Survey maps
While OS Landranger maps – which have been used for the route maps within this guide – are fine for the hill sections, it is recommended that you also carry a more detailed OS 1:25,000 Explorer map with you. The following maps cover the walks and the relevant sheet number is specified at the beginning of each route description:
201 – Knighton & Presteigne
203 – Ludlow Tenbury Wells & Cleobury Mortimer
216 – Welshpool & Montgomery
217 – The Long Mynd & Wenlock Edge
218 – The Wyre Forest & Kidderminster
241 – Shrewsbury
242 – Telford & Ironbridge
Using GPS (global positioning system)
These days GPS units are excellent companions, whether they be 7-inch tablets or specialist units like Garmin and Memory Map. The GPS tracks for all the routes in this guide can be downloaded by visiting the Cicerone site: www.cicerone.co.uk/member
In recent years GPS units have become quite sophisticated and nowadays 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 online ‘in the cloud’ (like Trailzilla maps). Remember, if the maps are in the cloud and you don’t have a phone signal, then you don’t have a map.
Most dedicated 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 covering the whole of the UK – although they are expensive. The other way of doing this is to go online and download the exact area you want (both Memory Map and Viewranger facilitate 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. If you’re using a smartphone as a GPS, be aware of the battery life. You may need at least one spare battery or you’ll have to use the app sparingly – that is, when you’re unsure of where to go next – so it doesn’t run down unnecessarily.
A word of caution here: GPS devices should be used as a supplement to the maps, as their battery may lose power unexpectedly.
Safety
Although nowhere in Shropshire is really remote, it is extremely important that all walkers are fully equipped and practised in the use of map and compass. If bad weather such as a blizzard comes in quickly then trouble can occur in a matter of minutes.
Make sure to take enough food and water – keep additional emergency rations in the corner of your rucksack. Not taking enough food is the quickest way of becoming tired, and being tired is the quickest way of sustaining an injury. Good breathable waterproofs are essential. Remember: getting cold and wet will render the walker vulnerable to hypothermia, even outside the winter months.
It is important to wear good walking boots. Shoes have insufficient grip and ankle support on difficult terrain. Even the lower-level sections can become slippery after rainfall. It is a good idea to pack some emergency medical supplies (such as plasters, dressings, tape, painkillers); there are plenty of good kits available.
Using this guide
Listed in a box at the start of each walk is the following information: start/finish point (including grid reference), total distance, height gain, difficulty rating, length of time required (note that this is an approximation; times will depend on the individual walker), a brief description of the terrain you can expect to encounter, the OS Explorer map you should carry with you, refreshment options and any parking advice. Distances are given in miles (familiar to all), with kilometres in brackets. As OS maps and their contours are metric these days, height gain is given in metres as well as feet.
The map extracts included in this guide are from the 1:50,000 OS Landranger series, increased to 1:40,000 for greater clarity. To aid navigation, places and features of the landscape that appear on these map extracts are highlighted in bold within the route descriptions.
Shropshire’s beautiful hills, while providing stimulating walks, are never over-demanding, so the grading system in this book has been kept simple: easy, moderate and hard. Those who regularly walk and scramble up the high mountains of Snowdonia and Scotland will find all the Shropshire walks fairly easy by comparison as there are no scrambles and no rocky arêtes.
Easy walks are mostly quite short and never have steep climbs.
Moderate walks may have steady or short steep climbs but there is nothing difficult.
Hard walks may be long or may have steep climbs or slightly awkward bits, for example narrow, occasionally slippery paths.
Appendix A comprises a route summary table and Appendix B provides contact details for a selection of accommodation providers in the region. Please note, however, that accommodation options are likely to change over time.
The view to Stiperstones from the north side of Adstone Hill (Walk 18)
WALK 1
Llanfair Hill and Offa’s Dyke
| Start/Finish | Roadside lay-by opposite the Lloyney Inn, Lloyney (SO 244 759) |
| Distance | 6 miles (9.7km) |
| Total ascent | 1050ft (320m) |
| Grade | Moderate |
| Time | 4hr |
| Terrain | Farm tracks, grass ridge, country lanes |
| Map | OS Explorer 201 – Knighton & Presteigne |
| Refreshments | Lloyney Inn at start/end of walk |
Offa’s Dyke is never more impressive than on Llanfair Hill. Here its eighth-century earthworks are in pristine order and rise to 430m above sea level. For the first hundred yards you’re in Wales, but as you leave the little hamlet of Lloyney behind and cross the pretty stone bridge spanning the River Teme you enter Shropshire. Soon you’re climbing across lofty pastures looking across to the soft velvety hills of the Marches. When you reach the Dyke you have a splendid, easy striding ridge with that ‘on top of the world’ feeling.
Turn left along the lane signed to Llanfair Waterdine, go over the bridge spanning the River Teme, then turn right along the lane signed Monaughty Poeth and Skyborry Green. After 50m turn left off the road onto a stony driveway, and after a few
