and demolished and nature has begun to take take to begun has nature and demolished and

20th century. century. 20th

The mine and village were gradually abandoned abandoned gradually were village and mine The

worked for barytes in the late 19th-early 19th-early late the in barytes for worked

and mining finally finished in 1922. 1922. in finished finally mining and make extra money. Nipstone Mine was was Mine Nipstone money. extra make

extraction in the Bog area became uneconomic uneconomic became area Bog the in extraction using special combs and sold the fruit to to fruit the sold and combs special using

carry barytes ore away for processing. However, However, processing. for away ore barytes carry Bilberries (known locally as Whinberries) Whinberries) as locally (known Bilberries

German prisoners of war during World War 1, to to 1, War World during war of prisoners German Traditionally local people have harvested harvested have people local Traditionally

dances. An aerial ropeway was constructed by by constructed was ropeway aerial An dances.

Mynd in the East. East. the in Mynd

or ‘The Welfare’ which hosted Saturday night night Saturday hosted which Welfare’ ‘The or

Nipstone Rock, with views to the Long Long the to views with Rock, Nipstone

an engine house, and later the Miners’ Institute Institute Miners’ the later and house, engine an

gate onto the Open Access Land around around Land Access Open the onto gate

The walls are all that remains of what was at first first at was what of remains that all are walls The

of the ridge. There is a wooden kissing kissing wooden a is There ridge. the of

up the heather slope, towards the top top the towards slope, heather the up the Bog Mine site. site. Mine Bog the

to follow the waymarked route diagonally diagonally route waymarked the follow to

there are several interpretation panels about about panels interpretation several are there

Grayling butterfly Grayling

meets the Way – turn left here here left turn – Way Shropshire the meets Miner’s Institute – a ruined building where where building ruined a – Institute Miner’s

Walk through the heather until the path path the until heather the through Walk indicated on the map. The walk begins at the the at begins walk The map. the on indicated

well seen in the church and other buildings. buildings. other and church the in seen well

1 Start from one of the three parking areas areas parking three the of one from Start 

The Rock. The

was quarried around the village of Shelve, and is is and Shelve, of village the around quarried was

and through the wooden kissing gate below below gate kissing wooden the through and Route Description Route

sediments solidified into a hard, grey rock. This This rock. grey hard, a into solidified sediments

onto the road. Go over the road with care, care, with road the over Go road. the onto

upwards through the overlying sea-floor. The The sea-floor. overlying the through upwards

5

Cross a track to reach another kissing gate gate kissing another reach to track a Cross 

volcanic activity, with molten lava busting busting lava molten with activity, volcanic fairly even terrain (see map for details). for map (see terrain even fairly

gate in the row of pine trees ahead. ahead. trees pine of row the in gate ago. This movement was accompanied by by accompanied was movement This ago. A further 600m is along hard surfaced and and surfaced hard along is 600m further A

line, along an old hedgerow, to a kissing kissing a to hedgerow, old an along line,

collided in the tropics, about 450 million years years million 450 about tropics, the in collided

mobility.

gateway on the left. Continue on the same same the on Continue left. the on gateway

Shelve Hill was created when two continents continents two when created was Hill Shelve

for wheelchair users and people with limited limited with people and users wheelchair for

Pass the cottage and then go through the the through go then and cottage the Pass

views over to Shelve Hill. Hill. Shelve to over views allow access to the reservoir, and is suitable suitable is and reservoir, the to access allow

are good views to on the right. right. the on Hill Corndon to views good are opens up to a small scrubby clearing, with with clearing, scrubby small a to up opens Picnic benches and a short, all-ability path path all-ability short, a and benches Picnic

Aim to the side of a cottage ahead – there there – ahead cottage a of side the to Aim mixed woodland. Shortly after, the wood wood the after, Shortly woodland. mixed

Miners institute. institute. Miners

the distance. distance. the almost in a straight line, as you pass through through pass you as line, straight a in almost

Accessible parking is available opposite the the opposite available is parking Accessible

3

Heath Mynd in in Mynd Heath

Keep left at a fork and follow the track ahead, ahead, track the follow and fork a at left Keep Bilberry or whinberry or Bilberry

