The Nipstone Wanderer
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Leaflet design by www. Leaflet Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, hosted by Shropshire Council. Shropshire by hosted Partnership, AONB Hills Shropshire MACreative the is organisation lead The Powys. and Shropshire from representatives is managed by a Partnership of professional and community community and professional of Partnership a by managed is of, enhance and celebrate local history and wildlife. The Scheme Scheme The wildlife. and history local celebrate and enhance of, A five year programme of work, starting in 2013, to raise awareness awareness raise to 2013, in starting work, of programme year five A .co.uk Landscape Partnership Scheme Partnership Landscape The Stiperstones & Corndon Hill Country Country Hill Corndon & Stiperstones The www.records-stiperstonesandcorndon.co.uk area, please visit: please area, ‘Seven White Gates’. White ‘Seven archaeology of the Stiperstones and Corndon Corndon and Stiperstones the of archaeology inspired elements of the Malcolm Saville novel, novel, Saville Malcolm the of elements inspired For more information on the history and and history the on information more For down the valley by an aerial ropeway which which ropeway aerial an by valley the down at one stage, although later ore was shipped shipped was ore later although stage, one at lead and barytes mining were carried out here here out carried were mining barytes and lead www.shropshirehillsshuttles.co.uk www.shropshirehillsshuttles.co.uk the water. All the processes associated with with associated processes the All water. the information see information Boat level drain was cut to take away a lot of of lot a away take to cut was drain level Boat route, timetable, ticket pricing and walking walking and pricing ticket timetable, route, ‘The Bog’ was just that - very boggy, until the the until boggy, very - that just was Bog’ ‘The Stiperstones to Minsterley and Pontesbury. For For Pontesbury. and Minsterley to Stiperstones travels over the Long Mynd and around the the around and Mynd Long the over travels the ‘Somme’ Tunnel, built during WW1. during built Tunnel, ‘Somme’ the summer months. From Church Stretton, it it Stretton, Church From months. summer powder house, aerial ropeway footings and and footings ropeway aerial house, powder weekend bus service which runs through the the through runs which service bus weekend mine’s features can still be found including the the including found be still can features mine’s Shropshire Hills Shuttle Bus service. This is a a is This service. Bus Shuttle Hills Shropshire survived, but as a private house. Many of the the of Many house. private a as but survived, The Bog Visitor Centre is a stop on the the on stop a is Centre Visitor Bog The November. The nearby Miners’ Arms has also also has Arms Miners’ nearby The November. Public transport Public staffed by local volunteers between April and and April between volunteers local by staffed the school, now a busy visitor centre and and centre visitor busy a now school, the demolished. The main surviving building was was building surviving main The demolished. and most of the mine buildings have been been have buildings mine the of most and Stiperstones area. It finally closed in 1924 1924 in closed finally It area. Stiperstones Bog is one of the oldest lead mines in the the in mines lead oldest the of one is Bog Ridge with breathtaking views. breathtaking with Ridge Dating back to the mid-18th Century, The The Century, mid-18th the to back Dating gentle woodland stroll and the Stiperstones Stiperstones the and stroll woodland gentle A 4km walk taking in the old mine site, a site, mine old the in taking walk 4km A Conquest in 1068-70. 1068-70. in Conquest who led English resistance to the Norman Norman the to resistance English led who Wanderer Wanderer exploits of ‘Wild Edric’, an Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon an Edric’, ‘Wild of exploits landscape and is noted in folklore for the the for folklore in noted is and landscape The Bog is set in a legendary geological geological legendary a in set is Bog The The Nipstone Nipstone The The Nipstone Wanderer Nipstone The over again. The spoil heaps are a habitat for 4 The path a range of specialist wildlife, such as the rare narrows and, Grayling butterfly. The Grayling is a master after a row of tall of disguise and blends in to the surrounding conifers, crosses mining spoil. Look closely between July-early a track. Follow August, and maybe you will find it. the path ahead 2 Follow the easy access path to the reservoir to along the edge reach the line of an old tramway ahead. Turn of the wood to a kissing gate. All-ability path left