Snail's Pace Walking Blog: Shropshire

Showing posts with label Shropshire. Show all posts

Shropshire - The Quarry, Shrewsbury (3 miles)

Sunday, 23rd August 2020

Headed down to Shropshire today to visit rellies - socially distanced, in the garden.

After a lovely meal I decided to try and find the park I've walked past previously to stretch my legs after a 3 hour drive followed by more sitting in the garden. I picked their brains, describing what I remember seeing (basically a statue that was in walking distance of the house!). Top marks to them for making a best guess that it was The Quarry - a huge parkland nestled in the crook of the River Severn.

View from English Bridge towards the Abbey (flat topped building next to the 30 sign) and the Church (with the spire):

Commemorative plaque on the bridge:

View of English Bridge from the banks of the River Severn:

Bottoms up!:

Into the parkland - it was easy to socially distance here despite it being very busy:

Info board:

Hercules Statue:

Bandstand:

On the path round the water feature/sunken garden:

Curious arbour:

.... with this inside:

View from the folly bridge:

Not sure what this building is - possibly another Church (there are one or two in Shrewsbury!):

Random balustrade:

The statue I remember seeing on a previous walk:

The town walls - I'm assuming the bottom part is the original!:

Steps to nowhere (locked gate) but they overlook the parkland you have free access to anyway:

Another memorial:

And finally, a view of the River Severn from English Bridge:

A right nice little mooch.

Thanks for looking.

Shropshire : Gay Meadows and Abbey Gardens

Sunday, 25th August 2019

Headed down to Shrewsbury to visit relatives today. After lunch I managed a very short waddle along the bank of the River Severn which has been opened up again now all the building works have finished.

The walk itself was probably only half a mile (if that) but I took a couple of pics and counted it as part of my Mile A Day challenge.

English Bridge

Reclaimed stonework in Abbey Gardens

Re-opened riverside path

There's no ViewRanger track as it was an "out of the door" walk.

But thanks for looking anyway 😊

COUNTY BAGGING: Shropshire - The Wrekin (5.1 miles)

Sunday, 5th November 2017

Well, Plan A (to do a quick dash up via the tourist route en route to pick a family member up from Shrewsbury) didn't materialise due to last minute changes. So Plan B was borne. Seeing as I'd "allocated" the day to travelling to Shrewsbury anyway I thought I'd still travel down there and give this hill a more substantial wandering along than Plan A.

Plan B didn't exactly go to plan either

Yep, I got there. Yep I got parked in a layby near the start of the main route up. I had a little meander to the Ercall unconformity as the geology fascinated me then retraced my steps to start my walk "proper". Up that human motorway of a path I headed... stopping frequently to admire the views of course

. Then I decided it would be a really good idea to take a smaller path which skirts the South Eastern flank. A lovely, undulating walk through mixed woodland which is sporting full autumn plumage. I took a well maintained permissive path off to the right near the southern end with a cunning plan to go up to the top from that end instead.

HA!!!!

I got to the junction where the permissive path joins the Shropshire Way and, I'm sure, in summer, after about a month of no rain, that route up would be okay. IT IS STEEP. And muddy. After travelling about 20 metres almost vertically and having to stop twice to get my breath

I decided that way up wasn't such an inspirational idea after all. So, I returned to the permissive path and continued my "wander around the Wrekin" (as I certainly didn't get to the point). Plan C was formed en-route and I decided to walk up to the top via the main route after all. Only, I reached the firing range sign which heralded a path up to join the main route and noticed the time and worked out that, at my speed (or lack of), by the time I made it to the top it would be getting dark. I toyed with the idea of watching fireworks from the top (bonfire night and all that) but decided I was too chicken to then walk back down to my car via the main, very clear, very impossible to get lost on path I should have just walked up in the first place

Although I'm admitting that Plans A, B and C were a total failure, Plan D resulted in what was a lovely 5.1 mile walk in beautiful old woodland in autumn, trees dripping with the rain of earlier on and the damp, misty air reflecting sparkles in the now sunlight. The wonderful, earthy smell. The mossy old tree stumps and rocks. The squirrels. The birdsong. The snatched glimpses of the Shropshire(?) plain and Welsh hills beyond. And, I have to say, walking that end of the Wrekin, you don't hear a squeak out of the traffic roaring along the M54.

Some very Autumnal pictures: