To Wilderley from Ratlinghope and return

The Cicerone guide to "Walking the Shropshire Way" describes the walk between  Shrewsbury and Bridges in a single 14.75 mile leg, but we were proceeding  in a series of loops, which meant we got to see more of the countryside (and it was a practical necessity because we only had one car with us), but also that our progress was slower - and in this section we had to give quite a lot of thought to finding parking places in appropriate locations. By virtue of the fact that we'd walked between Bridges and Ratlinghope earlier in the week, today we were able to start in Ratlinghope and follow the Shropshire Way up above Darnford Brook and over Wilderley Hill to Wilderley Hall Farm, before returning in a wide sweep that included crossing the Long Mynd. It was a delightful and particularly varied walk.

There is space for a couple of cars to park at  SO403969 (and we were the only people there) at the end of the road by the path to the pretty little St Margaret's Church, just past Brow Farm campsite. We continued down the track (closed to vehicles and rather squelchy), passing a stable block, and continuing over a footbridge by a ford. Now we were on the correct side of Darnford Brook, we turned right alongside the brook, back on the route of the Shropshire Way where we had left it on Sunday.  The path ran alongside the brook for a while then climbed above it, with the countryside becoming more open and rugged; it was lovely walking. We turned left, away from Lower Darnford Farm, which was a good thing because we could hear the sound of dogs barking at the farm, but we were still climbing up a valley until we reached the Port Way.

The Port Way is apparently an ancient track, linking the Kerry Ridgeway (which we followed a section of last year) and the River Onny, and it later served as a drovers' route between the markets of Bishop's Castle and Shrewsbury. However the section we walked today was tarmacked and rather a disappointment. In contrast, after crossing a minor road, the footpath across grassland (forming part of Wilderley Hill) was poorly defined, but lovely panoramic views opened up in front of us. We started on the descent to Wilderley, which was also pleasant and well signposted, if not as shown on the OS Map. This time, even the App does not have the same route as is signposted; in particular, the OS Map shows a very distinct kink around SJ426008 to the south of Sheppen Fields, but the path is signpost straight ahead.

After a couple of miles of descending, we reached Wilderley Hall Farm, hoping for somewhere to sit to change my socks. Outside the house on the right a man was sitting down smoking a cigarette; he was friendly, but that didn't help in our search for a seat! Fortunately, a couple of hundred metres further on, after lots of agricultural activity and just at the point where we were leaving the Shropshire Way, there was a road salt bin which was a reasonable (if a little slippery!) place on which to sit. We turned right onto the minor road which climbed steadily to the pretty village of Picklescott. There, amazingly, there was a very convenient bench on which to sit for lunch, by the village pump and in front of the bus shelter. I think this was the first bench we'd seen since leaving Ratlinghope this morning and, most unusually, it was exactly in the right place. We spent some time puzzling over the dedication on the pump which is to someone from Batchcott Hall, but the next hamlet to the south appers on the map as Betchcott, so should it be Batchcott or Betchcott? The answer it appears is both; it seems to be Batchcott Hall (now available for rent, with a chef to cook for you if you want) in the hamlet of Betchcott!

After lunch, we continued on through Betchcott then descended into a little valley and climbed, then we turned right and climbed some more..and some more, passing High Park, and eventually emerging onto the heather-clad plateau of the Long Mynd. The road continues over the moorland (with a stark warning that it is not maintained in winter and can be dangerous) but as the road bent around to the right we took a stony track straight ahead. It must be spectacular up here when the heather is in flower, but today it was rather bleak, though with attractive views to our left, where we could just make out the area around Church Stretton, down in its valley. A couple of paths joined us from the left, including one that had climbed up the Carding Mill Valley from Church Stretton, which we'd visited many years ago (1993 to be precise) on our first visit to Shropshire, when the children were small.

What looked like a Duke of Edinburgh group with a teacher joined our track from one of the routes that had come up from the left. We meanwhile were looking for a bridleway on the right, which according to the OS map, leaves the main path around S0424956, to join the road as it descends to Ratlinghope, before heading off again on a more direct descent to the same destination. The first part of the bridleway, as shown by the green dashed line didn't seem to exist on the ground, but there was a reasonably clear path in the right sort of direction slightly later (perhaps aligning with a black dashed line on the map?) and that was fine. It was actually much more pleasant to be walking on a grassy path instead of the stony track we'd been on, and we left the D of E group behind. After reaching the road, we were pleased to see that the onward track even had a sign saying "To Ratlinghope" and it was a very pleasant descent, with views to Ratlinghope nestling in the valley beneath us, and to the route we'd followed this morning. At Belmore Farm, after negotiating a slightly tricky gate, we could have either continued straight ahead or follow the farm's drive which leads more directly back to the road. We did the latter, then continued our steep descent to Ratlinghope, and so back to the car.

Click here for the short section between Ratlinghope and Bridges, which we walked when on a circuit from our holiday cottage in Adstone.