Shropshire Walkers are Welcome Shropshire Walking in Shropshire: Other Walkers are Welcome towns WALKERS ARE www.shropshirewalking.co.uk outside the Shropshire area There is lots of walking information There are many other Walkers are Welcome on this website, including the towns along the Welsh/English Border, WELCOME Shropshire Way, Offa’s Dyke Path National which can be found on Trail, dates of local walking festivals, www.walkersarewelcome.org.uk walk leaflets and podcasts to download, geocaching and the latest walking news. Travel Walking for Health: Travel information can be found in local www.walkingforhealth. Visitor Information Centres, and online at org.uk www.travelshropshire.co.uk There is lots of information Buses about Walking for Health on Timetabled routes, contact Traveline this national website, including where to on 08712 002233 find local schemes. Shropshire Hills Shuttles – Parks and Countryside Sites: weekend Shuttle bus into www.shropshire.gov.uk/ the Shropshire Hills, May to outdoorrecreation/ early October. 01588 674080 parks-and-countryside-sites www.shropshirehillsshuttles.co.uk IN AND AROUND THE There are over 140 parks and countryside Trains SHROPSHIRE HILLS: sites across Shropshire, managed by Stations at Whitchurch, Church Stretton, Bishop’s Castle Shropshire Council. They are wonderful Ludlow, Wellington, Gobowen, Craven places to enjoy the great outdoors and Arms, Shrewsbury and Telford. Church Stretton many have easy access routes. Contact National Rail, 08457 484950 Cleobury Mortimer Shropshire Ramblers: www.shropshireramblers. Visiting Clun org.uk www.shropshiretourism.co.uk for Ironbridge accommodation, events and places to visit. Geocaching: www.shropshirehillsaonb.co.uk for Ludlow www.geocaching.com information on the Shropshire Hills Area of For local geocaching routes, GPS systems Much Wenlock Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), local can be hired from Shropshire Hills Discovery events and activities. Wellington Centre, Craven Arms. 01588 676060. IN NORTH SHROPSHIRE: Oswestry Whitchurch Artwork by MA Creative Limited • www.macreative.co.uk. Correct at time of printing, March 2015 Shropshire Walkers are Welcome Shropshire is a beautiful county, with the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in the south recognised as one of Britain’s finest landscapes. To the north is the Oswestry Borderlands, and Whitchurch at the heart of the internationally renowned Meres and Mosses. The Llangollen Canal crosses through North Shropshire, passing Claire CarterClaire www.carterart.co.uk through Whitchurch and Ellesmere, and as you continue out of Shropshire the path will lead you to the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site, near Llangollen. Stunning scenery in Shropshire includes the craggy Stiperstones and Wrekin, Wenlock Edge and the Clee Hills, the wide open spaces and hidden valleys of the Long Mynd, and peaceful river valleys such as the Severn, the Clun and the Corve. The Severn Valley and Wyre Forest lie to the east of the county, with sandstone valleys and ancient oak woodland to explore. Shropshire is one of the most rural counties in England, you can walk for miles without seeing a soul. The area is geologically diverse and you can enjoy this wonderfully Walkers are Welcome towns and villages are places which have something special to contrasting scenery on the well maintained and waymarked footpaths that criss-cross our offer walkers. A visit to a ‘Walkers are Welcome’ town guarantees you a series of excellent beautiful county. waymarked walks from the centre of town. There is walking to suit all abilities and ages: along canal towpaths and river banks, across The walks vary in length and ease with something to suit everyone. Local groups ensure heather and rough hill tops, through meadows and secret woods, with a mewing buzzard that these routes are well maintained, clearly signed and promoted. Walk information is overhead often the loudest sound. A rich border heritage with hillforts and castles is available from local outlets and from the towns’ websites. matched by market towns and villages of great character, a friendly welcome and some fantastic food and festivals. All the Shropshire Walkers are Welcome towns are steeped All the Walkers are Welcome towns in Shropshire have a Walking for Health scheme – this in local history and retain vibrant high streets full of independent shops, so it’s worth offers regular, short, local led walks of up to 90 minutes. Some of the towns also have Next enjoying a visit to them all. Steps walks – these offer slightly longer led walks of approximately 2 hours, for those who are ready to