starman: Shropshire Holiday 2014 Part 1

Shropshire Holiday 2014 Part 1

This year we decided to go to Shropshire for although we have passed through briefly in the past we have never lingered in the area. My appetite was whetted by Housman’s Shropshire Lad poems as well as reports of friends. We left home at 0940 on Thursday 19 June and stopped for a cup of tea at Severn View Services and then for the first time in many years took the old Severn Bridge and went on to Hereford via Chepstow, the very scenic Wye Valley and Monmouth. The countryside was very lush with much sunshine after a lot of rain. We stopped for lunch and shopping at Hereford and then had an enjoyable hour or so with our old friends John and Ruth Thompson. That left a 1¼ hour journey to the Green Caravan Park at Wentnor. It took longer than usual to get set up because one of the fibre pole sections broke. Fortunately we managed without that particular pole though it meant turning the tent around so that the sleeping compartment was suspended from a sound pole. The tent is 12 years old and we reckon that it has done 120+ nights.

The Green Caravan Park is in a very pretty setting with the river Onny running through it. Camping wise we tested out our new self inflating double sleeping mat and our verdict at the end of the holiday was that it is excellent. The new cooker was not as successful as we had hoped – the top burners were fine but the grill was a bit feeble. The little table which can double as a stool turned out to be very useful though. The electric cool box has been an excellent accessory for several years and was essential in the warm weather we enjoyed for most of the time. We had a lamp but didn’t need it very much as this is about the lightest time of the year with it still being light at 2200 when there is no cloud.

Our first night was disturbed by lots of noise which seemed to come from the nearby pub but turned out to be from the house next door where lots of youngsters were enjoying themselves celebrating the end of year/exams. There was very loud music until after 0100 and a family with small children was so upset that they packed up and left. The Park owner was not very happy next morning and let the revellers know what she thought!!

Our camping setup.

Friday 20/6/14.

The morning started dull and dry but it was very sunny by 10 so I found a shady spot to do some reading and looking at brochures. The site was quiet but a few people passed by on their way to and from the facilities. I met people from Doncaster who were on the way home after a nice few days here. And I chatted to a lady from W Brom who comes here for two weeks and then two weeks at home.

After lunch we walked up the hill for ½ mile to Wentnor village. From the road there were excellent views towards the Stiperstones which are high above the tree line.

View of the Stiperstones from road up to Wentnor

variety of kneelers in the church

We had a look around Wentnor village. The St Michael and All Angels church with its squat tower has splendid kneelers and the hurricane tomb which commemorates several people who were killed in a blizzard. There were quaint old cottages and a small holding with unusual fowls and a donkey with its foal which was born two days earlier. We looked at the Crown Inn and its car park and saw the splendid view to the Long Mynd. A hang glider landed in a distant field and the person had to carry it back a long way.

The Hang Glider

2 day old foal and mother

The site was filling up with weekend visitors when we got back and more were expected.

In the evening a lady stopped as we were eating and said she noticed our fish badge and asked if we went to a church somewhere. We said Methodists in Somerset and she then said she was a Meth LP. And that opened up a conversation. She would be going back to take a service on Sunday and passed on a book she had finished reading. After our meal we walked around the campsite and as usual observed the great variety of tents and caravans. There are many camping fields at this site and some of them very pretty, especially one on a little island.

Saturday 21/6/14 Another fine day. It was much colder last night with glorious views of the stars when we went to the loo. Today we went to The Bog visitor centre. Had coffee and cake there and a good look around. It was once a thriving lead mining village with 100+ children in the school which is now the Visitor Centre. There are just a few remains and lots of info. We walked around some of the paths and then went back up the road to the Stiperstones and walked as far as the trig point. There were many larks and pipits there and various flowers. There are wonderful views from the Stiperstones - Wales to the west, looking north across the Cheshire Plain and south and west to the Long Mynd and beyond.

Ruins of Miners' Institute at The Bog

Visitor Centre (formerly the school) at The Bog

View to south from Stiperstones

View to Wales from Stiperstones

After that we went across to Bridges which was very crowded with a music festival at the pub so we kept driving on to Ratlinghope and had a look round the church which is quite small and with big churchyard and someone had noted all the plants there - a lengthy list. We returned to the campsite site along very narrow country lanes sometimes gated. There were cows and calves in one part but fortunately no cars and a couple of female cyclists opened a gate for us. (Coming down from the Stiperstones earlier a rather unpleasant chap seemed unwilling to back 10 yards into a passing place and expected us to back a long way uphill.) It was a very pretty drive as it turned out, sort of along but below the Long Mynd.

Sunday 22/6/14 was another lovely day.

We went to Bishop's Castle Methodist Church and to a service led by Revd Hazel Ratcliffe. She took the lectionary topic of the peace of Jesus which often brings conflict when people are threatened by Jesus’ values. The intercessions were thoughtfully composed around the colours of the rainbow. We stopped for coffee and chatted with several people. Two brothers used to visit their relative in Somerset years ago. Another couple came to Shropshire from the Black Country. We went on then to the Poppy House restaurant and had a nice lunch of roast chicken etc followed by strawberry and cream meringue. On the way there we encountered the Morris dancers coming up the hill from the church which had a special service for rush bearing (we looked in there later). After our meal we saw that they were at the 3 Tuns and watched their last few dances. In the last one they got bystanders to join in. They had blackened faces which are said to be an ancient form of disguise.