone else on the whole journey until we were just re-entering Benthall Woods after passing The Vineyards, when a couple of walkers coming the other way asked if we'd come from Much Wenlock and whether we'd encountered much mud; we told them about the large puddle! We retraced our steps to the Benthall Hall car park.  We'd visited the Hall two days previously, when it was open. The present house was built in 1535 but there have been Benthalls living on the site for even longer, and the family still lease part of the house back from the National Trust and can use the whole house when it isn't open to the public, and it has a warm, family feel. We enjoyed learning some of the house's history, and hearing about some of the famous family members and tenants, including Michael Benthall, director of the Old Vic.