Ploxgreen

With daylight hours increasing I'm trying to fit in at least one wander a week even if they are not all reported here. For some time I've been eyeing the Stiperstones, and today I finally got around to visiting them. I decided on a linear walk ending in Church Stretton rather than a circular one partly because I've never ascended the western flank of the Long Mynd and partly because Church Stretton has better transport links than places in the Stiperstones area.

Some of the buses on the Shrewsbury to Bishop's Castle route pass through the village of Stiperstones nestled under the hills of the same name, but mine didn't, so I disembrked at Ploxgreen, just south of Minsterley, and made my way on foot directly towards Snailbeach Coppice. I confess to wasting a few minutes finding my way into the coppice, being unable to match the paths and field boundaries shown on the map with those on the ground, a difficulty not repeated on the rest of my walk.

Entering the area of workshops around the old mine workings at Snailbeach I met a talkative local whose advice as to the best route to take was reassuringly similar to the one I had planned. He warned me that it was unpleasant in places on the hills, but further enquiry revealed this to mean stony/rocky underfoot which in truth doesn't worry me overmuch. Consequently I was able to thread my way through the buildings and was soon confidently climbing southwards through woodland to pass to the right (west) of the chimney marked on the map and very much in evidence on the ground. Emerging onto open land I was soon rewarded with pleasant views into Crowsnest Dingle which bears more than a passing resemblance to some of the batches cutting into the Long Mynd and has been mentally noted as a possible pleasant alternative route up.

Climbing higher conditions underfoot changed from soft springy turf to a stonier path and it soon became apparent that this was not a smaller if slightly taller version of the Long Mynd. Although that hill does have rocky outcrops they are crags confined to the sides whereas here as warned the top is rockier and indeed several upthrusting outcrops are sufficiently large to warrant their own names, and in turn I passed Shepherd's Rock, Devil's Chair, Manstone Rocks and Cranberry Rock.

With enjoyable memories of clambering over rocks at the seaside I decided to climb onto the Devil's Chair and quickly found myself next to the highest point and looking southwards over it. Turning right the final hills of England were backed by the beginning of the Welsh hills, the higher ones of which still displayed snowcaps. As is so often the case with me descending was a slower job than ascending, made with greater use of the hands which rapidly cooled through contact with the cold rock.

Back at the base of the Devil's Chair I had a brief conversation with a couple visiting Shropshire for the first time and very much liking what they had found. They and I had the same negative reaction when we saw a large group of ramblers in the vicinity of Shepherd's Rock. Too much company can spoil the walk.

On to Manstone Rocks, the highest point of the Stiperstones. I don't think I would have any trouble getting up, but decided that one rocky descent was enough for the day, so I can't claim to have reached the highest point of the Stiperstones yet.

At Cranberry Rock it was time for a decision. Continue further along the Stiperstones or turn towards the Long Mynd. As I wanted to return home in time to support one of Newcastle's chess teams playing at Meir I took the latter course and descended south-east to the carpark. Thirteen cars present. Not bad for an early March Monday on a car park basically in the middle of nowhere.

A mile and a half of road took me to Bridges where the pub bore a paper notice giving Monday opening time as seven pm. Fortunately I had not been planning a refreshment stop here so happily took the Shropshire Way south before turning left to descend through Coates Farm and then start the steady 650+ foot climb of the west flank of the Long Mynd. The track out of Coates Farm was annoyingly muddy in places. Not the thick clingy mud that makes progress hard work but the thin slippy stuff that makes one fear for ones balance. In truth however this and a couple of small patches of snow were minor inconveniences and in due course I was onto the moorland of the Long Mynd and blazing a straight path passing just north of Pole Bank to join the road that I chose to follow down into Church Stretton, admiring the views into Carding Mill Valley as I descended.

comment on this article