Walking the Shropshire Way. John Gillham
if staying in B&Bs, and 55 litre or more for backpacking
liner or plastic carrier bags to keep your gear dry inside the rucksack
breathable waterproofs, both jackets and trousers
good proven waterproof boots
walking socks
fleece jacket or warm sweater
changes of clothes for evening wear
sun hat and sun cream (outside winter months)
first-aid kit (including plasters for blisters)
whistle and torch in case of emergencies
mobile phone (but be aware that there are many ‘no reception’ areas in rural Shropshire)
food and plenty of fluids for the day
maps and guidebook.
Optional
a GPS unit or GPS app and maps for your smartphone.
Using GPS
In recent years GPS units such as Garmin, Memory Map and Satmap have become quite sophisticated and now they usually include OS mapping for the UK. They are a very useful addition to your equipment, especially if you’re caught out in hill fog on the mountains.
In addition to the dedicated GPS units there are apps for iPhones, Android and Blackberry smartphones and tablets too. Viewranger and Memory Map are the best known and their maps are stored on your phone rather than being ‘in the cloud’ (like Trailzilla maps). The obvious drawback being that if the maps are in the cloud and you don’t have a phone signal, then you don’t have a map.
Most dedicated GPS units come with map packages. Some come with complete OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps for the UK, while others just include national parks. OS Explorer maps are better and you can buy DVDs or USB sticks with the complete UK, although they are more expensive. The other way of doing this is by going online and downloading and paying for the exact area you want (Memory Map and Viewranger both enable this). You can always add to the area you bought later.
All units will need charging at the end of the day. Dedicated GPS units can usually last at least eight hours and most have facilities to attach battery cases to keep them topped up.
The batteries in smartphones are smaller and most won’t last all day when used as a GPS – you’ll need at least a 5000mAh battery for all-day use. Otherwise, you may need at least one spare battery or you’ll have to use the one you have sparingly, ie, when you’re unsure of where to go next. Tablets such as the iPad Mini and Android 7-inch ones usually have larger batteries and can be kept in waterproof cases that can hang around your neck, in the same way as map cases do. Aquapac do a fine range of such cases. The tablets have the advantage of showing you large areas of the map at once.
If you cannot get to a power source to recharge your unit you can buy portable chargers. A 12000mAh EasyAcc, for example, will recharge an iPhone three or four times or an iPad Mini twice before it needs recharging itself. To clarify things mAh stands for milli-Ampere hour, a measure of a battery’s energy storage capacity – the higher the mAh figure the better. A word of caution here: these units should be used as a supplement to the maps – the battery may lose power unexpectedly.
Waymarking
The Shropshire Way is well-signed throughout, with orange waymarkers featuring a buzzard and small black arrowhead pointing in the direction of travel. More historical black and white waymarkers can still be seen in places, including the ones marking old alternative loops. In a very few places these appear to contradict the new waymarkers. In such cases always follow the line marked by the orange waymarkers.
Shropshire Way waymarker
Using this guide
The Shropshire Way can be completed in one large circular route but by using the Haughmond to Shrewsbury link route described in Section 10A it can be split into both southern and northern circulars. To these ends, the link route has been described in both directions.
All places mentioned in the text are shown in bold if they appear on the maps. The box at the start of each walk lists information such as: the distance of the stage, the height gain, the approximate time to allow, the terrain and places for refreshment, and map used (Appendix A summarises some of this information in table form). While the guide uses OS Landranger maps (1:50,000), which are fine for the mountain sections, they are not as detailed as the OS 1:25,000 Explorer maps, so I would recommend that you take the following OS Explorer maps:
201 Knighton and Presteigne
203 Ludlow Tenbury Wells and Cleobury Mortimer
216 Welshpool and Montgomery
217 The Long Mynd and Wenlock Edge
218 The Wyre Forest and Kidderminster
240 Oswestry
241 Shrewsbury
242 Telford and Ironbridge
257 Crewe and Nantwich (if including the Whitchurch leg)
Also bear in mind the following:
The sections north of Shrewsbury are all relatively new. If you are using printed maps make sure they have data post 2018. If the copies of the maps you buy are older they may have either the wrong routes or, in the case of the north, no route at all.
The current 2018 Harvey Map of the Shropshire Way shows only the old southern sections of the route but they may well update it in the future so it’s worth checking.
GPX tracks
GPX tracks for the routes in this guidebook are available to download free at www.cicerone.co.uk/1008/GPX. A GPS device is an excellent aid to navigation, but you should also carry a map and compass and know how to use them. GPX files are provided in good faith, but neither the author nor the publisher accepts responsibility for their accuracy.
THE SHROPSHIRE WAY
Bury Ditches Iron Age fort (Stage 4)
STAGE 1
Shrewsbury to Bridges
| Start | Kingsland Bridge, Shrewsbury |
| Finish | Bridges Youth Hostel, Ratlinghope |
| Distance | 14¾ miles (23.8km) |
| Ascent | 535m |
| Descent | 330m |
| Time | 7hr |
| Terrain | Town streets, woodland and field paths, two ridge tracks |
| Map | OS Explorer 241 and 216 |
| Supplies | Shrewsbury, Bayston Hill |
Looking at the map the first day doesn’t promise much but, in reality, it offers many pleasant surprises in small packages. Shrewsbury is an historic delight and the way out, through the Rad Brook and Rae Brook valleys, gives walkers more greenery and beauty than they have the right to expect in the suburbs of a sizeable town. Then there’s Lyth Hill with its airy ridge, its blossoms and its wide panoramas.