Shropshire Magazine

A montage of Mike Hayward’s pictures. These are all reproduced at a larger size in this month’s Shropshire Magazine.

Not many counties can offer the sort of pictures which accompany this article.

There are many viewpoints around the county where, if a photographer was wandering around with a camera decades, if not centuries ago, the pictures taken then would be exactly the same as they are now; these are places where man has left his mark at some time in the distant or not-so-distant past, yet time appears to have stood still ever since.

Over the last 40 years Shifnal-based photographer Mike Hayward has travelled the length and breadth of the county photographing places and structures which might as well not have seen human activity for many years, and every one of these pictures embodies a sense of timeless tranquility.

Cardington.

• CARDINGTON. I love this view of Cardington because it provides a glimpse of what rural English villages must have once looked like everywhere before they were developed. It’s only once you get to the bustling pub in Cardington that you realise that it’s quite a lively village after all!

• BURY DITCHES. This ancient hill fort is near Clun on the road to Craven Arms. It is a designated ‘quiet place’, one of the few in the country, and the sense of time standing still is enhanced by the glorious Shropshire backdrop.

• OFFA’S DYKE. There are hundreds of other pictures I could have chosen instead of these to give a flavour of Offa’s Dyke – there are so many wonderful picture opportunities. What’s amazing is that you can imagine all the incredible work that went on all those years ago. When you’re there it’s easy to forget which century you’re in. These were taken near Springhill, between Knighton and Clun, and the feeling of tranquility here is extraordinary.

A section of Offa’s Dyke.

• MELVERLEY CHURCH. A centuries-old church, perched on a bank with the River Vyrnwy flowing by in a far-flung, unpopulated part of Shropshire on a still summer’s day . . . you can’t get much more timeless than that!

• MONTGOMERY CASTLE. The ruins of Montgomery Castle strike me as the sturdiest of sentinels, standing firm against warring factions. They are going nowhere for the rest of time, as far as I’m concerned.

• BITTERLEY CHURCH. This picture [in fact this month’s cover picture] looks across pastureland towards the old church with the Titterstone Clee in the background. Sheep are grazing as they probably have done for centuries and even though you can’t see the rest of the village, the parish church has been the centrepiece there in years gone by.

Pontcysyltte Aqueduct.

• PONTCYSYLLTE AQUEDUCT. I included this picture from the county’s border with Wales because, although it has been there for less than 200 years, its scale as it towers over the River Dee gives it an imposing, stationary austerity suggesting it will never be budged. It also offers what must surely the most sedate form of transport as it towers over the valley – the reason it was built.

• CARDINGMILL VALLEY. The one picture with no evidence of man leaving his mark. I’ve included this shot of Light Spout waterfall because it is part of that fabulous landscape which has been slowly eroded by the passage of time.

• LANGLEY CHAPEL. Because it isn’t surrounded by a settlement I always think that this is one of the more incongruous buildings in the county, almost as though it was plonked in a field near Acton Burnell and then just left there. However, it was no doubt a thriving functional hub centuries ago.

Langley Chapel, near Acton Burnell.

• HOPTON CASTLE. Hopton Castle is a hamlet named after a castle but I prefer this view of the settlement because it really does have a wonderful time-stood-still quality. There is little to indicate when this picture was taken.

• NORDY RING. This is another old hill fort, this time on the side of the Brown Clee near Clee St Margaret, and it is my favourite place in Shropshire. It’s so peaceful and timeless and, even though you can’t see it from this picture, it has the most wonderful view over perfect English patchwork-quilt countryside. My wife and I love it so much that we want our ashes scattered here!

Hopton Castle.