and follow the raised, flat route. At the end of the tramway is a wide track, After this go turn right here and continue ahead. You will slightly right Accessibility Information pass a very boggy, overgrown section of the through the reservoir on your right. field, with Black Allow 1-1½ hours. Rhadley and Bilberry or whinberry Accessible parking is available opposite the 3 Keep left at a fork and follow the track ahead, Heath Mynd in almost in a straight line, as you pass through Miners institute. the distance. mixed woodland. Shortly after, the wood Aim to the side of a cottage ahead – there Picnic benches and a short, all-ability path opens up to a small scrubby clearing, with are good views to Corndon Hill on the right. allow access to the reservoir, and is suitable views over to Shelve Hill. for wheelchair users and people with limited Pass the cottage and then go through the Shelve Hill was created when two continents gateway on the left. Continue on the same mobility. collided in the tropics, about 450 million years line, along an old hedgerow, to a kissing A further 600m is along hard surfaced and ago. This movement was accompanied by gate in the row of pine trees ahead. fairly even terrain (see map for details). volcanic activity, with molten lava busting 5 Cross a track to reach another kissing gate upwards through the overlying sea-floor. The onto the road. Go over the road with care, Route Description sediments solidified into a hard, grey rock. This and through the wooden kissing gate below was quarried around the village of Shelve, and is The Rock. 1 Start from one of the three parking areas well seen in the church and other buildings. indicated on the map. The walk begins at the Walk through the heather until the path Miner’s Institute – a ruined building where meets the Shropshire Way – turn left here Grayling butterfly there are several interpretation panels about to follow the waymarked route diagonally the Bog Mine site. up the heather slope, towards the top The walls are all that remains of what was at first of the ridge. There is a wooden kissing an engine house, and later the Miners’ Institute gate onto the Open Access Land around or ‘The Welfare’ which hosted Saturday night Nipstone Rock, with views to the Long Mynd in the East. dances. An aerial ropeway was constructed by German prisoners of war during World War 1, to Traditionally local people have harvested carry barytes ore away for processing. However, Bilberries (known locally as Whinberries) extraction in the Bog area became uneconomic using special combs and sold the fruit to and mining finally finished in 1922. make extra money. Nipstone Mine was worked for barytes in the late 19th-early The mine and village were gradually abandoned 20th century. and demolished and nature has begun to take The Bog Mine Hill Cottage The Gatehouse The Bog 1 Visitor Centre Disused Mine 9 2 The Bog Mine The Bog r oi rv se Re 6 The path skirts to the right hand side of Nipstone Rock, which appears as views to the main Stiperstones Ridge open up. There is a 8 track or two which lead from the path over to 3 Nipstone Rock. The footpath reaches a kissing gate by a field gate in the fence ahead. Bog Mine Cottage Nipstone Rock and The Rock are two of the Upper Knoll high quartzite tors marking the Stiperstones Farm Stone ridge. The conifer plantations which once Cottage covered Nipstone were felled in the early 2000s to encourage the regrowth of heather and bilberry and the return of rare wildlife such as the Emperor Moth and Skylarks. Work to restore the heathland continues to this day. 7 Go straight ahead, crossing a track, towards the corner of a wood. A kissing gate takes you on a path along the edge of the wood, with 4 the remains of an old hedgerow to the right. 7 Exit the wood into a field and walk ahead past the hawthorn and rowan trees, which are Nipstone Big Wood remnants of the same old hedge, until you Brookshill Rock reach a fingerpost. Marsh Rock Cottage 6 8 Turn left here to a kissing gate and follow the path down the field towards the Bog Visitor Centre ahead. A final kissing gate takes you All ability path back onto the Bog Mine site. Some steps lead down before the path continues to the left. Easy Access Trail 9 When you reach an open area above the car Nipstone wanderer park you can take a detour left to explore Footpath more of the mine site–the Somme tunnel and 5 powder house. Turning right past the pond Bridleway you can also then detour up to a viewpoint with more information about the mine. 0 500m 1km The Somme Tunnel was built during the First World War and is still open for 120m, with a The Rock The Bog metal grille at the entrance that is locked in Visitor Centre winter to protect hibernating bats.