Rhadley and and Rhadley

Allow 1-1½ hours. hours. 1-1½ Allow

reservoir on your right. your on reservoir field, with Black Black with field,

Accessibility Information Accessibility pass a very boggy, overgrown section of the the of section overgrown boggy, very a pass

through the the through

turn right here and continue ahead. You will will You ahead. continue and here right turn

slightly right right slightly

At the end of the tramway is a wide track, track, wide a is tramway the of end the At

After this go go this After

All-ability path All-ability left and follow the raised, flat route. flat raised, the follow and left

kissing gate. kissing

reach the line of an old tramway ahead. Turn Turn ahead. tramway old an of line the reach

of the wood to a a to wood the of

2

Follow the easy access path to the reservoir to to reservoir the to path access easy the Follow 

along the edge edge the along

the path ahead ahead path the August, and maybe you will find it. find will you maybe and August,

a track. Follow Follow track. a mining spoil. Look closely between July-early July-early between closely Look spoil. mining

conifers, crosses crosses conifers, of disguise and blends in to the surrounding surrounding the to in blends and disguise of

after a row of tall tall of row a after Grayling butterfly. The Grayling is a master master a is Grayling The butterfly. Grayling

narrows and, and, narrows a range of specialist wildlife, such as the rare rare the as such wildlife, specialist of range a

4 The path path The  over again. The spoil heaps are a habitat for for habitat a are heaps spoil The again. over

The Nipstone Wanderer The Bog is set in a legendary geological The Nipstone landscape and is noted in folklore for the exploits of ‘Wild Edric’, an Anglo-Saxon Wanderer who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest in 1068-70. A 4km walk taking in the old mine site, a gentle woodland stroll and the Dating back to the mid-18th Century, The Ridge with breathtaking views. Bog is one of the oldest lead mines in the Stiperstones area. It finally closed in 1924 and most of the mine buildings have been demolished. The main surviving building was the school, now a busy visitor centre and staffed by local volunteers between April and Public transport November. The nearby Miners’ Arms has also survived, but as a private house. Many of the The Bog Visitor Centre is a stop on the mine’s features can still be found including the Shuttle Bus service. This is a powder house, aerial ropeway footings and weekend bus service which runs through the the ‘Somme’ Tunnel, built during WW1. summer months. From , it travels over the and around the ‘The Bog’ was just that - very boggy, until the Stiperstones to and . For Boat level drain was cut to take away a lot of route, timetable, ticket pricing and walking the water. All the processes associated with information see lead and barytes mining were carried out here www.shropshirehillsshuttles.co.uk at one stage, although later ore was shipped down the valley by an aerial ropeway which For more information on the history and inspired elements of the Malcolm Saville novel, archaeology of the Stiperstones and Corndon ‘Seven White Gates’. area, please visit: www.records-stiperstonesandcorndon.co.uk

The Stiperstones & Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme A five year programme of work, starting in 2013, to raise awareness of, enhance and celebrate local history and wildlife. The Scheme is managed by a Partnership of professional and community representatives from Shropshire and . The lead organisation is the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, hosted by Shropshire Council. .co.uk MACreative design by www. Leaflet The Bog Mine Hill Cottage

The Gatehouse The o 1 isitor entre

issed ine 9 2 The o ine

The o 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 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 i Wood remnants of the same old hedge, until you rooshi o reach a fingerpost. arsh 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 o The Bog metal grille at the entrance that is locked in Visitor Centre winter to protect hibernating bats. It is said that Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Shropshire Council 100049049.2017 unemployed miners were paid to work this level just to prevent them and their families from starving or to protect them from conscription. The Bog Visitor Centre Gunpowder (known as “black powder”) was Disused kept in the powder house and distributed to Mine miners before they went underground. The Miners Institute Disused pond held water for processing the lead ore and Mine Shafts condensing steam for the mine’s steam engines. The Bog What better way to finish a walk then to visit the The Somme Tunnel Bog Visitor Centre for tea and cake...? r Power House

Reservoi

View to Heath Mynd and Black Rhadley