Shropshire Magazine

An idyllic view from the Shropshire Way looking east to Stokesay Castle.

Neil Thomas discovers why walkers will be delighted by recent work to the footpath network in south Shropshire

There is an approach into Ludlow by which you happen upon a view of the mighty, medieval castle that strikes the viewer with utter awe.

“You suddenly come across this angle of the castle, towering above you, and you see it as the conquering Normans intended you to see it. They wanted the inhabitants to feel dread, to be left in no doubt that ‘we are not people to mess with’. It is a feeling that you simply don’t get in the safety of your car driving into Ludlow.”

The southern section of the Shropshire Way.

The spot that Keith Pybus is talking about is on the Shropshire Way, a network of footpaths covering huge swathes of the county.

A keen walker, retired marketing high-flier Keith is passionate about the Shropshire Way. Indeed he is one of a team of volunteers who have helped on a major overhaul of the vast southern Shropshire Hills section over the past two years. The final nail in the last completed waymarker is due to be hammered home in June.

The project has cost £180,000 and has been spearheaded by retired army man Jim Stabler, Shropshire Way project officer for Shropshire Council’s countryside access team.

This has been a huge undertaking. The southern part of the Shropshire Way is 120 miles long, 30 miles of which are new.

Six new circular walks have been added and there are an additional eight new linear walks served by public transport.

The project has either upgraded, or installed new, 400 fingerposts, 260 waymarking posts, 200 stiles, 80 wicket gates, 35 field gates and 35 bridges. During the project, 36 stiles were replaced by gates.

Shropshire Way project officer Jim Stabler putting new waymarks in place.

The stretch from the Stiperstones to Lutwyche Hall on Wenlock Edge has been extensively upgraded with minor alterations to the route that take it to new places like the hill fort of Bury Ditches and the top of Brown Clee. The section from Bridges to the Long Mynd gliding club over Adstone Hill is no longer part of the way – instead the walk goes along the Portway via Robin Hood’s Butts and Pole Cottage to the gliding club.

The route from Craven Arms to Ludlow has also been rerouted to take it to the south of the A49. To make it circular in its own right and not just a long-distance footpath, new sections have been added to make a series of loops. These link Wilderhope Manor to Craven Arms along Wenlock Edge and Wenlock Edge to the Long Mynd through Church Stretton.

There are also six shorter, easier circular walks for people who do not have the time or ability to walk the whole route.

“The aim was to make the Shropshire Way far more accessible, and so encourage more people to walk and experience just what makes this such a wonderful county,” explains Jim. “Parts of the route were overgrown or obstructed. The old one-step stiles were difficult to get over for some people, so we have replaced them with gates where we can, or two-step stiles which are much easier to negotiate.” 

The redesigned logo.

Keith adds: “There are some very rewarding sights in Shropshire that are exclusive to walkers and this project has made them available to more people. There were a number of fallen trees on the route around Stokesay Court, for instance, but these have been cleared. The filming of Atonement (the movie with Keira Knightly) there has given that part of the route an added topicality which we couldn’t have bargained for, of course,” he adds with a smile.

“People can not only experience the wonderful countryside but get a sense of some of the history of the places they see.”

Jim believes a reasonably fit person of any age can now walk the southern section of the Shropshire Way.

This view is backed up by 80-year-old Margaret Griffiths, a keen walker who lives in Craven Arms. 

“Since my retirement here I have made a yearly visit to Brands Hill Gutter in February to see the snowdrops. The past two years have been fraught with difficulty because of the fallen trees across the footpath. A great many fell down in the very wet winter of two years ago. Huge beech trees and dense thickets of hazel blocked the way. Last year in an attempt to straddle a massive beech trunk, I almost found myself stranded and getting under the trees was even more difficult,” she says. 

“I decided this year to take a friend with me for safety reasons after a recent hip replacement. I no longer walk the whole route, but catch the bus to Onibury, and go up the Gutter from Whittytree. Imagine my surprise to find a Shropshire Way sign at Whittytree, then to realise this was part of the rerouting to Ludlow. Next came my delight in thinking how the Way walkers would see not just the snowdrops but the absence of fallen trees. They were gone, the paths cleared and sturdy stiles and gates all the way through to Aldon. It was a day to remember. I’m sure the future walkers of the Way will really enjoy their new route from Craven Arms  to Ludlow.”

Jim says such positive feedback is not untypical and he and the team of volunteers who helped on the project received many favourable comments while on site. There was, for instance, the couple from Wigan in Lancashire who have made an annual pilgrimmage to walk the Shropshire Way for the past 15 years and wouldn’t dream of missing a year. They said how useful the new route and map downloads from the internet were.

A revamped Shropshire Way website (www.shropshirewalking.co.uk/shropshire-way) not only carries comprehensive details of routes but is also a forum for walkers to exchange views.

“We want to encourage people to share their experiences of walking the Shropshire Way, to reflect the fact that it is a true community amenity,” says Jim.

The project has also incorporated rebranding, with newly designed waymarkers. They still depict the buzzards that are such a feature of walks on the route, but the refreshed signs are more colourful and have the birds in flight rather than their rather flat predecessors.

Jim is keen to stress that the project was very much a team effort. Funding came from Shropshire Council, the European Regional Development Fund, the Heritage Lottery and Ramblers. 

“The project also could not have happened without the fantastic work of all our volunteer groups and people like Keith,” he adds.

The completion of the southern section project will make the Shropshire Way a flagship for the promotion of walking in Shropshire as a whole which, in turn, should bring big economic spin-offs as a whole new generation of amblers and ramblers discover the delights of the Shropshire Hills.

Now attention can turn to upgrading the northern section – a project Jim is sure will get the go-ahead despite the recession – ensuring that walkers are encouraged to sample more of the delights of a wonderful and diverse county

Keith Pybus and a group of ramblers try out one of the new sections of path.