progress on from the shorter walks. See www.walkingforhealth.org.uk for details. The eight Walkers are Welcome towns in and around the Shropshire Hills AONB work individually and collectively. The catalyst of Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership funding in 2011 brought together Bishop’s Castle, Church Stretton, Cleobury Mortimer, Much Wenlock and Wellington, to market this area for their mutual benefit and in support of the local economy. Clun, Ironbridge and Ludlow joined them in 2014. Oswestry and Whitchurch in North Shropshire make a total of ten Walkers are Welcome towns in the county, highlighting the extensive variety of walking this area has to offer and the value placed on Walkers Are Welcome status. Walkers are Welcome is a national community led scheme, which allows towns and villages to express their enthusiasm for visitors and to encourage walkers into their shops, pubs, cafes and accommodation. All of the businesses that support the scheme and welcome walkers bear this logo. Bishop’s Castle Bishop’s Castle is at the centre of beautiful, unspoilt hill country where walking is a joy for people who appreciate the quiet landscape, with its hill tops, woods and stream filled valleys. This is farming country that gave its name to the Clun Forest and Kerry Hill sheep breeds. Lambs abound in the N E E R spring. Beef cattle graze the hillsides and in the valleys G E L T S there are rich meadows with abundant wild flowers and A C mixed arable fields. There are song birds in the hedgerows ET RE B T U S and kites and buzzards soar overhead. E L W L L E T L LS S A H A N The town itself has kept its 12th century layout yet is a lively, friendly place with a S C E TR Town E SALO E P T T STR strong sense of its identity and history. It has a long and proud history of brewing, with E Hall E ET E B R two thriving breweries and many individual shops, restaurants, pubs and cafes. The ING T B4385 S S L E Y W H O C G area is home to many excellent artists, musicians and crafts people. D L T A I E E H E M R K T T A O E NE The Shropshire Way runs through the town centre and the Offa’s Dyke Path, following W S E T ST Hospital R S N T S O H the Anglo-Saxon ditch and dyke border between England and Wales, passes just to I STREET N C N O T School TIO I A R A R N Library O U T the west. To the east rise the dramatic ridge of the Long Mynd and the jagged tors P U R S H O of the Stiperstones. C C Recreation Auction Yard AD RO Ground H KE The bc ring is a challenging five days of walking (www.bcring.co.uk) and the TC R L BA R C W D Y EN OO L E Walking Festival in May (www.walkingfestival.co.uk) and Challenge Walk in A R A488 N G E G N I GR L August (www.bcchallengewalk.co.uk) are celebrations of the excellent hill- ANGE ROA D B W RA O country walking in the area. Walking for Pleasure leaflets, offering walks from 1 to M B PT ON 8 miles, are freely available locally. RO AD Clunbury Hill by Rosie Evans Community College & Leisure Centre © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Shropshire Council 100049049.2015 Visitor Information: Bishop’s Castle Town Hall Tel: 01588 630023 Email: [email protected] www.bishopscastle.co.uk Church Stretton Yvonne Beaumont Yvonne Beaumont Yvonne Church Stretton lies in a landscape of stunning variety and beauty. The largest of the two towns within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, its 5,000 residents live Yvonne Beaumont Yvonne in a valley between the heather-covered Long Mynd and the imposing rocky peaks of the Stretton Hills to the east. © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. The town boasts a friendly welcome, with banks, a post office, Shropshire Council 100049049.2015 independent shops, two supermarkets, several pubs and numerous eateries – along with free two hour on street parking, C A R D I N G cheap central car parks and a Visitor Information Centre. M B U I L R W L V AY A L L R E Y OA For walkers there are many maps, guides and leaflets, giving almost immediate access D to a wilderness of high moorland, through Rectory Field and Wood onto the Long Mynd plateau. On its flanks are deep gullies and shallow, rocky streams, while lower L O N B5477 G down the hills are woodlands and fields. Wildlife includes buzzards, curlew, raven, red H I L L S grouse, deer, brown hares, badgers, Exmoor ponies and thousands of sheep. R O A D D A LUT O WY R Rectory Wood CH X E E ROA S H The hill country is a magnet for walkers of all ages and abilities. On offer are ambles, D S T E R O N T Walking for Health paths, more active rambles and the opportunity to walk the hill E E S A Fire Station R N D T F O S R A49 G tops with surprisingly modest effort.