February Ramblings 2026

Tackling Caer Caradoc, the Hope Bowdler hills and the Long Mynd over two days...

For this weekend the Church Stretton area, and its immediately surrounding hills, was the ‘playground’ of the 28 members who joined this event, exploring some of the hills which feature in quite a few of the Shropshire Lone Pine adventures. We enjoyed a full day’s walking on Saturday in brilliant sunny weather, and again walked for much of Sunday, although on our second day the weather wasn’t quite so kind. We all met up in the evenings in various Stretton pubs, including the few who hadn’t been able to tackle these demanding walks in the Stretton hills.

Starting and finishing in Church Stretton, Saturday’s walk included the ascent of Caer Caradoc and then unnamed cairned hilltops in the Hope Bowdler hills, as we walked south from Willstone Hill across the ridge towards the Gaer Stone, before descending to Church Stretton. Caer Caradoc at 459m (1506ft) was described by Bill Ward in Mystery at Witchend as “like a crouching lion” and by Saville as ‘grim and crowned with rocks’. Its ancient hill fort is thought to date from either the Iron Age or late Bronze Age. ‘Caradoc’s Cave’ just down from the summit was located by a small group who braved the steep NW slope - legend has it that Caratacus hid here from the Romans. It was a tough 7 mile walk, involving very steep climbs, but we were rewarded by fantastic panoramic views to the horizon up to 40 miles away. The Long Mynd was laid out in all its glory, as too the Lawley, the Wrekin, the whole of Wenlock Edge and much of the Shropshire plain to the north.

Sunday’s walk of between 6 and 7 miles took the bridleway (Mott’s Road) up onto the top of the Long Mynd from Carding Mill Valley, SW along the Portway to the summit of Pole Bank at 516m (1693ft), before returning down to the bottom of the Burway in Church Stretton, with a final gentle approach back to the Chalet Pavillion café for afternoon tea. It was almost as challenging, with a very steep descent, and some mist and light rain on the top. To the west the Stiperstones and the Devil’s Chair were largely obscured by low scudding cloud, but we did briefly glimpse the Glider Station on the top of the Mynd to the south of Pole Bank. Later in the afternoon the clouds cleared and the sun shone once again, with further rewarding views of the Stretton Valley and Caer Caradoc as we descended towards Church Stretton, most of us contouring Yearlet en route.

Once again, we were fortunate to have almost perfect weather for the Saturday and to be able to enjoy such extensive views of this area, which the Victorians sometimes referred to as ‘Little Switzerland’. Overall it was a very enjoyable weekend, with friendships made and reinforced, even if many ‘knees’ suffered from the extremely steep climbs and descents.  

Many thanks to the organisers for their extensive planning and preparation, and such a successful weekend, including the selection of local quality pubs for our sociable evening meals.